Today was Dbacks FanFest.

There was a great turn out at Chase Field, and for those who were there (and also those that couldn’t be), there was also a lot of action on the official Diamondbacks twitter account (@Dbacks), with various Diamondbacks taking over the account and interacting with fans throughout the day.

In summary:

• Barry Enright wants to play video games with you. Gamer tag: BarryE. Look him up. He gave his permission.
• Barry Enright is scared of Buster Posey, but David Hernandez thinks Matt Kemp is scarier. And, opposing managers will probably feed Daniel Hudson an entire line-up of pesky left-handed lead-off hitters.
• Ryan Roberts added to his tattoo collection this off-season.
• Daniel Hudson brought number 41 with him from the White Sox.
• Ian Kennedy is, reportedly, the best dancer on the team.
• And, it seems like #DefendTheWest might be the newest hashtag that you’ll need to know.

Other Diamondback news released today included the 2012 Promotion Schedule (HERE). Highlights: Moms are getting earrings on Mother’s day, Ryan Roberts tattoo sleeves, the return of the fan vote bobblehead, and a very intriguing-sounding “shirts off of our Dbacks” promotion.

And, thirdly, ESPN Buster Olney found himself trending in Phoenix (on twitter) this evening because of a tweet that went a little something like this:

I’ve got my picks. But, that seems like a pretty good place to start, Mr. Olney, sir.

Who y’all got?

(ps: Are you ready to catch up with the Yakima Bears tomorrow? We’re almost there countdowners!)

So, the MLB Fan Cave selection comittee has narrowed the field down to the 50 finalists.

The field will eventually be narrowed down to 30, based on the results of fan voting. It’s a new format and the success of it remains to be seen.

The whole process seems a little bit like spring training.

You do your best (make an audition video) and hope they pick you to come to spring training (be one of the 50 to make it to the round of online voting). THEN you have to make it out of camp (the final 30).

The final 30 will then make the roster where they are going to compete against each other (in what the Fan Cave promo material is calling their version of ”Spring Training”)  for a chance to make the post-season roster (ie: be invited to participate in the reality to show to see who survives to the end of the season).

MLB hasn’t decided how many of the final 30 will be invited onto the show, but it is our turn to vote to see who will get the opportunity to stay in the competition.

Of the 50 finalists, 11 are women (leaving 39 guys) and there – at least at first glance – seems to be a relatively broad representation of fans – though, by no means does it cover everyone.

By “favorite team”:

Angels (5); Yankees (5); Cardinals (4); Tigers (4); Giants (3); Mets (3); Athletics (2); Blue Jays (2); Braves (2); Brewers (2); Dodgers (2); Phillies (2); Cubs (1); Diamondbacks (1); Indians (1); Mariners (1); Orioles (1); Padres (1); Pirates (1); Rays (1); Twins (1); Rangers (1); Red Sox (1); Reds (1); Rockies (1);  and one smart guy who just couldn’t choose a favorite team and elected to have the MLB logo next to his profile and name-dropped pretty much everyone in MLB. 

Noticeably absent: Astros, Nationals,  Marlins, Royals and White Sox.

However, on closer inspection, these categories are almost arbitrary and, if you plan to spend any time in/around or tuning into the Fan Cave this season, all of the videos warrant a closer look.

» Continue reading “The MLB FanCave Has Finalists. Or: The Other Spring Training.”

 If you are hungry, bored, or you’ve always wanted to have your lunch made by a major league baseball player, head to Subway today.

And, if you are not in the area, consider buying your lunch at Subway today and supporting the company that is making FanFest free this weekend.

FanFest is coming! Baseball is near. Make sure you’re keeping up with the countdown calendar!

So, there was a football game on Sunday. Perhaps you heard about it?

And, during the course of said football game, I’m sure that countless beers were consumed around the country.

And, at the end of this football game, twitter simultaneously exploded with reactions to the game and tweets proclaiming the official start of baseball season. One of these tweets, courtesy of Daniel Hudson, seemed innocent enough.

And, then, the (presumably) drunk and/or delusional Dodgers fan got involved. At which point, the whole thing descended into insanity.

I’m choosing to believe that there was lots of alcohol involved on the part of the instigator. It makes the whole situation make much more sense. (Also: thanks to Daniel Hudson for using the “quote retweet” option and making capturing the essence of this conversation that much easier.)

I mean, really.  There’s drugs, financial controversy, damnyouautocorrect and the whole thing ends with a conversation about avocados.

  » Continue reading “Late Night Twitter Madness. Or: DHuddy41 Versus The (Most Likely) Drunk Dodgers Fan”

For those of you who are doing the countdown to spring training, Snakes on the Grass has come to provide you with a calendar to help you count down the days. It will hopefully keep you busy and, by the time the season rolls around, you will be so prepared for 2012, that you could probably jump in and cover third base if they asked!

