Rockies Myths
Debunked
Link Exchange
Sox and Pinstripes
World Series Schedule
Wednesday, 10/24 at Boston, 8:00 PM (TBS)
Thursday, 10/25 at Boston, 8 PM
Saturday, 10/27, at Denver, 6:30 PM
Sunday, 10/28 at Denver, 6:30 PM
Monday, 10/29 at Denver, 6:30 PM
Wednesday, 10/31 at Boston, 8 PM
Thursday, 11/1 at Boston, 8 PM |
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Favorite Names
Nook Logan, Wash.
Terrmel (Sister) Sledge, SD
Coco Crisp, Red Sox
Milton Bradley, San Diego
Wily Mo Pena, Red Sox
Larry Broadway, Wash.
Rocky Cherry, Cubs
Buck Coats, Chicago Cubs
Roman Colon, Detroit
Dennis Dove, St. Louis
Prince Fielder, Milwaukee
Jimmy Gobble, Kansas City
Brandon League, Toronto
Randy Messenger, Florida
Angel Pagan, Chicago Cubs
Felix Pie, Chicago Cubs
Boof Bonser, Kansas City
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The
Price of Failure
With seat prices averaging in excess of $100 in the 2007
World Series, the Rockies lost at least $5,000,000
by not winning just one game. |
The
Price of Success
By not losing one game in the 2007 LDS and LCS, the Rockies
lost at least $3,000,000 in ticket revenue alone! |
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Links
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Schedule|
Standings|
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Mudville Magazine|
Pete's|
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STATS|
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The Diamond Angle|
"What was wrong with....? |
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Best Songs to Play
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On the
Way to the Game:
"Centerfield" by John Fogerty
On the
Way Home:
"I Can't Help You Now" by Bonnie Raitt
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March 23, 2007.
There is justice in the world of sports after all! The Ohio State
Buckeyes lost to the Florida Gators in the final NCAA basketball game of
the 2006-2007 season. Ohio State should not have been in the game as
they lost to both Xavier and Tennessee but were allowed to advance by
incompetent (or worse) officials. Worse, in the semis, they beat
Georgetown who also should not have been there, having been beaten by
Vanderbilt and allowed to advance anyway by the worst officiating in
college history.
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 "A lot of lies. A lot of lies. We have been told this and
told that, then nothing was done or the complete opposite was done. There
has been a lot of stuff that has happened and said from upstairs that hasn't
come true." Larry Walker, as quoted in the Denver Post.
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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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Rockies Are Now National Laughingstock
November
1,
2007. So far, Steven Colbert has ridiculed the
Rockies, saying instead of trying to trademark "Rocktober"
they should have gone for "Choke-tember", and David
Letterman devoted a large portion of his show to lampooning
the team. Letterman, who has been ridiculing the Mets
unmercifully since the season ended, turned his attention on
the Rockies. He began as soon as the crowd finished
applauding his entrance into the studio by suggesting the
ovation lasted longer than the World Series. He
devoted his "Top Ten List" to Rockies' excuses. Now Denver
TV stations are encouraging viewers to email and write
Letterman and express their displeasure.
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Game 4 - Hurdle Throws Game, Boston Wins 4-3
October 28,
2007. Hurdle proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he is
not ready for the big time, as he turned the Rockies into
modern day versions of the 1950 Phillies, affectionately
known as the "Whiz Kids". The parallels are unmistakable, up
to a point. Both teams won the pennants by surmounting
incredible odds that left their fates in doubt until the
last day of the season. Then both were swept by more
experienced East Coast teams. The Phils were beaten by the
Yankees with future Hall of Famers Joe DiMaggio, Whitey
Ford, Yogi Berra, Phil Rizzuto and Manager Casey
Stengal, who notched the second of 5 consecutive World
Championships. In spite of the daunting competition, the
Phillies, with future Hall members of their own, center
fielder Richie Ashburn and pitcher Robin Roberts, lost by
only one run in three of the four games. The Rockies lost by
one run in two of the games, but where blown out in the
other two. But Colorado can take some solace from the
comparison, because the Phillies returned to the World
Series and won, just 30 years later!
But back
to Clint, if anyone out there knows why he was saving his
pitchers during the last game, please let us know.
