Larry Brown Sports

The Arizona Diamondbacks forced some Los Angeles Dodgers fans sitting in premium seats behind the plate at Chase Field on Friday night choose between removing their Dodgers gear or switching seats, according to a story from Deadspin.

Deadspin notes that early in Friday’s game, which the Diamondbacks won 3-0, there were a handful of fans in Dodgers gear sitting behind home plate. The Dodgers gear was no longer visible later in the game. That’s because Arizona owner Ken Kendrick gave the fans the option of switching gear or moving seats.

“Due to the high visibility of the home plate box, we ask opposing team’s fans when they purchase those seats to refrain from wearing that team’s colors,” the D-backs said in a note to Deadspin. “During last night’s game, when Ken Kendrick noticed the fans there, he offered them another suite if they preferred to remain in their Dodger gear. When they chose to stay, he bought them all D-backs gear and a round of drinks and requested that they abide by our policy and they obliged.”

So, what are the D-backs telling us here? We’ll take your money, and we’ll let rival fans into the park, but you’re not going to make us look bad on TV.

The screenshot at the top of this post is from the first inning. The after picture below is from the eighth:

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On Wednesday, former Arizona Diamonbacks pitcher Trevor Bauer released a new rap song entitled “You Don’t Know Me.” The timing of the release was an incredible coincidence, as D-Backs catcher Miguel Montero had just made comments earlier this week about Bauer and how difficult he was to work with.

The rap track (which you can listen to here) had plenty of curious lines in it like, “You hide behind a mask to facilitate a task,” but Bauer insists it was a message to his haters in general and not about any of his former teammates.

“The song was done in early December about people on Twitter who say you’re terrible, work on your ERA, stick to this, stick to that,” Bauer said according to The Plain Dealer. “It wasn’t made about anyone in particular, certainly not about Miguel Montero.”

There’s very little the now-Cleveland Indians pitcher could say to make me believe nothing in the song was written about what transpired in Arizona, but you had to know that’s what he would say. What really is a relief, however, is that Bauer acknowledged he is horrible at rapping.

“If someone was to go out and fish and catch a two-inch fish, no one would make fun of them,” he said. “But because I go out and I’m terrible at rapping, but I enjoy the process about making the beat and writing the lyrics, and I happen to put it online, if someone wanted to listen or happened to like it, I get blown up about it and there’s a whole bunch of controversy over a hobby I do.”

Welcome to life in the big leagues. Everything you do is going to be viewed under a microscope, even if it’s messing around and writing a crappy rap song. If he doesn’t already, Bauer will understand that in time.

Diamondbacks rookie third baseman Ryan Wheeler experienced one of the most exciting moments of his career on Saturday night. In the seventh inning of a game against the Astros, Wheeler popped his first big league home run. His veteran teammates did exactly what they were supposed to do to make the milestone more memorable; they gave the rookie the silent treatment when he returned to the dugout after rounding the bases.

This is by no means an original prank, but give the Diamondbacks credit for holding out longer than teams typically do. Their job was to make Wheeler feel as uncomfortable as possible, and it appears they did just that. It may not have been nearly as funny as when Mark Reynolds left Buck Showalter hanging earlier this year, but it was certainly well executed.

With roughly a third of the 2012 MLB season in the books, the Diamondbacks still have plenty of time to turn things around. Heading into this season, expectations were high in Arizona.The D-Backs won the NL West last season with an impressive 94 win total and have returned Stephen Drew and Justin Upton. However, they are currently third in the NL West with a record of 26-30. Things have taken an unexpected turn, and D-Backs managing general partner Ken Kendrick believes the team’s young stars are part of the problem.

“I think Stephen should have been out there playing before now, frankly,” Kendrick said in reference to the gruesome ankle injury Drew suffered last season, according to the Arizona Republic. “I, for one, am disappointed. I’m going to be real candid and say Stephen and his representatives are more focused on where Stephen is going to be a year from now than on going out and supporting the team that’s paying his salary.”

Drew’s agent, Scott Boras, says that is nonsense. Drew has a mutual player/club option worth $10 million for next season, and if either side denies he’ll be in search of a new contract.

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The Arizona Diamondbacks clinched their fifth division title in franchise history Friday night with a 3-1 win over the Giants. They did it in fitting fashion, coming back from down 1-0 to seal their league-leading 46th comeback victory. After clinching, they celebrated in one of the best ways possible. They all jumped into the pool beyond the right field fence:

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The Arizona Diamondbacks have been hot lately winning nine straight games. They’re now six games ahead of the Giants in the NL West and their magic number is 20 to clinch the division. They have a big three-game set with the Giants beginning Friday night and the stakes are greater than just a potential shift in the standings. As Hardball Talk points out to us, D-Backs front office men Kevin Towers (pictured) and Derrick Hall will shave their heads if the team’s winning streak reaches 10.

That agreement apparently was in place this week when the team had only won six in a row. Third baseman Ryan Roberts tweeted about the deal on Wednesday, writing “I can’t wait to get the 10th win in SF so I can shave some heads!!!! I can’t say who but everyone will see. Hahaha.”

Cat’s out of the bag, Ryan. We know who’s involved. And apparently Roberts has expressed his desire to shave the heads on home plate. Hey, if the D-Backs can win their weekend series with the Giants, I’m guessing their execs will only be too happy to go bald. They’re not the first people in baseball to lose hair during a streak, but usually guys change it up when their team is losing, not winning.

UPDATE: The D-Backs lost to the Giants Friday night, ending their streak at nine. Derrick Hall tweeted “Not happy! I would much rather have to shave my head tonight!”

Forearm bash to Hardball Talk and the Mercury News

Through the first month of the season, it’s pretty clear that there’s one team head-and-shoulders above everyone else: the Arizona Diamondbacks. They’ve consistently been winning at a .700 clip this year, and they’ve already had an 8-game winning streak. They lead the majors in runs scored and runs batted in when it comes to offense. As a nice complement, they also lead the majors in ERA and WHIP. So that pretty much means they have the best hitting team as well as the best pitching team in baseball. And as if having the 6-0 Brandon Webb — the clear favorite for the Cy Young at this point — isn’t enough, then having four-game winners Dan Haren and Micah Owings in the rotation is also pretty good. To make matters worse for opponents, Randy Johnson is back and mastered the Padres last time out (yeah, I know, it was San Diego, but still). So what does this all mean? The best may be yet to come: Max Scherzer has been called up.

Max Scherzer was ridiculous in Triple-A Tucson this year, going 23 innings over four starts, allowing just three runs. In a display of sheer dominance, Scherzer only walked three batters while striking out 38. He only gave up 12 hits. And Max made his Major League debut on Tuesday night in long relief of Edgar Gonzalez who got smacked around by Houston. Gonzalez allowed six runs over two and two-thirds, and Scherzer came on in relief. Max’s line: four and a third perfect innings with seven strikeouts. So Randy Johnson comes back from back surgery, Doug Davis is recovering from thyroid surgery, Webb, Haren, and Owings are dueling for the Cy Young, and on top of all this, the rest of the NL now has to worry about Max Scherzer. Pity the rest of the league, pity them.