?? Yeah, but this is part of what the press release says:
"The award names the D-backs as the most positive team in the world and is viewed as a 21st century peace prize for honoring and recognizing organizations that are positively impacting their communities through corporate responsibility. "

The structure will shade about 17,000 square feet of the plaza and include exhibits on renewable power and energy efficiency, according to APS.

The structure with red-and-beige panels matching the Diamondbacks' team colors interspersed with black solar panels will shade most of the area between the stadium and the building that houses Sliders American Grill to the west, architectural renderings show.

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drawing doesn't look too bad. Personally, I would rather have large trees doing the job of shading the plaza, but that could take 20 years, so I understand the reasoning. construction starts today, so it will be done by the all star game too.

"Using the bat makes a lot of sense for Owings, who has — shall we say — struggled on the mound after being pretty good as a rookie in 2007 and in the first part of 2008 with the D-backs. He has a 5.11 career ERA in 410 innings.

By contrast, it's Owings' bat that has always attracted more attention. Owings has a career line of .293/.323/.538 with nine homers in 198 plate appearances."
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interesting......

ASU plans to decide by early next month if it will submit an appeal of the postseason ban to the Infractions Appeals Committee.

"We disagree with some of the findings," said Virgil Renzulli, ASU Vice President of Public Affairs. "We think the postseason ban is excessive."

In a written response to the decision, ASU said the lack of institutional control violation is "inconsistent with the fact that overall ASU had and continues to have a very strong compliance program," as evaluated in the Pac-10 2009 compliance review.

finally, someone's chatting about something........

There is also more news about the staff Towers is putting together.

Also watching at home on television were at least five whistle-blowers who noted that the Reds were violating Ohio's indoor-smoking ban. They called Cincinnati's health department to report the team and now the Cincinnati Enquirer reports the club is under investigation.

In case you're wondering, the answer is yes — I'm extremely sorry to report that there are people living among us who would actually do this.
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Seriously?? Sorry, but this just rubs my libertarian views the wrong way. We've become a nation of tattle tales, sheesh.

btw, I have never smoked in my life.

Diamondbacks rank 3rd in the valley among fans. You can sort the categories in a couple of different ways

Kerr's contract expires June 30 but he had been expecting and hoping to return until negotiations for his contract and an opportunity to return to TNT as a NBA commentator prompted him to leave the organization after three years as its GM. Kerr could not be reached for comment.

We've got our Pool and they have their aquariums. They must be playing the cubbies as I've never seen them host that many fans before.
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"The twin custom-made saltwater aquariums will flank both sides of home plate while encompassing fish and coral-reef ecosystems at the new ballpark, which will open at the start of the 2012 season."
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Even with an inch and a half thick bullet proof glass? I see dead fish.

"Alas, here's what has gone down with the Diamondbacks, a team that actually looked like a budding dynasty in April 2008: Management is blaming the players for inexplicably weak performances, frequently referencing a core group of passive underachievers. They see the Dodgers' Russell Martin plowing into Diamondbacks with cleats flying and wonder why no one seems to fight back.

Players resent the inferences, responding with unspoken questions of their own. You gave us a manager who had never even coached? You left us with a bullpen that is historically, laughably bad? And we're the problem?"
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A group headed Jerry Reinsdorf has withdrawn from efforts to purchase the Phoenix Coyotes, a move that leaves Ice Edge Holdings as the last potential buyer that would keep the NHL team in Arizona.

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just a small blurb, not much more info than this.

This might seem a bit redundant with the other post, but this one has word for word what Kendrick said to Nick's questions. The other has more general information and Nick's take on it so i thought I'd link to both.

"LOS ANGELES - The Diamondbacks' disastrous first two months of the season have prompted the club's ownership to consider all avenues of change, including a drastic retooling of the major league roster.

But Managing General Partner Ken Kendrick said all areas of the organization are under review, from General Manager Josh Byrnes' baseball operations department on down to the players, whom Kendrick says are drastically underperforming."

