Funnyball: Why the baseball god(s) aren’t too crazy about the Arizona Diamondbacks these days.
By Rod Lakin
As excuses go, none is more convenient than the esoteric type. Responsibility, after all, is hard to hand out in a world governed by the polytheistic forces guiding the fortuitous lift of a baseball against the fortunes of an already “unlucky” team. According to some in Arizona, Zeus and Apollo are not big fans of the Diamondbacks these days. How else can one explain the misadventures of baseball’s most accomplished expansion franchise?
The answer, in case the individuals running the D-Backs care (and they most certainly do not), could be found in Michael Lewis’s best-selling book, “Moneyball.” In “Moneyball,” Lewis describes how the Oakland A’s consistently turnout high win totals from a low budget, a pertinent premise for the Diamondbacks as they take their bloated payroll down from upwards of $90 million into the low $50 million range.
This season the Diamondbacks rank 13th in payroll ($70,204,984) and 29th (29) in wins. The incongruity has been explained (although not very well) via various metaphysical and revisionist rationales.
Talking about the state of the season last Thursday, Chairman and CEO Jerry Colangelo said, "We had our legs cut out from under us with some major injuries. You have to take that, but no one would have anticipated this avalanche - 15 guys on the DL is unheard of, but it has happened."
Fifteen on the DL may be unheard of, especially if you’ve never heard of several of those occupants. Alan Zinter, Brandon Lyon, Brian Bruney, Robbie Hammock, Shane Nance would fit this description or, for most, the lack an available one. Casey Fossum, Jose Valverde, Matt Kata and Oscar Villarreal aren’t exactly marquee names, either. Brent Mayne, Carlos Baerga, Greg Colbrunn, Matt Mantei, Richie Sexson, Roberto Alomar, and Shane Reynolds round out the rest, and only one (Sexson) is under the age of 30.
http://www.azgameday.com/news_gameday.shtml#newsitem1089130822,42212,
By Rod Lakin
As excuses go, none is more convenient than the esoteric type. Responsibility, after all, is hard to hand out in a world governed by the polytheistic forces guiding the fortuitous lift of a baseball against the fortunes of an already “unlucky” team. According to some in Arizona, Zeus and Apollo are not big fans of the Diamondbacks these days. How else can one explain the misadventures of baseball’s most accomplished expansion franchise?
The answer, in case the individuals running the D-Backs care (and they most certainly do not), could be found in Michael Lewis’s best-selling book, “Moneyball.” In “Moneyball,” Lewis describes how the Oakland A’s consistently turnout high win totals from a low budget, a pertinent premise for the Diamondbacks as they take their bloated payroll down from upwards of $90 million into the low $50 million range.
This season the Diamondbacks rank 13th in payroll ($70,204,984) and 29th (29) in wins. The incongruity has been explained (although not very well) via various metaphysical and revisionist rationales.
Talking about the state of the season last Thursday, Chairman and CEO Jerry Colangelo said, "We had our legs cut out from under us with some major injuries. You have to take that, but no one would have anticipated this avalanche - 15 guys on the DL is unheard of, but it has happened."
Fifteen on the DL may be unheard of, especially if you’ve never heard of several of those occupants. Alan Zinter, Brandon Lyon, Brian Bruney, Robbie Hammock, Shane Nance would fit this description or, for most, the lack an available one. Casey Fossum, Jose Valverde, Matt Kata and Oscar Villarreal aren’t exactly marquee names, either. Brent Mayne, Carlos Baerga, Greg Colbrunn, Matt Mantei, Richie Sexson, Roberto Alomar, and Shane Reynolds round out the rest, and only one (Sexson) is under the age of 30.
http://www.azgameday.com/news_gameday.shtml#newsitem1089130822,42212,
