Results tagged ‘ 2011 ’
Peace and Love and Antlers to All + My Resolutions for 2012
I’m sitting here, realizing this is my second New Year’s on my blog (you can see last year’s here, if you are morbidly or otherwise interested), which seems completely bizarre but pretty great at the same time. Sifting through all this year’s posts yesterday, I realized how much has really gone down here and I’ve loved every moment of it.
So, yes. Sappiness. I very much appreciate you all reading (aka, tolerating) my stuff and wish you a very happy new year and hope your tortur—I mean, team of choice does well in 2012. Provided their name is not Dodgers or Angels or Red Sox or Phillies or Cardinals. (Just kidding, guys. I will attempt- and perhaps fail, but attempt all the same- to love your team no matter who they are.)
Okay. Now that that’s out of the way! Let do the whole resolution thing.
First, last year’s resolutions:
1. I resolve to visit my grandparents in Los Angeles without fighting over whether Wilson or Broxton is a better closer. (DID NOT SUCCEED. ALSO, UNFORTUNATELY, STARTED LOATHING WILSON.)
2. I resolve to dissolve my life savings and go to Citi Field or Yankee Stadium. (DID NOT SUCCEED.)
3. I resolve to carry a sign to an A’s vs. Rangers game and get the object of my sign to autograph it. (DO NOT SUCCEED. BUT DID GET A C.J. WILSON AUTOGRAPH, ON THE UPSIDE, THAT PROMPTLY RUBBED OFF, AS SOON AS HE WALKED AWAY.)
4. I resolve to crash the 2011 GM Meetings. (DID NOT SUCCEED.)
5. I resolve to repeat my feat of walking over every inch of AT&T Park in stilettos. (DID NOT SUCCEED.)
Huh. Apparently those didn’t go so well.
No matter! I have a whole new slightly more reasonable batch now and a whole new year (well, whole assuming the world doesn’t, you know, end, seeing as it’s 2012) to get them done. Here we go:
1. I will follow Joey Martinez’s career with eagle eyes and be his #1 cheerleader.
2. I will go to sleep 10+ times to the sound of Jon Miller and Dave Flemming’s voice.
3. I will paint portraits of all the Giants. (Okay, fine. Probably not.)
4. I will finally, completely, actually finish A Band of Misfits. Yes, I got it after the 2010 season. Yes, I have not finished it. Yes, it’s still sitting on top of my bookshelf. Yes, I am not exactly motivated.
5. I will covert my fish into a baseball fan. It can be done. I have faith.
See? Are those awesome or are those awesome? And kinda-sorta potentially achievable, too. I am also going to try to call Brian Sabean until his phone message quota cracks, but I’m trying to make this list mega-achievable and all that so I left that one off.
On another note, I have to warn you that I will probably post an enormous number of posts next year if I continue on my current track record, which is 71 in 2010 and 245 this year. Forewarned is forearmed.
Anyhow, Happy New Year once more! Let’s all make 2012 fabulous, shall we?
Diamond Girl
In Which I Twist an NY Times Article to My (Baseball) Motives
Everyone’s getting all end-of the-year now and the NY Times is no exception. Neither am I, for that matter, as you will see below.
The Times had an article yesterday titled Reliving the Best (and Worst) Ads of 2011 and it’s actually (yes, I’m surprised. I’m not the biggest Times fan myself.) a good, fun piece with the fantastic details of each campaign’s ad agency, when they could sleuth it out. I probably just liked it because it mentioned my favorite Chrysler campaign, but that’s beside that point.
Anyhow, me being me who brings everything back to baseball, I got thinking about the whole “Together, We’re Giant” thing. I thought that tagline for the season was absolutely terrible- it basically left me wondering whether to laugh hysterically or cry hysterically- but some of the TV commercials connected to it were, admittedly, completely wonderful.
I went back and looked and found my absolute favorite moment:
(You can watch it here.)
