Gerardo Parra is congratulated by Aaron Hill after scoring in the seventh inning against the St. Louis Cardinals during opening day at Chase Field. Image: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Here is an easy question to answer.  Isn’t it great to have baseball back?  

The Arizona Diamondbacks continued their success on Opening Day by thumping the St. Louis Cardinals by a score of 6-2.  The victory marked the seventh straight triumph in Game One affairs, tied for the longest such streak in baseball with the Seattle Mariners.  Here are some thoughts I had while watching the game last night and reliving the highlights this morning.

-Gerardo Parra and A.J. Pollock mean business.  So what if two-thirds of a starting outfield begin the season on the Disabled List?  Parra was the hitting star last night going 4-5 with three doubles and a run scored batting leadoff and starting in right field.  His one out was a bullet lined off the arm of Cards’ pitcher Adam Wainwright.  Pollock, the former first-round pick had a banner day at the plate as well going 3 for 4 with two RBI’s while playing center field and hitting in the seventh spot in the order.  His speed was on display in the second inning as he legged out an infield hit on a ball chopped in the infield between third and short.  These two guys will make things very interesting for manager Kirk Gibson once Cody Ross and Adam Eaton return from the DL.

-Ian Kennedy looked great.  He was overshadowed by Clayton Kershaw, Felix Hernandez and Jeff Samardzija on Monday.  However, Kennedy’s performance later that night was brilliant.  He gave up single runs in the first and seventh innings and was totally dominant in between, allowing only one baserunner (a Pete Kozma walk) from innings two through six.  Kennedy’s line was seven innings pitched, allowing two earned runs one five hits, walking one and striking out eight.   The win made was the third straight for the right-hander on Opening Day assignments.

-Brandon Webb looked bummed.  The former Cy Young award winner threw out the ceremonial first pitch before last night’s game.  Later, he was interviewed by FOX Sports’s Todd Walsh and was asked about how it felt to be back on the mound.  You can tell that he really misses playing; his career was essentially cut short at the tender age of 30.  Now, a month from his 34th birthday, he should have been at Chase Field throwing out the real first pitch last night.

Looking forward to Game number 2 tonight.

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I did not have a chance to watch Brandon Webb pitch that much.  The player who was the last Cy Young Award winner for the Arizona Diamondbacks  threw a sinker that was almost impossible to hit with any kind of authority.  That pitch established him as one of the most dominant pitchers in the National League.   His lifetime record was 87-62 with over 25% of those defeats (16) coming in 2004 when the D’backs lost  a franchise-record 111 games.  It was the worst season of his stint in Major League Baseball as he notched only seven wins but did produce a respectable 3.59 ERA.  After that season, it is not a stretch to say that Webb was on the way to a potential Hall of Fame career.  From 2006-2008, the righty won 56 games, winning the Cy Young in 2006 while leading the NL in victories twice during that span.  He finished second for that award in 2007 and 2008 and led the league in shutouts in ’06 and ’07.   He was a three-time All Star who made at least 33 starts in five of his six seasons in his career.

Then on Opening Day 2009 it came to a screeching halt.  Webb left the game after four innings with a throbbing shoulder.  Who could have imaigned that was the last time he would wear a Major League uniform?  He endured two shoulder surgeries with an eye on making a comeback, first in 2010 with the D’backs and then in 2011 with the Texas.

Finally, Webb decided enough was enough at the still-young age of 33.  Think about how many more wins he should have had.  Why did his arm, once so full of life have to betray him?  We should be mentioning his name with the pitchers of today such as Justin Verlander, Felix Hernandez and Matt Cain.  Instead, we put him in the same category as “what could have been” guys such as Steve Busby and Mark Fidrych.  We could have been talking about Brandon Webb as the first home-grown Hall of Famer for the D’backs.

What a shame.  I wish Brandon Webb and his family the best of luck in the future.

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Follow me on Twitter @ltj41 and at www.clearthebases.net

Sep. 28, 2011; Phoenix AZ, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Justin Upton (10) during the game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Jennifer Hilderbrand-US PRESSWIRE

The Arizona Diamondbacks  have never fielded a National League MVP.  Randy Johnson and Brandon Webb collected Cy Young Awards as members of the Diamondbacks.  In fact, the Cy Young is the only individual award any Arizona player has obtained.  That could change as early as this season with the emergence of Justin Upton.

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