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Rockies
and Phillies - Twins Separated at Birth?
July 6, 2007. The Rockies may have finally found a
manager worse than Clint Hurdle, and his name is Charlie
Manuel of the Philadelphia Phillies.
Picture this situation in last night's game:
It's the bottom of the ninth with the Phillies leading
6-5, and the first hitter due up is left handed Todd Helton.
Manuel counters with left-handed reliever J.C. Romero,
who easily retires Helton.
The next batter is right-hand-hitting Garrett Atkins,
followed by lefty Brad Hawpe. Since Romero is the Phillies
only remaining lefty reliever, everyone, including the
usually stone-headed announcers, figured he would stay in
the game.
Everyone except Manual, that is.
He brought in right-handed
Antonio Alfonseca, who had no trouble retiring Atkins,
but then threw a big fat gopher ball down the middle of the
plate, about belt-high, on a 1-2 count!
The result was a homerun to the deepest part of center
field.
It was Alfonseca's third blown save in nine chances. On
the Atlanta Braves, if a pitcher threw a fat pitch in the
strike zone with two strikes and less than three balls, he
would be removed from the game and sent packing afterward by
manager Bobby Cox. Wait a minute, Alfonseca did, and
he was!
Alfonseca should never have been in the game, much less
against a left-handed hitter. In fact, he shouldn't be in
the Major Leagues, and certainly not on the Phillies. The
fact that he is in the League and on the Phils is another
indication of the lack of brainpower on the Philadelphia
bench and front office. Guys like Alfonseca and especially
Jose Mesa should be taking their great grandkids to
ballgames, not losing games for the Phillies.
Is the talent pool so shallow that we have to watch guys
like these pitch?
Nonetheless, the Rockies and Phillies are eerily similar,
beyond the fact that they are both 43 and 43 on the season.
Both teams have tremendous offenses and play in new stadiums
which have had reputations as being homer-friendly, though
Molsen Canadian Field not so much lately.
Both teams have tremendous young left-handed aces, with
the Phil's
Cole Hamels the potential starter in the All Star Game
and
Jeff Frances at 8-5 with a 3.87 ERA.
The Phils have a faster, stronger fielding outfield, but
the Rockies have the edge in relief pitching, not
withstanding the recent meltdown of their closer Brian
"Tito" Fuentes.
Both teams have superstar first basemen, though the Phils
have the edge down the middle, and Colorado's Atkins gives a
more consistent plate attack then the Phillies' platoon at
third.
Both teams have journeymen and rookies taking turns at
catcher.
The two teams are both in tough divisions and will have
to do better than .500 to even sniff the playoffs.
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Rockies
Win at Home Over Team Not From New York!
July 6, 2007. An epic battle tired mediocre teams seeing
who cares less...
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Bernie
Lincicome Slams Denver Fans Again
May 23, 2007. In an article entitled
"Denver Fans
Simply Too Grateful" on the Scripps website, BL impugns
the intelligence and sincerity of every baseball fan in
Denver when he says "they deserve what they will stand for.
And around here, showing up is good enough."
Lincicome has no respect for Baseball, as he shows every
time he shows up at Coors Field with his 12 Gallon hat and
high heeled cowboy boots and tromps around on the field,
trashing the soft grass and earth around home plate,
oblivious to the anguished moans of the ground crew. He also
has no respect for the English language, as he hacks blindly
at whatever point he is trying to make, setting the world's
record for ending sentences with prepositions. But worst of
all, he has no powers of observation, which is usually
pretty important to a reporter. Because if ol' Bern would
look around himself some day at the ballpark, he might
notice that he's practically alone. If he checked the
ratings of the Rockies broadcasts, and any talk shows
foolish enough to use the Colorado Baseball Club as a
subject, he would find that nobody is watching or listening,
either.
Yes, Bernie, the fans are much smarter than you think or
are, for they have gone on to richer pastures and pastimes.
They are rooting for other teams, or other sports, or maybe
just taking advantage of the bounty of engaging properties
of this, the most beautiful state of them all. Why worry
about the greedy morons who are running the baseball team
into the ground for their own amusement? For that matter,
why worry about idiots like Bernie Lincicome who's only
reason for wanting the team to gain respectability is
because his fortunes will rise. Maybe he
should think about another team, in another state. |
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You Heard It Here - Rockies
to Play Angels in the World Series!
April 1, 2007. Remember the Montreal Expos in 1981? For years they had been
patiently grooming their farm system to produce a steady stream of top notch
talent, only to lose them to free agency due to their limited budget. But in one
glorious year, the Expos got the right combination of cheap veterans and young
talent together and were headed for the best record in baseball and a great shot
at the World Series. Then came the strike, but that's another story. Nobody
predicted that Montreal would be that good, much like nobody in the mainstream
media is predicting great things for the Colorado Rockies this year.
But they are all wrong this time. Even with the worst ownership, General
Manager, and field manager in Baseball, the "Meat Brothers" Monfort, Dealin' Dan
O'Dowd, and Clint "Rube" Hurdle respectively, the stars or whatever are aligned
and the Rockies will have their hundred year high water point in 2007. The
Baseball Observer is predicting the Rockies will win 93 games and win the
Division by at least 5 games. Not only that, but they will cruise through the
playoffs and take the Angels to 6 games before losing.
