Tuesday, August 09, 2005
This Time We Really Mean It
How many times this season have the Diamondbacks been faced with a series that would truly show what kind of team they were? That they really weren't very good, the doubters would say.
Plenty.
Let's see... there was late April... and I think early June... and the series against the Padres after the All-Star Break... and probably a couple others in there (I'm on vacation, so I'm not required to be thinking at full speed right now.)
And how did the Diamondbacks respond? Well, invariably they responded with indifference. Maybe we'll play well for a while, and we definitely won't completely tank (so there, doubters), the Diamondbacks would seem to say, but they'd never "carpe diem" either.
And so here we are, almost in the middle of August, and the Diamondbacks face yet another Myers-Briggs of a road trip in which we'll find out what kind of team they are -- really, we mean it this time.
And I have every reason to believe that the Diamondbacks, just as they've shown a disturbing tendency to play down to the level of their opponents this season (the Pirates, the Royals, the Reds, and, this past weekend, the Rockies), with a record not far under .500, have also shown the ability to play with, well, good teams. So I actually think they'll make it out of this road trip at 6-6 or 5-7.
San Diego had a good series against the Nationals, so it's hard to tell whether they're completely cured once more, or if that was just luck. But the Diamondbacks could leave for its next road trip to San Diego on August 29 no further out of first than they are now (3 games out) and it would surprise me no more than if they traveled there 8 games out.
Unlike last year, where we knew what we had with the Diamondbacks (and it wasn't good), this year we're tossed enough flashes of brilliance that we're left wanting, even though we all expected this team to win around 75 games. As managers of expectations, the Diamondbacks aren't very good this year.
Plenty.
Let's see... there was late April... and I think early June... and the series against the Padres after the All-Star Break... and probably a couple others in there (I'm on vacation, so I'm not required to be thinking at full speed right now.)
And how did the Diamondbacks respond? Well, invariably they responded with indifference. Maybe we'll play well for a while, and we definitely won't completely tank (so there, doubters), the Diamondbacks would seem to say, but they'd never "carpe diem" either.
And so here we are, almost in the middle of August, and the Diamondbacks face yet another Myers-Briggs of a road trip in which we'll find out what kind of team they are -- really, we mean it this time.
And I have every reason to believe that the Diamondbacks, just as they've shown a disturbing tendency to play down to the level of their opponents this season (the Pirates, the Royals, the Reds, and, this past weekend, the Rockies), with a record not far under .500, have also shown the ability to play with, well, good teams. So I actually think they'll make it out of this road trip at 6-6 or 5-7.
San Diego had a good series against the Nationals, so it's hard to tell whether they're completely cured once more, or if that was just luck. But the Diamondbacks could leave for its next road trip to San Diego on August 29 no further out of first than they are now (3 games out) and it would surprise me no more than if they traveled there 8 games out.
Unlike last year, where we knew what we had with the Diamondbacks (and it wasn't good), this year we're tossed enough flashes of brilliance that we're left wanting, even though we all expected this team to win around 75 games. As managers of expectations, the Diamondbacks aren't very good this year.
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