Apparently he was so confident it would go to seven games,
he was willing to lose another one in order to save his
bullpen by leaving Cook in. Perhaps he had lost count. Hey
Clint, once you lose four, it's over! Oh, and remember game
two in Boston, when you played the infield in and the guy
hit it right where Tulo normally played and it opened the
floodgates for a route? Did it work any better in the in the
last game? No, actually Big Pappi hit the ball right where
Matsui would have been standing and it ended up being an RBI
single. Without those two runs, Colorado wins 3-2 and plays
at least another night. Shades of Don Baylor, who blew games
one and two of the playoffs in 1995 with boneheaded calls.
You have to give something to both Hurdle and Baylor,
though, because they were totally original. They did things
in the postseason that no other manager would ever have
thought of doing! If only because they didn't make sense,
and didn't work.
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Game 3 - Horrors! Boston Wins Again, 10-5
October
27, 2007. The Boston Red Sox have now won 7 World Series
games in a row and Rockies Manager Clint Hurdle's best try
at a comment was that now the Colorado team is on
"groundbreaking territory", referring to the fact that all
26 teams in history that have been behind 3 games to none
have lost the Series, 22 in sweeps. Hurdle bears the major
responsibility for this loss, invoking the old Don Baylor
6-run rule (Baylor frequently waited until his pitchers had
undergone total meltdowns and gave up 6 runs or more before
replacing them. If he had used a more sensible approach,
this would be the Rockies' 2nd or 3rd World Series, at
least.) for replacing his starting pitcher, Josh Fogg. The Baseball Observer and most of the Rockies Fans in
attendance would have pulled Fogg before the game got out of
hand. If "Rube" would have gone to Jackson Morales after the
first two runs scored in the 3rd, the Rockies may have taken
the lead for good on Holliday's three-run blast in the
seventh. As it was, the Sox got 6 in the third, including
two on a single and first Big League hit by the pitcher. The
Rockies responded with two in the 6th and 3 in the 7th to
make a game of it, only to blow it in the eighth, when one
again, the entire Rockies' coaching staff had a brain freeze
and left an ineffective pitcher on the field until he had
allowed too many runs from which to recover. Don't they
realize this is the World Series? This is for all the
marbles, for heaven's sake! What are they saving their
pitchers for? Obviously, Hurdle and his crew are not ready
for the Big Time. If they had just turned on a TV and
listened to the commentators, they may have won the last two
games. It doesn't get any worse than that - when Tim
McCarver and Joe Buck are smarter than the guys on the
field.
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Game 2 - Better Showing, But Still A 2-1 Loss
October 25,
2007. Curt Schilling and the Boston Red Sox are now two
games up on the Purple and Black because Manager Clint
Hurdle was a little behind and ersatz MVP-Candidate Matt
Holiday got way ahead of himself. Hurdle waited one batter
too many before removing starter Ubaldo Jimenez, with the
result being an RBI double by Mike Lowell which turned out
to be the winning run. Holliday singled with two out in the
eighth, then, anticipating scoring from first if Todd Helton
got a hit, drifted too far off the bag and was picked off
for the third out by Boston closer Jonathan Papelbon. The
RockStreak is definitely over, with the first consecutive
losses since September 15th, and the Rockies need to start a
new four game win skein when they return to
Coors/Molsen/Miller (CMM Field) on Saturday night. Rockies
fans will certainly settle for four out of five, though.
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Game 1 - Massacre in Massachusetts - Sox 13, Rox 1
October 24, 2007. Was it the 8-day layoff, the cold and
wet conditions, first World Series jitters, or bad Karma
wrought by the owners with their ticket distribution and
other misdeeds? Or had the over-rated Rockies finally run
out of luck against the best team in baseball? Is the
RockStreak over? Maybe it was the plodding manager who
finally made a strange move that didn't pay off - playing
the infield "in" during the first inning, only to watch a
third-out liner sail over Tulowitzki's head, opening the
floodgates. Actually, it may have been a little bit of all
of those things. One thing you can say for certain is that
the Rockies ran into Josh "Buzzsaw" Beckett, and there
probably haven't been many teams, short of the 1927 Yankees,
who could have beat him tonight. For the RockStreak,
tomorrow will tell, because the Rockies haven't lost two in
a row since early September. If they beat Schilling, the
streak resumes.
