It's Finally Here!!!

[Gee!]

The DBacks 2004 season opener!!!!

 

[Dback Jon]

Finally!!!

Woo hoo!

 

[Mike Olbinski]

WOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!



Mike

 

[thirty-two]

I'm wearing my DBACKS shirt to class today!

SCREW ALL THE CUBS and BREWER FANS HERE!!!

WHEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[AZCB34]

I'm wearing my DBACKS shirt to class today!

SCREW ALL THE CUBS and BREWER FANS HERE!!!

WHEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
QUOTE]

There are Brewers fans??

I cannot wait until game time. This is going to be an exciting year and an exciting division.

 

[IndyDevil]

Opening Day today (albeit on TV for me), Wed/Thu in Cincy for Cubs-Reds, then April 20-22 in Milwaukee for the D'backs-Brewers series.....not to mention the fact that this is Masters Golf week!!!

Whoo-hoo!!

 

[thirty-two]

then April 20-22 in Milwaukee for the D'backs-Brewers series

I'll be there, too!

 

[Ryanwb]

Is it true, the games aren't televised until Thursday?

Boo hoo!

 

[KingLouieLouie]

Is it true, the games aren't televised until Thursday?

Boo hoo!

I thought today's game is televised on Channel 3? Perhaps I'm wrong....

 

[Yotesfan85044]

Today's game IS on Channel 3 according to the AZDbacks website and TV Guide.

What I find a bit disappointing is the decision to have the roof closed today. There was an article about it in this morning's paper (below). For Pete's sake, it's Opening Day and you couldn't ask for more perfect weather! Open the damn roof! There'll be enough games with the roof closed from June through September. I guarantee the real baseball fans won't complain about sitting in the sun or having the glare block their vision of the ball. We had record crowds at spring training games this year, all in open air stadiums with the sun beating down and 90 degree record-breaking heat. I didn't hear anyone complaining.

Late-day sun means closed roof at BOB

Mark Gonzales
The Arizona Republic
Apr. 6, 2004 12:00 AM


Baseball purists would welcome cloudy skies for today's Diamondbacks opener at Bank One Ballpark.

BOB's retractable roof will open for the 3:05 p.m. start against Colorado only if cloud cover eliminates shadows and temperatures don't exceed the low 80s.

"We like input from anyone who wants to give it," team President Rich Dozer said Monday. "But I don't ask the players."

In 2002, former Diamondbacks pitcher Curt Schilling asked team officials if they would close the roof because he believed balls wouldn't travel so far. The team obliged until fans expressed displeasure, conveying through telephone messages and e-mails that they wanted the roof open as long as conditions were comfortable.

According to Major League Baseball guidelines, the home team makes the decision to start the game with the roof open or closed.

If the roof is open to start the game, it can be closed only in the event of threatening weather. Once the roof is closed during a game, it cannot be reopened.

The only exception is if the home team believes "fan comfort and enjoyment will be best served by opening the roof to the natural atmospheric conditions," and then the team must consult the umpire.

With today's mid-afternoon start likely to cause shadows across the infield, and fans sitting along the first base line would be looking into the sun under predicted partly cloudy skies and temperature of about 80 degrees, it's likely the roof will be closed, with the outfield panels open.

The team's decision is based on three factors:


• Fan comfort.

"As long as the sun isn't beating down on you, I want the roof open," said Karol Koepp of Phoenix, who will be attending her seventh Opening Day game at BOB and attends at least 15 home games each season. "But I've sat on the first base side before when it's hot, and it's been too uncomfortable. I don't mind them closing it in those conditions."


• Temperatures and glare. Fans sitting on the first base side have told team officials in season ticket roundtable meetings that they lose the flight of the ball in the sun's glare off the stadium.


• Shadows cast on the infield.

"If you can't see, this is the toughest game in the world to play," Diamondbacks manager Bob Brenly said. "You got to try to hit a ball moving 90 miles an hour. If visibility becomes a problem, not only is it hard to do your job, it's a safety issue. Hitters can't see the ball, and fielders can't see the ball coming off the bat. It can be a dangerous situation. Fortunately, it hasn't come to that too many times in the history of the game, but it should be considered."

Diamondbacks shortstop Alex Cintron said only shadows that affect his vision as a batter concern him, adding that the roof opening is a bigger issue to the pitchers.

Third baseman Shea Hillenbrand and left fielder Luis Gonzalez agreed that the fans' comfort should come under strong consideration.

"In the summer, you tend to forget how hot it is outside because you're comfortable inside," said Hillenbrand, a former Mesa Mountain View and Mesa Community College standout who returned to the Valley from Boston in June.

Added Gonzalez: "When we go play in a regular stadium, we have no say whether it's raining or snowing or anything like that. I think that was the purpose of those guys building a domed stadium."

The team opted for the mid-afternoon start on Opening Day after surveying selected season ticket holders.

"They don't like the 1 p.m. start," Dozer said. "People still want some of their day, so they can go to work, then pick up their kids from school and take them to the game."