Back with baseball
Baseball has sucked me back in.

After spending the past five years engaging in a lukewarm relationship with the national pastime, the sport has completely recaptured my interest.

Now that this silly Barry Bonds mess is behind us, I’ve been able to focus on one of the more entertaining baseball seasons I can remember.

Having one of the most likable and fascinating squads in the majors playing 130 miles to the north hasn’t hurt.

The Arizona Diamondbacks somehow have the best record in the National League while having a negative run differential.

It’s been a crazy, unpredictable and thoroughly enjoyable season.

Sure, it doesn’t make any sense. They have $15.6 million invested in a 43-year-old lefty on the disabled list.

They have a pitcher in Doug Davis who leads the league in walks and still has 10 wins and an ERA under four.

I can’t figure this team out. Frankly, I don’t want to.

I’m just glad I have the chance to watch Orlando Hudson turn a double play, or see Brandon Webb fluster another big-leaguer with his physics-defying sinker, or shake my head in disbelief at another one of Eric Byrnes’ crash-test-dummy leaps into the left-field wall.

I especially love every Justin Upton at-bat. Arizona has a handful of stars, but Upton is the one who could develop into a superstar.

This kid can do things I never thought possible. I mean, how often do you see someone hit a triple without having to slide into third base? Upton already has two stand-up triples in his first two weeks in the majors.

It’s not just the D-backs who have captured my attention.

There are some splendid athletes having remarkable seasons, who have sadly been overshadowed by the steroids mess and everything attached with it.

The Florida Marlins have this 23-year-old shortstop named Hanley Ramirez. Prior to this season, few knew about him, other than a handful of fantasy baseball obsessives.

Ramirez came up through the Boston Red Sox’s farm system and was included in the deal that brought Josh Beckett to Beantown.

Had the Red Sox known that Ramirez would quickly turn into one of the game’s all-around players, they might’ve looked to keep him.

He leads the NL is batting, and ranks in the top 10 in nearly every other relevant statistical category.

If I were writing this column in Florida instead of Arizona, I’m sure all of my Upton-centered enthusiasm would be transferred to Ramirez.

I hadn’t gotten a good look at him until Thursday’s D-backs-Marlins contest.

He opened up the Marlins’ half of the inning with a solid single and a stolen base. He’s not quite as fast as Upton, but Ramirez has some wheels.

He followed that up with a towering home run in the fifth inning. His bat speed was out of this world.

Trust me when I say this—Ramirez is going to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases within the next three years.

Ramirez came up again in the seventh inning with two runners on and his team trailing by one. He had every D-backs’ fan scared to death.

He drilled a pitch toward right field that was sure to be a game-breaking base hit, but Hudson flashed his Gold-Glove-quality leather and turned a miraculous double play.

After breathing a sigh of relief, I just shook my head and muttered, “This Ramirez kid is something else.”

With talent like Upton, Ramirez and countless other phenomenal young ballplayers in today’s game, I have a feeling that this rediscovery of America’s pastime won’t pass anytime soon.

nprevenas@gvnews.com | 547-9747