"The 21-page filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Fort Worth, included a list of unsecured creditors headed by Alex Rodriguez, who's owed $24.9 million in deferred compensation six years since he was traded away from the team.

Other players on the list include Kevin Millwood ($12.9 million), Michael Young ($3.9 million) and Vicente Padilla ($1.7 million)."

Baseball news, not really Diamondbacks related, but I still found it interesting. Cubs did this right before their sale to "help" things along.

"Baseball commissioner Bud Selig is ignoring calls to move next year's All-Star game from Phoenix because of Arizona's new immigration law."

Ozzie Guillen is a little butt hurt and won't show, but who knows if he'll even have a job by then

Injured starting pitcher Brandon Webb will play catch on Monday, D-backs manager A.J. Hinch announced hours before his team's game Saturday evening opposing the Pittsburgh Pirates
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Not much else on this topic, but there are a few other news items too, one is old news now and the other is an update on Montero.

The best thing about baseball is that it demands patience from its audience, and patience, as we all know, is on the brink of extinction. You have to wait for something to happen with baseball. You have to work for it. It might take awhile. You can't push a button, click a mouse or fire up an app to feed your craving for action.
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Found this on another SB site and it sums up probably most our feelings very well.

Under the concept, teams would be able to decide where they'd want to play in a given season based on geography, payroll and willingness to contend. SI.com, citing an unnamed source who is familiar with the discussions, notes that a team couldn't move into a division more than two time zones beyond its home city — say, the Rays or Orioles trying to join the NL West.
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You have GOT to be kidding me..... I thought it was the sick dream of one Tom Verducci, but I have heard this mentioned the last two night now. This is someones serious idea to make baseball more competitive??? Seriously?
To be fair, this idea is being supported by a 14 member panel of executives and managers. I for one, hope it never, ever sees the light of day.
What do the rest of you think?

Brandon Webb would like everyone to just take a breath and not try to predict whether or not he will be ready to start the third game of the regular season.

"It's too soon to tell," the right-hander said before Saturday's game with the Giants.

in other words, Chill the heck out!!

Vote for the best single-season hitting performances by position in D-backs franchise history

I am fairly certain we have done this in some form or fashion on this site, but what the hey.....

Felled by a serious bout with Valley Fever last season, Jackson played in only 30 games and had 99 at-bats. He felt so fatigued and out of it, the D-backs shut him down for good on May 11. After a successful tour playing winter ball in the Dominican Republic, he's ready to step back into the starting lineup.

"Experience, the adage goes, is a hard teacher because she gives the test first and the lesson afterward. As important as the lessons were the relationships. Those are built on trust. Trust is earned through time.

Therefore, it's easy to see why Hinch is so excited to start his first full season as Diamondbacks manager. His first season with his players, his coaches.

His first season with his team."

I was less than thrilled when AJ was named manager, but was willing to give him time. For me, jury is still out, but I can say I am feeling better about it.

Oh, i would NOT read the comment section underneath unless Kishi can bring out that Anger Dome again... That Mets troll starts things off and it goes down hill from there

Webb threw bullpen session Tuesday for 1st time since surgery.

I know this will come as a great shock, but Dan Bickley wrote this up.
I was just curious as to how other DBack fans felt (who live in Arizona). There are a couple of good points made in the comment section for both for and against. I'll leave my thoughts out of it.

normally, I'd quote a snippet from the piece, but I found this tidbit from a reader more telling:

"The only way fan sentiment is going to change for this team, right or wrong, is if ownership dumps money into it like Colangelo did, to completely rebuild the fan base all over again through purchased success. And that means winning.

The D-backs need to win if they want to stay relevant, and by doing that, they have to spend money. Simple as that. "

Oy Vey

Perhaps it's just the nature of the beast. The three-year, $30 million deal created expectations he was unable to meet, and everyone got frustrated.

But everyone can learn from this.

Some say the fans deserve partial blame for the contract, because they were the ones who pressured the team to hand it out. We don't buy it. The front office shouldn't let straw polls dictate roster decisions, especially when the fans' favorites can change so quickly. It seems this was a lesson learned the hard way.