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Tickets Sold Out in Denver
October 23, 2007. The Rockies PR guy, Elvis Alves,
announced yesterday that the Rockies sold an additional
225,000 tickets (1,500 per minute for 150 minutes), which
along with the estimated 96,000 that were previously
accounted for by VIPs, brings the total to 321,000 tickets
or 107,000 per game. Pretty good trick for a stadium that
holds just over 40,000. But don't worry, fans, any minute
the Rockies will be announcing the sale of standing room
only tickets. But first they have to finish drawing 6 inch
by 6 inch squares on every area of exposed floor including
hallways, bathrooms, closets, stairways, etc. SRO prices
haven't been announced yet, but they will probably only be
sold online, starting at $400, and rising to the triple
digits for the ones from which you may actually see, hear,
or smell the game.
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No World Series Tickets for Rockies Fans
October 22, 2007. The Rockies decided that an empty
stadium would be better than having a bunch of unruly fans
both clamoring for tickets before games and complaining
about it while sitting in Coors/Molsen/Miller Field watching
another boring Rockies win over a heavily favored opponent.
So, they refused to sell tickets at any of the normal
venues, saying instead that they could be purchased on the
"Internet" (wink, wink) at 10:00 AM Monday. Instead, they
just put up a screen that counted back to zero from 60
repeatedly. After receiving 8.5 million complaints, mostly
from ticket brokers, the Rockies spokesman Jay Alves or
Elvis or something like that, characterized the fans' attempts to buy tickets as a
"vicious attack" which caused their server (a Radio
Shack TRS-80) to go down. They said they had managed to find
a backup server at a flea market and fans could try again
Tuesday at noon. A Rockies executive who wished to remain
anonymous recommended that fans not hold their breath while
waiting for the tickets to be issued.
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Excitement in Boston
October 20, 2007. Rocktober (which I believe is a
trademark of the the Hard Rock Cafe, or a web site for a
freelance DJ in Minneapolis who says it includes "Mandatory
Metallica Mondays") has become Bore-Tober or Anticipation-tober
in Denver as we wait to see who the Rockies opponents will
be in the World Series of Baseball. Meanwhile, in Beantown
(it's another name for Boston, honest) the Red Sox have tied
the National League Championship Series at three games
apiece with a stunning 12-2 victory behind the brilliant
pitching of 40-year old Curt Schilling. So, everyone in
Boston and Cleveland is all atwitter about Sunday night's
game to settle the whole thing. There are a lot of exciting
back stories going on that we're not getting here, like
Boston players bringing food to people waiting in line for
tickets. There also seems to be bad blood between the
two teams, though they are trying to
shrug it off. Fans are even
naming their children after the team. You don't see this
stuff happening here. Denver's got a long way to go to be a
world-class baseball town.
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2007 Rockies - Team of Destiny
October 18, 2007. Well, everyone else is saying it, so
there; the Baseball Observer said it too.
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Both Potential WS Opponents Have Rockies Connections
October 17, 2007. Whether Colorado plays Boston or
Cleveland in the Fall Classic, there will be some familiar
faces in the opposing dugout. Cleveland's manager Eric
Wedge, for example, was selected in the Expansion Draft in
1992 and played 9 games for the Rockies as a catcher and
pinch-hitter in September, 1993, the first year of the
team's existence.
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Real Reason Behind the RockStreak
October 16, 2007. The reason the Rockies will sweep the
playoffs for the first time in the current format? Not the
clutch hitting. Not the great fielding plays at just the
right time. Not the brilliant management moves. Not the
incredible pitching by an unlikely cast of rookies and
castoffs. No, Clint Hurdle unveiled the real reason after
the game on Tuesday. What was it? He has been writing the
number 64 at the top of the lineup card before every game.
No, really, that's what he said. You can't make this stuff
up.
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NLCS Game 4: Rockies 6, D-backs 4
October 15, 2007. It wasn't as close as it looks, because
it was really over when the Rockies exploded for 6 runs with
two outs in the fourth on a two-run pinch-hit double by Seth
Smith, followed by a 1-run single by Kazuo Matsui and capped
by a three run monster home run to deep center by Matt
Holliday. Once again, every move by Rube turned out golden
while every move the opponent did or didn't make turned into
ugly, smelly stuff. Bring on Boston or Cleveland! World
Series!
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NLCS Game 3: Rockies 4, D-backs 1
October 14, 2007. In a game that should never have been
a) scheduled as a night game and b) played at all given the
conditions, the Rockies continued the RockStreak by beating
the obviously disheartened Diamondbacks, winning the 20th of
their last 21 games.
