Spendin' Saturday with the D-Backs

Yesterday I got to do one of my favorite summertime activities again, namely going to watch the Arizona Diamondbacks take on the Nationals. This time, I went alone save for my scorebook - I do enjoy scoring the games, and I've only missed somewhere around 4 so far this season. The club was also giving away some sweet DBacks duffle bags for the first 25,000 fans in the ballpark, so I got there early and snagged one! The game was GREAT - possibly one of the best I've seen. Brandon Webb pitched a complete game shutout for his tenth win of the season, complete with 8 strikeouts and no walks. Chris Young and Orlando Hudson each hit a homer, and Mark Reynolds blasted two in the game, one a 460-some footer to deep left! In the ninth, Reynolds also showed some major skill with a jumping/diving over the shoulder-behind the back-ish catch out in shallow left field. Possibly the best catch of the season for the team! But not to be outdone, the Nationals' pitcher Bergmann also pitched all 8 innings of his game, and he worked FAST. The game was the quickest in Diamondbacks club history at one hour, 52 minutes, and both teams used a combined (and minimum) 18 players. No pitching changes, no pinch hitters or runners, and no defensive switching. I'm almost glad I only paid $5 for the ticket because the game was shorter than the new "Indiana Jones" movie! Plus, the guy I was sitting next to was pretty cool. We chatted the whole way through the game about baseball. He works now for Boeing, but he used to be a player and scout for some of the minor league teams back in the day. He actually saw the Boston Red Sox go back-to-back-to-back-to-back with homers at Fenway Park last year, and nearly caught a homer by Carl Yastrzemski the year he won the Triple Crown in baseball. Good times, and thanks for bringing some extra fun to the ballpark for me, Boeing Guy!