Welcome to Venom Strikes Peter!
Hello Everyone, my name is Peter Smith and I’m a new contributor here at Venom Strikes. I’m excited to get started writing all about the Diamondbacks, but I wanted to give a quick introduction before diving in and making content for you all to enjoy.
My baseball journey started when I picked up a fantasy team in a friend’s league. It had someone named “Mike Trout” who my friend insisted was the best player in the league. I had some time, so I said yes and ended up falling in love with baseball. What I loved was the depth of stats at my disposal. I could understand what a player’s “deal” was even if I’d never seen them play before. I started following the Diamondbacks around 2016 or 2017, a great time to be a D-backs fan for sure. Ever since then, I’ve been watching and attending as many games as I can.
Some of my favorite players are Shohei Ohtani, Jake Cronenworth, and Andrew Young. I’ve realized that I’m a huge fan of those “small ball” guys. I love players who can put it anywhere on the field for a single, steal some bases, and even bunt if they need to. Ichiro Suzuki is certainly one of my all-time favorites, even if he was a bit before my time.
My favorite Diamondbacks moment would have to be a game I went to this season. Shocking, I know. On June 11th, I went into Chase Field to see the D-Backs take on the Angels. Merrill Kelly vs. eventual MVP winner Shohei Ohtani was a matchup I couldn’t miss. This game was wild from start to finish. It was a back-and-forth affair the whole night. In the third, it was 3-0 Angels, then in the fifth 2-3 Angels thanks to two baffling balk calls on Shohei, some excellent plate discipline, and a clutch hit. Eventually, the game winds up 5-4 going into the bottom of the ninth. Eduardo Escobar and Raisel Iglesias facing off. Iglesias looked dominant. He had just struck out Ketel Marte and Asdrubal Cabrera each on three pitches to put himself in an excellent position. After going down 0-1, Escobar works the count to full and on the seventh pitch, he takes a changeup and sends it to right field. Game tying, solo home run. The bullpen fell apart in the tenth without giving up a hit, but hey, that’s baseball! Editors Note: Also, that’s the 2021 Diamondbacks too.
Once again, I am super excited to be writing for Venom Strikes and am looking forward to the bright future this team has. If you’re interested in following me on Twitter, you can find me at @xwOBAplus.
So long, and thanks for all the hits.