Josh Fogg
pitched way over his head,
giving up only one run in 6 innings, no doubt aided by wet
balls and turf.
Yorvit
Torrealba provided all of the offense
needed with a 3-run homer in the 6th.
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NLCS Game 2: Rockies 3, Diamondbacks 2
October 12, 2007. Willy Taveras was the hero of the game,
with a game-saving catch or two in center field and the
bases-loaded walk in the 11th to produce the winning run.
Hurdle continues to make moves that would have backfired on
him but are golden during the current amazing RockStreak as
he watches them win their 18th of the last nineteen games
including the first 5 in the playoffs, tying a record. Six
more wins doesn't seem out of reach at this point, which
would be the greatest playoff streak of all time and
couldn't be broken (unless they add a few more Wild Card
rounds in the future). The most impressive part of the
RockStreak has been the pitching, with last night's cast of
Ubaldo Jimenez, Matt Herges, LaTroy Hawkins, Brian Fuentes,
Manny Corpas, and Ryan Speier getting the job done, even
with Corpas blowing the save by allowing the tying run in
the bottom of the ninth.
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NLCS Game 1: Rockies 5, Diamondbacks 1
October 11, 2007. The real stars of the Rockies came out
tonight as Brad Hawpe and Jeff Frances hit and pitched their
way to home field advantage with a victory over Arizona and
the only pitcher to beat them in the past 19 games, Brandon
Web. Frances held Arizona to 1 run over 6 and a third while
Hawpe's two run single provided all of the offense
necessary. Clint Hurdle chipped in plenty of his painful,
embarrassing homilies, which we will be hearing in
truckloads on all of the talk shows this winter once his
"miracle" team wins the World Series.
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Colorado Sweeps Philadelphia in the LDS!
October 6, 2007. The Rockies did it! With the help of the
annual Philly Choke, which came a week later than the
previous three years. The Rockies won 2-1, although an
assist must be given to the Philadelphia offense, that was
taking desperate wild swings at pitches outside of the
strike zone, several that would have resulted in walks, and
at least one that would have resulted in at least one run in
the first inning. Another assist should be given to the
Philadelphia defense, that missed two fly balls that should
have been caught, and a grounder that should have been
stopped, resulting in all of the Rockies' runs. And one more
assist should be given to the Phillies' manager, who decided
to leave a left-handed pitcher (who was not pitching well,
to boot) in against a right-handed pinch hitter with two
outs in the eighth inning when his right-handed closer was
ready to come in. The result was a base hit by Jeff Baker
that drove in the winning run. The Rockies had nothing going
for them offensively on Saturday night, and they won anyway.
By all accounts, it won't be as easy against Arizona, a team
that is far more disciplined and fundamentally sound, not to
mention better managed, than the Phillies. Hopefully, the
offense will wake up in Phoenix on Thursday. In any case,
this Rockies team has cemented itself in history as the
greatest Colorado team so far! Way to go Rockies!
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Strange Brew - Everybody Sweeps/Swept in First Two
October 6, 2007. The Baseball Observer has never seen
anything like this before. All four of the League Divisional
Series (LDS) find one team in command 2 games to none. One
team, Colorado swept their opponents, Philadelphia, on the
road. In the other three, Boston, Cleveland, and
Arizona, have swept their opponents, Los Angeles, New York,
and Chicago, at home. The whole thing is weird.
So far, the Observer's predictions are looking good - the
Rockies are on their way to sweeping the Phillies and
proceeding to the League Championship Series with the
Arizona Diamondbacks, whom they beat 10 times out of 18 in
the regular season. The Angels, on the other hand, have lost
their first two in Boston, but had the best record at home
in baseball at 54 and 27 (.667). They won two of three
at home against Boston earlier this year, so they still have
a fairly good chance, though it is more likely that Boston
or Cleveland will be there.
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Rockies Win Game 2 of LDS
October 4, 2007. The Phillies pitching disaster continued
from the regular season as the Rockies preyed on the weak
offerings to the tune of 10 runs to Philadelphia's 5. Kazuo
Matsui was a single short of hitting for the cycle including
a Grand Slam Home Run. Now the only problem will be the
hideous schedule the League saddled the two teams with,
including a possible Sunday night game where the temperature
is expected to be around freezing with possible snow. Better
wrap it up Saturday night.
