No, I am not agreeing with Harold Camping here. And if you don't know who he is, then you must be living under a rock. Actually, what I'm talking about here is baseball. And then you ask, baseball? How can the end of the world involve baseball? I'll tell you.
As you know, I am an avid Diamondbacks fan. I have been ever since they came into the National League. I am a fan that cheers them on when they win games and the World Series and I'm a fan that gets mad and yells at the team when they make poor decisions - and I'm talking poor executive decisions (hiring the Director of Player Development instead of a proven baseball manager?). Yes, I do yell at the team when they make poor in-game decisions also, like not sacrificing the runner to second or third with no outs, letting a poor hitter swing at every pitch that's out of the zone or simply committing three errors in an inning (it's happened plenty of times). But not anymore, which is why it could be possible that the end of the world is coming.
The Diamondbacks - the laughing stock of the National League West, behind such powerhouse teams as the San Francisco Giants and the Colorado Rockies (sometimes, even the Los Angeles Dodgers) are in FIRST PLACE. First place? Granted, they are only a half game ahead of the Giants, but who expected them to even be this close to the lead in the West as of June 1st? No one.
I listen to ESPN's Baseball Today every weekday and the analysts there seem to pass off the Diamondbacks recent success as a fluke, figuring that they'll go back to their losing ways soon enough. And while I think that they are correct, it might not come right away, plus, with the Giants struggling after the loss of Buster Posey and the Rockies losing their best pitcher in Jorge de la Rosa, the Diamondbacks are poised to at least make an effort.
The DBacks have won nine out of their last ten with a current seven game winning streak. Their pitching has been better than average, if not amazing on some days, with the likes of Ian Kennedy, Josh Collmenter, Zach Duke and even Joe Saunders chipping in to do their parts. Plus, the bullpen has been practically lights out over their current winning streak, better than at any point the past couple of seasons.
This is the first time that the Diamondbacks have been in first place since September of 2008. That's a long time and as a fan, I've been waiting. I'm not going to celebrate completely yet, but it is fun to watch them and hope they keep winning. Of course, they still have three months to get themselves back to where the analysts think they'll be. Let's hope they surprise everyone.
Until next time.
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