Baseball has provided us with an "exciting" nooner between the D-backs and theBucs...in case you are wondering who the snake starter is here is some tidbits on him...
PITTSBURGH -- It might have happened more than 20 years ago, but Bob Melvin remembers it like it was yesterday.
The day he made his Major League debut, Melvin was a 23-year-old catcher when he played in his first big league game as a Detroit Tiger in 1985.
"It was an out-of-body experience," the Arizona Diamondbacks manager said. "It's something I'll never forget. I never want to lose sight of that and how special it is. Even getting here, on your first day, and being part of it, in uniform out here on a big league field. ... Once you go out there and take your first at-bat or throw your first pitch in a big league game, there's nothing like it."
Melvin, who would go on to play for 10 seasons in the Majors with seven teams, was reminiscing before Wednesday night's game against the Pittsburgh Pirates because Dustin Nippert was to make his Major League debut the following afternoon against the Pirates.
Nippert has been with the club since his recall on Saturday, meaning he has had the time to meet his teammates, get acclimated to the clubhouse and eradicate the jitters often associated with putting on a Major League uniform for the first time.
"I've said it before, typically the baseball gods will take care of the first game for you," Melvin said, literally knocking on the wooden bench in the Arizona dugout as he talked. "Usually, they do. And I'm as superstitious as the next guy. Once you settle in and throw a few pitches, you know it's 60 feet, six inches, just like any other ballpark, and all that stuff goes away and you settle into that familiar routine.
"It won't be due to lack of adrenaline, I'll tell you that."
Dustin Nippert went 8-3 with a 2.38 ERA in 18 starts with Double-A Tennessee this year.
I will be back in a couple of hours with more info to see if we can get a decent selection for an early start!
JT
Sneaks
MLB Afternoon Delight 
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