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Rox Win First Game of Division Series, 4-2
October 3, 2007. Todd Helton tripled to start the second,
Garrett Atkins doubled, Yorvit Torrealba singled, and Troy
Tulowitzki walked with the bases loaded off Philadelphia Ace
Cole Hamels for all the runs they would need behind the
4-hit pitching of Jeff Frances. The Rockies won their second
playoff game ever, both on the road.
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Purple Wednesday October 3, 2007.
From the Mayor's Press Release:
"Mayor
Hickenlooper Proclaims October 3, 2007,
“Colorado
Rockies Purple Wednesday” in
Denver
(DENVER) As the Colorado Rockies prepare to
battle the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League Division Series, Mayor John
Hickenlooper officially proclaimed Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2007, “Colorado Rockies Day”
in
Denver
. He encouraged Rockies fans everywhere to wear purple on Wednesday in support
of
Colorado
’s home team when the
Rockies
make their second postseason appearance in club history.
“Congratulations
to the entire
Rockies
organization on a thrilling finish to the regular season,” Hickenlooper said. “Their
14-of-15 win streak was as inspirational as it was entertaining. They never gave
up, nor did their many thousands of fans, myself among them.
“We wish them continued
success as they take their red-hot game to
Philadelphia
,” added Hickenlooper, who was raised outside of
Philadelphia
and grew up as a Phillies fan. “We’ll be rooting for them to go all the way and
are proud to call them our home team.”
Hickenlooper also
is negotiating a friendly wager with
Philadelphia
Mayor John Street
. Details will be released once they are available.
# # #
Text from Mayor
Hickenlooper’s proclamation:
WHEREAS,
The Colorado Rockies defeated the San Diego Padres 9-8 in 13 innings at Coors
Field on October 1, 2007, winning the wildcard spot in the National League Division
Series; and
WHEREAS,
Since 1993, the City and
County
of
Denver
has proudly been the home of
Colorado
’s Major League Baseball team; and
WHEREAS,
The Colorado Rockies have helped activate and energize Lower Downtown and
the surrounding neighborhoods bringing fans from across the state to Coors Field
and local businesses; and
WHEREAS,
Everyone in the
Denver
metro area and
Colorado
Rockies fans worldwide are encouraged to wear purple on Wednesday, October 3, 2007,
to support the
Colorado
Rockies
in their quest for the National League Division title.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOHN W. HICKENLOOPER, MAYOR of the City and
County of
Denver, Colorado
, by virtue of the authority vested in me, do hereby officially proclaim Wednesday,
October 3, 2007, to be
known as:
“COLORADO
ROCKIES
PURPLE WEDNESDAY”
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand as caused the official seal of the
City and County of
Denver
to be affixed this third day of October, 2007.
John W. Hickenlooper, Mayor"
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Rockies Beat San Diego, Crowned Wild Card!
October 1, 2007. It wasn't pretty. First they got a three
run lead on ace pitcher Peavy, then blew it by giving up a
Grand Slam in the 3rd inning. Losing 4-3, they edged back
with single runs in the 3rd and 5th, then pushed across
another in the 6th to take the lead. But Holliday misplayed
a fly ball of the bat of San Diego' Brian Giles in the 8th
to tie the game and ultimately send it to extra innings. In
the 13th, Hurdle refused to pull Raul Julio even though it
was obvious that he couldn't pitch, and the result was a
walk and homerun off of a pitch that he obviously threw for
a strike with no mustard on it.
But it turned out to be a brilliant strategy, because the
game now became a "save situation" for San Diego, and by law
they had to run out over-the-hill, washed-up, future
hall-of-fame closer Trevor Hoffman. Nearly everyone who has
heard of Major League Baseball knows this guy doesn't have
anything left, except the Padres and manager Bud Black, of
course. Even blowing the save that cost them the wild card
clincher in Milwaukee didn't convince them. So, Hurdle gave
them the little lead to bring out Hoffman, and the results
were predictable when Colorado's hitters teed off on his
batting practice "fast" balls: Double - double - triple -
Line Drive - Game! Holliday tried to blow it with a moronic
head-first slide, but the umpire, probably wanting to save
Hoffman further humiliation, or tired, or late
for a flight out, counted the run. And the
Rockies move on to the playoffs in Philadelphia.
Just as the Baseball Observer predicted in April. Go
Rockies!