This is, of course, more than a teensy bit bittersweet, seeing as neither Andres Torres or Cody Ross are Giants anymore, but the whole cuticles thing is probably the only reason I stuck with the Giants all last season and through this offseason.
Come on, I’m just kidding!
Sort of.
Which is to say, for all those people listing all the big moments they will remember Torres and Ross for? This is mine.
Diamond Girl
It’s Complicated.
Not to worry, that’s not my relationship with the Giants. We are solidly together. That’s their relationship with themselves. Doesn’t this seem like an eerie-reverse-repeat of last year? In early-season 2010 it was, Play the people we should play (overpaid veterans) or play the people who are actually hot right now? The difference now is that the people we should play are the misfit World Series Champions and the fans are on their side.
It’s not an ultimatum. Every night the lineup can be different. But I think it’s time to adjust to the fact that it’s a new year, with new potential heroes and leave behind this Cody Ross thing. I mean, he batted .269 last year which is exactly the same as Miguel Tejada. So why is Tejada greeted with skepticism and Ross hailed as the savior of the offense? I understand that Ross was a playoff hero and I have nothing against him, but I could honestly see a scenario in a few weeks where Nate Schierholtz is a more productive bat from right field than Cody. Just like Wilson coming back doesn’t save the team, neither will Ross. Basically, when Rowand is hot he can play and when he isn’t he can sit. We’re used to that.
2011 is shaping up to be another year of switching and scrapping and figuring it out. And there might be some pretty different faces than last year. There’s no such thing as a “repeat” season. If we make it back to the top, it won’t be because we did the same thing as last year.
And I really hope that they put Belt in right. In the long run for the organization, he makes most sense there and it’s time to start getting him used to his future home. Nate is probably most useful as a trading pawn and Ross and Belt can share right field. (Speaking of which… right field has always struck me as more random than left. The phrase should be “out of right field”, really.)
Diamond Girl
p.s. Why is the background for Aubrey Huff’s MLBlog Dodgers themed? There should be a million question marks on that.
UPDATE: Aaaaand it’s fixed!
April 1st in Diamond Girl World and The Need For Some Brandon Belt Clones
I’m not going to try and prank you. It’s too late in the day, for that. Everyone is on guard by now. That doesn’t mean I haven’t pranked anyone today. Read on.
My morning routine is basically to stumble out of my bed (TMI? Yes.), read my news on my iPod and then tell anyone who is awake and will listen what’s going on in baseball. So this morning this is how it went:
Diamond Girl: Oh my god, did you hear? They traded Timmy.
The Brother is not buying it at all.
The Sister: What?
DG (sounding panicked): They traded Lincecum!
The Sister: They can’t. He’s the Franchise.
At this point The Mother comes running out of the kitchen.
Mother: WHAT?
DG (on the verge of tears): He and Sabean got in this huge fight last night and the Cards have been bugging the Giants about a starting pitcher, because they lose Wainwright, so last night Sabean was like, Take Timmy.
The Mother and The Sister run to their respective computers to read the news.
DG (yells after them): April Fool!
What happens after this needs not be related. Let’s just say all hell broke loose. They’re both big Timmy people.
It worked perfectly. Last year, it was the whole “we’re moving to New Jersey!” thing on Facebook. That one went way too far. And then two perfectly executed prank calls. It’s quality, not quantity.
And about tonight’s game? I didn’t get to listen to most of it, but I hear it got ugly. We can still go 160-2, right? Or clone Brandon Belt because he is way beyond great and I love him? Or just get a good, morale boosting defense coach? That’s a kind of good idea, actually. I have a few candidates for that job. Like, you know, me.
Diamond Girl
p.s. Don’t be paranoid, Giants fans. She takes the midnight train at Dodger stadium every night. They’re not playing Don’t Stop Believin’ to mock us.
Goodbye Spring Training, A Semi-Original Poem
The Giants arrived in San Francisco last night which is so exciting I can barely write. And I am going to the ballpark tonight which is also so exciting I can barely write. Cinnamon roasted walnuts, here I come!
