We Didn't Start the Fire

No We Didn't Light it but we Tried to Fight It - Billy Joel

Well, I have concluded my weekend o'baseball and I must say, I am more than thrilled with how things have gone down. I have recieved more than a dozen autographs from Diamondback and Kansas City players; including an autographed baseball from my icon: David DeJesus.

Over the last two days, I have seen the Mexican National Team beat the Arizona Diamondbacks (Saturday at the TEP) and the Kansas City Royals drub the Colorado Rockies 13-8 (Sunday at Hi Corbett).

The following are my impessions from the games.

The Mexican National team beat the D-Backs 6-1 (in front of an amazingly partison, pro-Mexico crowd) thanks to a Luis Garcia grandy in the eigth. Said homer barely cleared the fence in right and ended what seemed to be a tight, dramatic 2-1 ballgame.

Eric Byrnes (who led off for the D-Backs second split squad against the Mexican team) is still a ferocious batter. Every at bat that he had was a battle and he nearly hit a home run in his first at bat (it was called foul by inches). One thing I noticed is that he seems to be swinging the bat a lot faster than when I saw him with the A's in '04. He used to try and poke out hits, but from what I saw he's trying to hit line drives more than loopers.

Esteban Loaiza has quite a few years left in his arm. Loaiza pitched a perfect two and two-thirds innings and looked more than capable of handling the Diamondbacks backup roster.

Chad Tracy (who was willing to give me an autograph, but instead only gave one to Marc Jones) is an incredible hitter and isn't too shabby with the glove. I expect to see him step up if the Diamondbacks plan on making a dent in the NL West.

Although I didn't get to see Orlando Hudson, it's pretty clear that the Diamondbacks live and die on ground balls; in fact, three of the Mexican hits should have been outs had the middle infield been able to reach them. I think that Orlando Hudson's gold glove defense will be more than enough to save a few runs from scoring on the D-Backs.

As far as the Royals/Rockies game went, the game was an absolute shocker. I showed up wearing a Royals jersey, batting helmet and carrying my baseball glove. I went to my seats and stared down as Marc Jones pointed to a group of players behind the batting cages and howled "IT'S DEJESUS!!! DON'T **** WITH DE-JESUS!" Naturally, I rushed down and waited for him to take a few cuts before letting out the usual "you're on my fantasy team, yo!" and "how long 'till you hit 30/30" shouts. The stadium was so empty, DeJesus actually walked over and signed my baseball; after him I got Angel Berroa, Paul Phillips, Clint Ambres and starting pitcher Scott Elarton's autographs. After about two hours of standing in the hot (effing HOT!) Arizona sun, I retreated to my seats. Over the course of this game, David DeJesus, Angel Berroa and Paul Phillips would all rack up three hits (DeJesus going 3-4 with two doubles before being pulled) along with Mark Teahen. The Royals would win 13-8 and demoralize the Hi Corbett crowd.

David DeJesus is the next big center fielder, especially if he can stay healthy. After a conversation with him regarding his late season injuries, he said he feels better.

Mike MacDougal gave up one ER in a full inning of relief (8th inning) but looked like his fastball was gaining some movement.

Jose Mesa came in to relieve late, his splitter is as nasty as ever.

Doug Mientkiewicz got the start at first base, since there is no DH at Hi Corbett. Mientkiewicz did not add much defensively, as he usually does.

Royals starting pitching needs the likes of Mark Redman and Zach Greinke to carry some slack, before the team can truly succeed. The Royals got 23 hits against the Rockies, but hits can't always win ballgames if your pitching is truly atrocious.

Todd Helton was a virtual nonfactor in today's game, he was slow on the field, his batting was far from what it should be. He may very well be on the downward spiral of his career.

Clint Barmes looked spectacular at shortstop, today. He was quick on the basepaths, got a couple of hits and was able to stop plays cold via defensive agility.

Royals' coach Buddy Bell seemed in good spirits, he also shrugged off questions about estranged starter Zach Greinke's time off.

The Royals are slowly evolving into a youth-based team with some decent power and tremendous defensive prowess. Veteran leadership in Doug Mientkiewicz and Reggie Sanders should only add to that.

The Rockies need Todd Helton if they're going to survive. They also look atrocious on the road; relying on singles to score all their base hits when they get so used to hitting dingers at home. Hopefully, the Rockies will get it together before Spring Training ends (I see them again March 25th).

These are my impressions, rock on, rock out. My next game is Tuesday in Phoenix (WBC Game, Pool B, Game 1: USA Vs Mexico). I am going to treat my painful, painful - did I say painful? - sunburns.

Cheers,
Jack Jablin