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Holliday Not MVP Material
October 1, 2007. As he has done all year, Matt Holliday
misplayed an easy fly ball into a double. Only this time it
was in the eighth inning of the sudden-death single-game
play-in for the playoffs, and it allowed the Padres to tie
the game. Meanwhile, at bat he was largely mute, as he
usually is when the chips are down, including a strikeout
with a runner on second, right after his miscue. He did help
in the 13th with a triple, and scored the winning run, but
it was obvious that Hoffman was throwing batting practice
out there and Holliday actually blew it with a stupid
head-first slide that probably made him miss the plate. But
the umpire was tired and counted the score anyway. Another
stupid aspect of the slide was that Matt landed on his face
and obviously suffered an injury that caused him to miss the
on-field celebration. His numbers
are good - he won the batting and RBI titles, but they are totally
misleading. The Rockies would do fine without him. If they
spend $150 million on him, it just means they will have to
let several better players go.
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Postseason! (Sort of)
September 30, 2007. The Rockies squeaked by the
Diamondbacks' second-stringers 4-3, while the Brewers
smashed San Diego 11-6 to put the Rockies into a 1-game
playoff for the Wild Card on October 1st in Denver! The
winner begins a 5-game series with the Phillies in Philly on
Wednesday. Unbelievable!
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Postseason Still Alive for the Rockies!
September 29, 2007. Thanks to a famous name in San Diego
Padres history and an 11-1 victory over an Arizona team that
has other priorities, the Rockies still have a decent chance
of at least participating in a playoff for the playoffs.
Tony Guinn, Jr., son of the long time Padre star, set the
stage with his dramatic 9th inning RBI triple, lined to
right off Trevor Hoffman with two strikes and two outs in
Milwaukee. The blow tied the score, and the Brewers won in
11th, freezing San Diego at 89 wins. The Rockies won
their 88th, partly because they needed the win to stay alive
and partly because Milwaukee's loss gave their opponent, the
Diamondbacks, clear title to the West Championship and home
field throughout the playoffs. If San Diego wins Sunday,
they are the Wild Card Team and the Phillies, Mets, and
Rockies are eliminated. The former two are still eligible
for the East Division Championship, for which they are
currently tied. But, if the Padres should lose, their could
be as many as 3 teams tied for Wild Card, setting up some
wild playoff scenarios.
Stay tuned!
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Colorado Finally Loses
September 28, 2007. Apparently Mark Kiszla in the Denver
Post was right and the Dodgers were not even trying to win
in their losses to the Rockies during the 11 game win
streak. Way to accent the negative, Kiszla. The valiant
Rockies finally met their match tonight, however, as they
lost to the first-place-clinching Arizona Diamondbacks by a
4-2 margin. They were still in it until the ninth, with two
on when the final out was made. Now the Rockies must win
their last two games while San Diego loses their last two in
order to tie for the wild card. Not what fans had hoped for,
but they have shown a determination to try no matter how
small the odds are. No matter what, it has been the best
season in Rockies' history. What a ride!
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Rockies Pummel LA for 11th Straight
September 27, 2007. For the 7th time in the last 11
games, the Dodgers didn't put up much resistance as that
juggernaut that is the reborn Colorado Rockies flattened
them en route to a three game showdown with faltering
West leaders Arizona at Coors/Molsen over the weekend.
The final score was 10-4 (over and out) as Rockies Rookie
Franklin Morales tied the franchise record for consecutive
scoreless innings by a starter with 20, while Todd Helton,
Garret Atkins, and Brad Hawpe homered. The Rockies remain a
game behind the Padres and 2 games behind Arizona, who beat
Pittsburgh 8-0. All the Rockies have to do now is sweep
Arizona while the Padres lose two to the Brewers and
Colorado will be the West champs, just as the Baseball
Observer predicted in April!
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Rockies Shut Out Dodgers for 10th Straight Win
September 26, 2007. Another first in Colorado Baseball
history arrived Wednesday as the Rockies, starring Josh Fogg
and 3 relievers shut out LA. Katzuo Matsui and Matsui
Holliday knocked in an RBI apiece, keeping the Rockies on
pace in the Wildcard race with San Diego and Philadelphia.
Western Division title hopes are still alive for the Rox as
well, because they moved within 2 games of Arizona, who lost
to Pittsburgh. The Rockies' last three games are against
Arizona at Coors/Molsen, so winning the Division is a real
possibility if they keep winning.