But before we get down to Bay Ball (nod to Mychael Urban), I want to give a quick goodbye to Spring Training.
Goodbye Arizona
Goodbye Spring Training
Goodbye people playing who I’ve never heard of
Goodbye Scottsdale
And Surprise, too
Goodbye split-squad games
Goodbye cactus
Goodbye scorpions
And goodbye beautiful weather
Goodbye strange jerseys
And goodbye games that don’t matter
Goodbye static-y broadcasts
And goodbye lawns in the outfield
Goodbye no pressure
And goodbye nostalgia of last year
Goodbye questions about the rotation
Goodbye Brian Wilson
And goodbye to the old beat writer
whispering “it’s just Spring Training”
Goodbye Arizona
Goodbye Spring Training
Hello to baseball everywhere
We’re close. We are so, so close.
Diamond Girl
The Best Hair Crown Just Went Bye-Bye
The first round of Spring Training cuts happened today and though I am a Hinshaw fan, I have to admit I wasn’t sad for this to happen. It means we’re a little closer to this whole strange thing that is Spring Training being over.
Spring Training freaks me out because if the team does well, I have this, The teams that do well in Spring Training don’t do well in the real season feeling. And if the team does badly, it’s all What’s wrong with them?! They’re going to be terrible! I am excited about how good the Giants have been so far, but I’m a little tentative. Not getting my hopes up. Much.
CJ Wilson’s new(ish) Twitter profile picture.
You know how in Alice in Wonderland, after the final battle, the crown goes flying from the Red Queen’s head to the White Queen’s and then the Cheshire Cat appears (you can see it at 6:45 here)? I need someone with evaporating skills to help me with that.
So. I need a new Best Hair King. And I’m taking votes on these three candidates.
1. Barry Zito, San Francisco Giants
2. Gio Gonzalez, Oakland A’s
3. Neftali Feliz, Texas Rangers (who, for the record, has the best curls ever)
Takin’ votes down there in the comments. If you vote, I will send you some Aussie hairspray. Maybe. Potentially. Perhaps.
Diamond Girl
My Paris Hilton’s BFF Shoes, The Zito Breakdown and Mark DeRosa’s Look Alike
My breakdown of Zito, that is. Not him breaking down in his Range Rover or something.
I’ve spent the past few days doing things like discovering I can only make good ad roughs while chewing watermelon gum and watching the Academy Awards and wondering what is wrong with James Franco (a lot) and deciding that Halle Berry was best dressed, hands down and then having a bit of a Shopalohics Anonymous moment at a shoe store today when I tried on these five inch Steve Madden heels that were covered in gold glitter. It wasn’t until The Sister alerted me that I looked like Paris Hilton’s BFF that I ditched them.
Most important event of these days though? The fact that Real Live Baseball Before Your Very Eyes is happening. It is enough to make me glow more than any glittery Madden heels for days on end.
The game today was a hard one for me, though. I am a huge Zito fan (you knew that, didn’t you?) and a little apprehensive for his first start, albeit a Cactus League start, since the whole playoff roster thing. Well, I’ll just say this wasn’t exactly comforting. I mean, physically it’s not surprising he would be a little off in his first start, but I think the mental thing is a bigger deal for him. My personal opinion is that his little plans every year are to blame. I’m sure every player has some sort of plan, but with Zito it always seems to get out. And they include messing with his pitches or his motion in a big way. He seems to way overthink it (hey, don’t we all? He just does it very publicly). I believe he is a premiere pitcher and a Cy Young Award winner and he just needs to cut the plans and pitch. Mychael Urban told me that it’s a “go back to roots” thing this year. I understand that conceptually, but it is, for better or for worse, nine years later than those roots and that doesn’t seem like it’s poised to succeed, to me. There is such a thing as being too smart and we all experience it from time to time. The NFL knows it too. Mostly, Zito is obviously someone who needs a little space to figure things out, so I hope it was just, um, first game weirdness? ::crosses fingers::
Otherwise, the game was pretty encouraging for us San Franciscans and wanna-be-San-Franciscans and San-Franciscans-at-heart. Brandon Belt basically screamed, Listen, y’all! and DeRosa actually seemed healthy out there which is bizarre and lovely at the same time. DeRosa and healthy feel almost like oxymorons. But I hope not.