All comments, questions, suggestions and updates on your progress are welcome!

Have fun!

And, while Snakes on the Grass is new to the aeryssports.com family, I would like to wish the site a happy first birthday.

Yeah. I love this team.

A little while ago, I wrote about the Diamondbacks hosting a “Most Valuable Partner” awards ceremony for their sponsors, complete with red carpet, singing, dancing and fancy clothes.

And, during that post, I bemoaned the fact that we had yet to see any footage of Derrick Hall singing and dancing.

I’ve also recently recounted how truly awesome Derrick Hall is and even caught up on the good news regarding his prostate cancer diagnosis.

Also, it’s been well-documented that not only are they Diamondbacks very proud of trying to create one of the best fan experiences in baseball (warning: video) with in-field attractions and media experiences, the lowest ticket price in MLB and letting people bring all the food/drinks they want to the park, just to make a night at Chase Field affordable. It has also been well-established that the Diamondbacks are one of the best employers in Arizona, year in and year out (after reading that, try to convince me you don’t want to work there, too. I  won’t believe you, but you can try).

And, while this site is supposed to be more than just a place where I link you to other places on the internet, everyone should really visit Yahoo!Sports today and read today’s article on Derrick Hall and the Dbacks.

–> READ THIS < –

You’ll be glad you did. It’s a great read. It is thorough and complete and well-written and all around awesome. This is, without a doubt, one of the best pieces written during this off-season and I absolutely want to give credit where credit is due.

And, we finally got that clip of Derrick Hall singing and dancing.

When there’s nothing worth noting happening in the front office or (blessedly) off -the-field in the land of the Diamondbacks, twitter can at least be counted on to provide a source of entertainment.

There are many Dbacks on twitter, but one of the most entertaining is easily Daniel Hudson (@DHuddy41). Between endless photos and tweets and videos of his ridiculously adorable puppy,offering his opinion on the speculation of bloggers, or talking about his mancrush on Ryan Reynolds, he never fails to entertain and amuse. He’s very active and engages with his teammates and fans and just generally makes following him an amusing experience.

Take today’s fan interaction, for example.

» Continue reading “Celebrity Look Alike. Or: More Twitter Shenanigans”

So, with the Athletics negotiating with Bartolo Colon and putting a wrench in my plan to accompany every pitching-related post for 2012 by a picture of a LOLcat, I figured today would be a good opportunity to catch up on some good news from the Dbacks’ family.

Firstly. At the end of last season, Dbacks CEO Derrick Hall was diagnosed with prostate cancer. So he scheduled his surgery for after the post season and, when it happened, things were much more progressed than they’d originally thought.

So, while he was awaiting his rechecks, there a  lot more trepidation than anyone had been anticipating. But, late last week, Derrick Hall announced that everything was clear.

And, then, the next day, he posted a picture to his twitter account, taken of a sign his daughter had made for him.

» Continue reading “Off-Field Happenings Or: Good News From The DBacks’ Family”

So, it was fairly traumatizing to see Chase Field all done up for a football game.

Well, today, the grounds crew at Chase Field has truly outdone themselves.

I am somewhat irrationally jealous that all of these other things are taking over the baseball field.

Yes, I appreciate that alternate uses of the building generate income which is always a good thing for the longevity of a franchise and the maintenance of the building’s structure and esthetics.

However, that doesn’t mean the site of all that dirt piled up on the pretty green grass doesn’t hurt my soul, just a little bit.

Way to go, universe. Just keep rubbing in that there’s no baseball yet.

Just keep rubbing it in.

Let me make this very clear. I have absolutely nothing against football.

I love that there are people who love football as much as I love baseball.

I love that you can buy all of the same ridiculous (yet totally awesome) crap with your team’s logo all over it for football teams that you can for baseball teams (Garden gnomes! Table lamps! Computer mice!).

And, I love that people get together to drink beer and eat fried food and become best friends with the people sitting next to them at the bar for 3 hours on random weekend afternoons while they bond over football.

Confession time: I understand as much about football as I do about cricket. Or chess.

That is to say, I’m aware of its existence and I can recognize it at 50 paces, but that’s pretty much it. And, I’m completely totally fine with that.

This week, when my inbox filled with emails about Kirk Gibson acting as the marshall for the Fiesta Bowl Parade in Phoenix, I read them all with a cursory appreciation (while I tried to figure out what a Fiesta Bowl was and while I fought off a craving for tacos). However, when the following showed up on my twitter feed and I – innocently – clicked the link, my heart broke a little.