True Colors
Blue Gonzo returns to the valley tonight, in a battle to decide first place in the
tight NL West. Emotion should run high on both sides - dont miss it.
The Republic's Dan Bickley effectively points out that the Diamondbacks' bright on field future needn't be built upon a bedrock of animosity and aggressive disdain for the past. Be sure to peruse the passionate reader comments as well.
The Republic, to their credit, also published a plethora scathing reader responses to the new colors, which regrettably, I couldnt find online to link. Unencumbered feedback, free from the dominating influence of mlb's incessant PR machine and out of the mainstream fanboy forums, appears to be running about 80% against.
It seems we have our own "clothing" controversy right here at MLBlogs, and like the Dbacks self-inflicted wound, this one isnt just about the clothes, which in this case, look pretty darn cute.
After two years of shamelessly underpromoting hundreds of hard working, relatively anonymous baseball bloggers, paying customers no less, MLBlogs has magnanimously opted to unleash a smidgen of it's massive promotional power upon the willing face of Dodger fan Alyssa Milano.
Her brand new blog, essentially a portal for her new MLB apparel collection, has immediately warranted unprecedented attentions denied MLB's entire stable of established, diligent bloggers, some of whom have authored baseball books, been featured in respected online publications, and all of whom earnestly pay for the, to date, hopelessly underutilized promise of MLB's promotional efforts.
It's not just that the image of Ms Milano, donning her gear, has plastered MLBlogs homepage promotional panel for four days straight, an unprecedented in-season promotional run. On Jackie Robinson weekend no less. No, her baseball content (she insists the blog is not for "publicity") has also warranted something else virtually unheard of @ MLBlogs - a direct photograph link from MLB's mega traffic homepage, mlb.com.
As disappointing as this longstanding, grossly inequitable, treatment of the existing MLBlogs community appears to be - at this point, we're fools if we act like it's a surprise.
(photos courtesy of the los angeles times and MLBlogs)

A few days ago, I finally decided what I thought Sedona Red looked like...blood!
ByrnesBlogger1
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I have no problem with Sedona Red, but the old colors were original. These unis are nice, but they look like Washington and Cincinnati.
SIDENOTE - Why are you hating on the Alyssa Milano site? There is no such thing as bad publicity and because of it, people may be led to the MLBlogs page and subsequently check out your blog! I try to read as many blogs as possible to get an idea of what our viewers are saying and more!
Take care,
Vinny
http://leadingoff.mlblogs.com
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A couple of things. I am outside the AZ area, so I listen to the games on the MLB gameday. When one clicks on the radio feed for the Diamondbacks, guess what logo shows up? The good ole' turquoise!! On the official MLB page, ladies and gents.
Also, Alysa Milano's line of MLB clothes is very limited, and does not include the Diamondbacks, old colors or new colors.
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"Why are you hating on the Alyssa Milano site?"
Hi Vinny,
I dont think I've said anything remotely 'hateful' towards Alyssa Milano, or her site. I havent questioned her sincerity as a fan, or her right to be promoted by MLBlogs. I havent even questioned that she deserves more promotion than I do, given she's come up with a dazzling clothing line (which I mentioned I like).
"There is no such thing as bad publicity and because of it, people may be led to the MLBlogs page and subsequently check out your blog!"
It's true I'm getting extra traffic today, but to fundamentally attribute that to Ms Milano's blog is inaccurate. The main reason I'm getting swamped is because MLB finally decided to direct link to the MLBlogs homepage(Alyssa, if that has possibly escaped anyone's attention over the past four days), and I snuck my url into her comments section.
IOW, we can quibble about marginal gains of one site over another, but I'd be getting a huge boost REGARDLESS of which particular MLBlog was DIRECT linked to mlb.com.
The point I was trying to make is that MLB has eschewed this kind of high powered promotion for their established blogging base. Not for a weekend, or a week or a month, but for YEARS now. And the ferocity of this particular promotion, relative to the utter lack of same over a long period for many talented bloggers, speaks volumes, I think, about the intentions of MLB.com towards their "official" affiliate, a supposedly valued stable of bloggers.
Thanks for stopping by.
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Man, I loved Bickley's article. Good to see the history dump is becoming more and more clear for Diamondbacks fans.
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"It's going to be nice to be back there," he said. "It's especially nice because that's where I live now. I have great friends there. I'll get to meet my kids at school and have lunch with them. It'll be old-home week, except for the Houston Astros colors on the other side."
--Luis Gonzalez
ByrnesBlogger1
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BU1,
I'm laughing at shoewizard's crisis communications over on azcentral.com in Derrick Hall's absence - I swear he's Kendrick's nephew or something. Six posts desperately railing against an entire city's fans, totally out of touch with their concerns, lecturing everyone about the root cause of "the problem". Too funny.
K,
Yeah, there's a LOT of bitterness here. Should be an intense series.
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Matt,
Wiz I think is very intellectual about baseball and I think he knows every possible statistic known to man, but it baffles me how such a baseball fan fails to grasp the concept of team history and tradition.
Baseball is NOT baseball when you remove the elements history and tradition.
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Quentin is back and Byrnes is batting second. Good, maybe we get some stolen bases and runs scored.
ByrnesBlogger1
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"...when you walk into the stadium, the first thing you see is the world series trophy in the case, and the Division titles and World Series banners are still hanging in their rightful place in their original colors..."
Is what Wiz posted on azcentral.com not true?
While I'm not one of the brain dead that is beside himself with anger at the thought of Gonzo in another uniform (one of the best and ballsiest moves any F.O. has made in a while) - it was nice to see him get a warm welcome tonight.
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Is she a fan or is she a groupie? Alyssa Milano is a groovy chick, but is she into baseball because she's into baseball, or is she looking for dates? Her last three tabloid reported boyfriends have been: Carl Pavano, Barry Zito and Brad Penny. She also dated Kirk Cameron for that matter, years ago. When he was in his heyday (before he found Jesus) I used to daily receive the comment, "You look like that guy from Growing Pains"; to which I would reply: "Whattayou? Nuts? I'm WAY better lookin' than he is." But I digress... (She's also dated that cretin Fred Durst and that loser Corey Haim. Excuse me. I have to go and vomit......)
Ok. I'm back. I'm sure she can appreciate the skills of the players, but that doesn't mean she has a season ticket to the Dodgers because of it. I sometimes watch a show called Namaste Yoga on Fit TV, and while I find the poses and flexibility impressive, the extremely attractive young ladies are also wearing spandex workout shorts and sports bras. It's nothing to be ashamed of to be going to the games to ogle the players, but does she deserve a blog over it? And more promotion than someone like me who spent a month writing and re-writing a baseball preview for 10+ hours a day and haven't even gotten a mention from the blogosphere? Even after I politely and directly asked? Twice? You tell me. Maybe out of spite, they'll mention it in August. It'll be sweet if it comes to pass that the majority of the predictions end up being accurate. http://paullebowitz.mlblogs.com/
http://www.iuniverse.com/bookstore/book_detail.asp?&isbn=0-595-43898-9
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Matt, are you AzPhan?
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No, breast man.
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Breast Man?
I don't even know what that means?
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I like breasts.
It's just a pun - a play on 'azphan'. nothing personal :- )
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Oh...got it. LOL
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