Random Fandom

Sure, plenty of other teams have exciting victories over teams out of playoff contention on Thursday, but while people care about Chicago's or Boston's or New York's victory, nobody cares about Arizona's.

A sweep of the Dodgers. In LA. Again.

Yeah, well, that and $8.50 will get you in to see Serenity. (No, I'm not one of the long-time fans. But it's intriguing enough in a slow movie year that I might actually go see the movie.)

But now that the Diamondbacks have reached the 75-win level I predicted many months ago, albeit due to a large amount of luck and placement in an anemic NL West, it's time to prove me wrong.

Go for 78 wins, Diamondbacks. Don't play any of your regulars -- they're playing in San Francisco, where I can't imagine anybody will be disappointed that they might miss their chance to see the return of Royce Clayton. But prove me wrong. Sweep the Giants. Finish a strong second in the division -- you could still end up just 2 games out of first, 9 games ahead of the Giants and 10 games ahead of the Dodgers.

And look to 2006.

OK. So the Padres came back last night. For a while there, amidst the Webb-Weaver duel in LA, the tantalizing possibility of climbing to within 4 games of the Padres floated out there like a chocolate dog in the Land of Chocolate.

Alas, it was not to be. The Padres won. Even though Brandon Webb won a 2-0 game over the Dodgers, thanks to Chad Tracy's 25th home run of the year (Goal # 5 accomplished; Goal # 6 accomplished with just 2-3 more hits in his last 20 or so ABs), just one more Diamondbacks loss or Padres victory would finally put an end to the Diamondbacks playoff "hopes." (And I use that term very loosely.)

The most frustrating thing for me about this past week or so is that the Diamondbacks really needed to do this, oh, in June. Winning 7 of 9? That might've triggered some fan interest. As it was, apathy ruled.

Oh, and in the category of "Where The Heck Is That Coming From?," this from Will Carroll (registration required):

"Brandon Lyon appears headed for Tommy John surgery, something he probably wishes he'd had two years ago…"

I have never heard this before. Anyone care to shed some light on this?

Yeah, I know I said not to look at the standings. But it's hard when the stupid Padres won't get their stupid act straight and win a stupid series against the Diamondbacks, who everybody thinks are just about the worst team in baseball.

Except that we're not. (Yeah, I'm lookin' at you, Los Angeles Dodgers of Los Angeles. And, yes, I figured that the expiration date on those "City Name Nickname of City Name" jokes was just about here, and therefore I wanted get one last shot in, no matter how pointless and, I'm sure, unoriginal.)

I actually still read the Sports section first thing each morning, even if I knew who won.

I have a life, people! (Or, rather, I did last year when the Diamondbacks were eliminated in, oh, May.) I've been looking at my upcoming schedule -- my social calendar, as it were -- and I am just full booked up here. Have been since Labor Day -- heck, since long before Labor Day.

Do I have time to read the Sports section obsessively? No. Do I look like someone who wants to be trapped in front of the television when the weather is cooling off and my daughter has soccer practice? No. Do I seem like the person who would pad this rant out to a third question to reinforce the "rule of three"? Er...

And so while I'm happy that we successfully attained my goal numbers 1, 2, and 4 with our series victory over the Padres (with goal numbers 3 and 5 through 9 still possibilities), the fact that #10 -- making the playoffs -- is still possible is both giddy and annoying.

I love extra-inning victories. For our team. But it's almost October, and it's time for us Arizonans to escape our hermetically sealed air-conditioned environments and reacquaint ourselves with the outside world.

Still, I just have one thing to say for tonight, and that is, Go Giants!

Old habits die hard.