Times have changed for the ladies of the snakepit and for all female fans of Major League Baseball.  Here's a historical fact:  Today is Ladies Day, marking the first time ladies were admitted free to a major-league baseball game on this date in 1883. Their hosts were the New York Giants.

And now?  Look how many women we have who post regularly on the 'pit, look how many come to snakepitfest, and there are even plans for a ladies night at Chase for the Snakepit women. 

Thanks, New York Giants, for your forward thinking.   (This thank you in no way transfers to the current Giants team that finds itself in San Francisco.) 

JOHNSON NAMED NL PLAYER OF THE MONTH FOR APRIL

May 3, 2010 – Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Kelly Johnson has been named National League Player of the Month for April.

In his first month with the Diamondbacks, Johnson had the best April of his career, leading the National League with nine home runs and a .750 slugging percentage. In 22 games, Johnson batted .313 (25-80) with 18 RBI, 17 runs scored and a .404 OBP. His eight doubles were most among NL second basemen while his nine homers tied Steve Finley (2000) and Richie Sexson (2004) for the second-highest April totals in D-backs' franchise history (Luis Gonzalez’s 13 HR in April, 2001 are first).

and read my Eric Byrnes story.  My daughter, (aka The MarinerHouseWife), her kids, and I went to see the Mariners and the Rockies play in Albuquerque on April 3rd.  That MarinerHouseWife was standing at the rail with her son,  pointing out all the players as they were warming up.  "There's Byrnesie!  Hi, Byrnesiee!" she yelled at EB, jumping up and down in excitement.   He waved at her and said, "I like your energy!"   By this time, I had arrived with The Baby, who had been napping in the car.  MarinerHouseWife, in our seats, pointed out EB to me.  I was wearing my purple DBacks Byrnes jersey.  I started yelling hello at him, and he turned around and waved to me.   Then he got ready to throw the ball he had in his hand.  Lots of people put their hands up, but he shook his head.  I put my hand up and he threw the ball right to me.  (And I even caught it!)    Both my daughter and I were immediately even crazier baseball fans.    My daughter's comment was,  "I'm 12 years old!"   It made our day even more fun.

From Yahoo Sports:

The Mariners added a right-handed bat, agreeing to a one-year contract with outfielder Eric Byrnes(notes).

Byrnes, who will turn 34 on Feb. 16, was let loose two weeks ago by the Arizona Diamondbacks. Arizona owed him $11 million from the final season of a $30 million contract, and any team could sign him for the $400,000 minimum, with the Diamondbacks responsible to for the remainder.

He a career .260 hitter with 189 doubles, 30 triples and 109 homers. Seattle general manager Jack Zderiencik said on Thursday the Mariners wanted to add a veteran, right-handed bat to their lineup.

Byrnes was hampered by injuries the past two seasons and hit just .226 in 84 games last year.

(From me:  No comment as yet from MarinerHouseWife, who has heard me and Kishi discuss Byrnes at great length.)

I am so wishing that I had some embarassing-ly dorky photos of you in a Little League uniform, so that I could post those.  But sadly, I do not.   (Well, I do, somewhere, but I'm not motivated enough to go search for them. Consider it good luck.)  So in lieu of embarrasing you with photos, I will embarrass you by posting a "happy birthday"  fanpost.   I'm kinda glad the Diamondbacks are not playing today, because you won't have your birthday spoiled by a loss.  BTW, you are not getting a pony for your birthday.  Sorry.

What do you think of the MLB Network so far?  It's been on for over an hour now, so you should have some opinion of it.

I like it.  Turned it on about 10 minutes before the hour, and listened to the inspirational music and quick shots of various players and plays.   They were inspirational of course, and I was ready for the show to begin. 

I'm impressed with the commentators and with the format of the show so far.   The commentators are not all out to out-yell or make fun of each other (Fox NFL pregame, I'm looking at you).   They are intelligent, thoughtful, and know their stuff.  The main 4 guys are easy to watch; and the 2 women are knowledgeable, not just attractive additions. 

Now I'm watching the perfect game with Don Larson, complete with ads.  Very fun. 

This is going to be one of my most-watched channels if it maintains the quality shown so far. 

I was reading another baseball blog for some reason -- maybe hoping the fans of that team were suffering as much as we are -- and there was a fanpost about how the male bloggers mistreated the female bloggers on that site.   Evidently several women had started out with that blog and eventually quit posting because it was such a chauvinistic and hateful site.  The women who do post on there seem to be very defensive.  Uncomfortable. 

So, on behalf of myself and all the other women who post here, I thank all of you men for not making our gender an issue, for appreciating our posts for what they are, and not making fun of our crushes.  (Because we don't make fun of yours!) 

Anyway, after reading that blog, I really appreciate the community we have here.  I've not found it on many other blogs. 

Thanks.

This worked for snakecharmer with the duffle bag giveaway, so I will ask:  Is anybody going to the game on Saturday that wouldn't mind parting with the DBacks reversible floppy hat that's being given away?  If so, please let me know and we can work out details.  Mr. 4 Corners Fan thought it looked pretty neat, and I'd love to get one for him.  We can't make it to the game, so I will have to depend on the Snakepitters (those who have better taste in hats than Mr. 4 Corners Fan!)   Thanks!

I see that we can already start voting for players for the All Star Game.  Obviously, we'll vote the all-DBacks slate; but who do you think has the best chance of 1) going to the game and 2)starting?   Given the mostly East Coast focus of MLB coverage; it will be hard for the DBacks to attract votes from fans who don't have a chance to see them or hear about them as often as they might hear about other teams.  Which player, if anybody, has the best chance of catching on with fans of other teams?  Enough to get a DBack starting in the game? 

This morning I was watching some news show and they had an interesting statistic on stating that 93% of internet users are between the ages of 18 and 29.   That seems very young to me, since I know a lot of people over the age of 29 who use the internet a lot.  It got me to wondering what the age range is here on the 'Pit.  Not looking for specific ages, but just whether you fall in to that range, are younger or older.

We know Jim just celebrated a birthday that took him out of the range by a few. . . 

I'll start.  I'm well over the age of 29; in fact I have a daughter who is over age 29 (and she uses the internet!) and a son and daughter who fall in the 18-29 range. 

Anybody??