Isn’t that guy a total Mark DeRosa look alike? He’s Rufus Sewell and I saw him in Tristan and Isolde, which, by the way, is not worth watching even to spot the DeRosa doppelganger. And the fact that I think they look alike has nothing to do with the character being named Marke.
So that is my giant catch-up session because it’s been way too long and not blogging for two whole days is ridiculous. Hugs and lemon poppy-seed muffins to all. I really need to make some of those. It’s been too long.
Diamond Girl
‘Cause it’s February, the 22nd and I’m hugging Dodgers…
…and I can’t tell a lie.
I have watched Holiday Inn way (and I mean way, way) too many times so as soon as I looked at a calendar and saw it was February the 22nd that song got stuck in my head.
The Giants Spring Training season kicks off on Friday and I’m not gonna lie: I am counting the minutes. Well, days. But almost minutes. I am, once again, not gonna lie: I would prefer to be in the Grapefruit League. The Grapefruit League brings to mind a sort of comic book world with eternal spring and around the clock baseball. The Cactus League just brings rather unpleasant memories of cactus that grows a little too far onto the sidewalk. The rest is unfortunate history.
I would also like to say that my heart breaks a little every time I see something about Juan Uribe in Dodger Blue. The Merc was kind enough to make an entire photo slideshow of said object. That was sort of rough. One picture is, you know, plenty.
Uribe is an example of someone who totally has a personality without freaky beards or black masks or anything like that. Oooo-ribe was wonderful while it lasted. He will be missed.
I’ve almost filled up my Talking About Dodgers quota so I’ll go fast with this… don’t you dare make a joke about Eugenio Velez missing his flight and missing that ball. You know the one. I was there and it was wet. And he had just gotten hit in the head, which tends to be omitted from the history books. Velez is a good defensive outfielder and he tries 110% all the time. Which is, of course, part of his problem but you can’t say he doesn’t try. And that play is utterly understandable and missing a plane flight is no fun at all. Hugs to him too.
I need to sign off before I hug any more Dodgers. Happy February the 22nd. Treat yourself to a little Fred Astaire. And a little more.
Diamond Girl
In 5 Minutes: What’s Trending on Day 5 of Spring Training 2011
*I bought my first tickets for the 2011 season yesterday. Way beyond excited.
*Another day, another piece of not entirely positive news about Joe Martinez.
*If you use melted chocolate instead of a cocoa powder in your hot chocolate you eliminate the possibility of grounds at the bottom. (Diamond Girl with Useful Advice strikes again!)
*This video made me giddily excited. It’s one thing to miss baseball in the offseason but it’s quite another to see it at your fingertips. Zito and Lincecum doing bullpen sessions together is one of the greatest things ever.
*I know it’s Day 5. I know it’s Day 5. But every mention of little injuries freaks me out. Stay healthy, brothers. Stay healthy. I am not prone to being panicky, but in this situation…
*Brian Wilson stated that the beard may not last the season. I started writing an obituary for it.
*The Albert Pujols saga has progressed to the We Are So Puzzled We Are Not Even Going There stage.
*The Michael Young saga went there a long time ago.
And there you have it. Day 5 in 5 minutes. Who knew a sleepy Friday in February could be that exciting?
Diamond Girl
p.s. I ventured out into the rain to see Justin Bieber in 3D because virality is one of my passions in life (seriously). All I could think the whole time is, “Is Scooter Braun [his manager] related to Ryan?” And, you know, “Why is Justin trying to poke my eye out?” I am with Roger Ebert on the whole 3D thing.
sfdiamondgirl
Recent Comments