The biggest reason for their success, ironically, will be the propagation
throughout the league of their ridiculous humidifier. As other teams will
discover, using the humidifier has the main effect of negating home field
advantage. Pitching is enhanced and hitting is depressed. Hitters can't get used
to hitting the heavy, cold, wet balls. But the Rockies have been using it for
years, and thus will have a short window of tremendous advantage. 2007 is
the Rockies' year. If they can't do it now, it may take them longer than the
Cubs. Except they don't have the luxury of rabid fans who will fill the stadium
every day. That ship has sailed in Colorado. If they don't win soon, they will
be gone, either disbanded or moved to another city. Thanks, Monforts.
Anyway, the Baseball Observer is tired of picking the Rockies to finish last,
as everyone else is again this year. Every dog has his day, so let's hope this
is the Rockies'. If not, well it is April 1st. |
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Let Us Introduce You to
Troy E. Renck, World's Worst Baseball Reporter
April 1, 2007. It's Opening Day and Troy E. (the "E" stands for
"exasperating") Renck trots out his preseason picks and pap about the new season
in the Denver Post. Strangely, Troy's get worse every year, probably the
disillusionment starting to sink in along with the realization that this is it
for him, the apogee of a career at a third rate paper following a team that
views itself as a "small market" institution. Cheer up, Mr. Renck, your
counterpart at the other rag in town, Tracy Ringolsby at the Rocky Mountain
News, was actually inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame last year, and he is
every bit as lame as you are! And he knows almost as little about baseball as
you do.
Anyway, back to the subject of Renck's predictions for the coming season.
First, he seems to be predicting that the Phillies will win the East division in
the National League. Then again, maybe not, in his own words: "Howard gets
pitches to hit as Burrell revives his career..." and then "There's no way he
(Howard) reaches 58 home runs this year unless Philadelphia upgrades from Pat
Burrell as the primary protection behind him." Which is it, Troy?
Troy picks the Rockies to finish dead last in their division, while waxing
poetic about the greatness of their pitching, hitting, management, etc. He also
peppers his commentary with gems like: "you would think the NL West was to
baseball what Sandra Bullock is to time travel films." Troy is to sports writing
what Jack Black is to acting. |
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What Other Sites Are Saying
About Colorado
April 8, 2007.
Halos Heaven
Colorado Rockies (3-2): They'll probably stay productive for a while, then crash
and burn before settling down into last place all over again. Holliday and Atkins
can hit, but so can anyone in Colorado. Ask their poor pitching staff, they know
that pretty well. It's gonna be another wasted year in the thin air.
March 31, 2007.
True Blue LA
"For the first time in years, things are looking up for the Rockies."
MVN: That's Our Fifth Starter, Folks...
"...Fogg chipped in with two RBI doubles. Perhaps he is being kept on the roster
as the primary pinch hitter and Ryan Spilborghs, John Mabry, and Alexis Gomez
are secretly competing for the fifth starter spot. Knowing Clint Hurdle and his
sometimes random decisions, I wouldn’t be surprised. "
RotoScoop
"Colorado finally has a plan, and it’s sticking to it. Still nothing more than a
last place team, at least the Rockies are developing young talent and looking
toward the future. "
Sport Table
"Mile high hopes. The Colorado Rockies enter the 2007 season with a bunch of
young talent in a division filled with a bunch of weak teams. The Rockies will
look to parlay that into contention for the division title and hopefully a trip
to the playoffs. As usual, there is no pitching talent to be found here, so they
will have to rely upon their offense and some luck."
Sports Network
"All three players acquired in the Jennings deal - centerfielder Willy
Taveras, starter Jason Hirsch, and reliever Taylor Buchholz - will all have a
big part on the 2007 Rockies, so I guess we will wait and see. One thing is for
sure, though, fans in Colorado are growing impatient and if this move does not
pan out, O'Dowd could find himself unemployed at season's end. "
Purple Row/Rox
Girl
I don't believe we actually have the best chance of winning the division. We
might not even have the second best chance. It will take some luck and a
somewhat spectacular Ubaldo Jimenez to get to that 89 win total. I'm just saying
that we've got a chance in this thing, and it's a pretty solid chance given our
lineup. So since seemingly no other rational person was giving us the love we
deserve, I'm here. Yeah, call me a cheerleader or whatever, but Your 2007 NL
West division winners: the Colorado Rockies. |
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Cheating Rockies?
March 25, 2007. Well, if cheaters never prosper, that might explain a lot
about the Rockies lately. According to Fox Sports, former Rockies players told
management of the Arizona Diamondbacks that Colorado coach Walt Wiess was in
uniform on the bench the last five years for the sole purpose of stealing signs
from the opposing team's bench. But Arizona is apparently getting the last laugh
because the Rockies have been informed by the league that they will be fined
$10,000 every time Weiss or fellow coach Vinny Castilla appears in uniform in
the dugout. The National League office has reportedly confirmed that the action
was taken in response to a complaint from a Western Division team. Now they'll
have to go back to stationing someone in the scoreboard with binoculars. |
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