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Colorado Catches Phils With 9th in Row
September 25, 2007. The Rockies and Padres both won, so
Colorado remains 1 game out of the Wild Card and 3 games
behind losing Arizona for the division title. They are now
tied with the Phillies thanks to Tulowitzki's home run in
the sixth that gave them a 6-5 lead on the way to a 9-5
victory over the nemesis Brad Penney and the Dodgers. The
loss eliminated Los Angeles from the playoffs. Matt Holliday
got two hits in his return from a strained muscle. Todd
Helton contributed 3 hits and two RBI. Ryan Speier got the
win in relief of starter Eubaldo Jimenez who gave up all 5
Dodger runs. Matt Herges threw two scoreless innings and
Brian Fuentes and Manny Corpas chipped in one each, with
Corpas getting the save, his 17th.
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Winning Eight in a Row - Priceless
September 23, 2007. Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to
introduce you to the greatest Colorado Rockies team ever!
Jeff Frances tied the all-time victories by a Rockies
pitcher record at 17, while the team won their 84th game,
the most ever for the franchise. To add to the
improbability, they beat future hall of famer and
Rockies-killer Greg Maddux, chasing him from the game with 5
runs before he could get through 4 innings. They cruised
from there, winning 7-3 and keep their magic number at 6 for
the wild card and 3 for the division title thanks to losses
by the Diamondbacks and Phillies. In order for the Rockies
to get into the playoffs, there will have to be more losses
by those teams, and there are only 6 games left.
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Hawpe Hero As Rockies Beat Padres
September 21, 2007. Brad Hawpe knocked in both runs, with
the last being the best, a deep blast to center in the 14th
inning as the Rockies moved to 3.5 games behind San Diego by
ending the Padre's 7 game winning streak while increasing
their own to 6. Eight Rockies pitchers beginning with phenom
Franklin Morales held SD to just 4 hits, 3 by closer Manny
Corpus. But the only hits that mattered were Hawpe's as the
Rockies stayed barely alive in race for the postseason.
Because Arizona won, Colorado's magic number in the division
race is down to 4, but remains at 6 in the wild card.
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Holliday, Hawpe, and Tulo Tally Trips
September 20, 2007. You can't tell the Rockies it's too
late for them to win the division or the Wild Card. It is
too late, of course, but you can't tell the Rockies, they're
still playing like they think there really is a chance.
Which there isn't. Anyway, Holliday hit another homer, his
11th in 12 games and 36th of the season. Tulowitzki and
Hawpe matched Matt with 3 RBI days of their own, accounting
for all of the runs in the 9-4 victory and sweep of the 4
game series over the Dodgers, which virtually eliminated any
chance of playoffs for the Los Angelenos. Ironic, when you
remember last year the Rockies put LA in the playoffs and
eliminated the Phillies by rolling over and playing dead for
the Dodgers.
Now the Rockies have guaranteed themselves at least a
.500 season and have a shot at their best record ever.
However, they are still 4.5 games behind San Diego and their
magic numbers are 5 and 6 to Arizona and the Padres, with 9
to play. This means if the Rockies win all of their
remaining games, the other two teams will still beat them if
the win 5 and 6 games respectively. Not a promising
prospect, but who knows?
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Hawpe and Holliday Homer Happy
September 19, 2007. Brad Hawpe's two-run dinger in the
8th provided the final 6-5 margin as the Rox moved a game
ahead of the Dodgers and threatened a four-game sweep.
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Helton Caps Miracle Finish
September 18, 2007. Some unfamiliar people have been
stepping up lately to keep the Rockies barely hanging on the
race for the last postseason position. Tonight, though, it
was the most familiar Rockies face of them all, as Todd
Helton ripped a 2 run home run blast with two outs in the
bottom of the ninth the lead Colorado to a come-from-behind
9-8 victory and doubleheader sweep over the Dodgers at
Molsen/Coors.
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Frances Gets Back on Track
September 18, 2007. After a hideous outing in
Philadelphia where he gave up 8 runs in a 12-4 defeat, Jeff
Frances returned to his ace form, holding the Dodgers to 1
run in 6 and 2/3rd, striking out a career-high 10 as
Colorado won the first game of today's doubleheader, 3-1.
Holliday, Helton, and Joe Koshansky each plated a run for
the winning margin. For the September call-up rookie
Koshansky, the pinch-hit double in the 7th gave him his
second RBI in just 6 at bats.
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Morales Mashing Marlins
September 16, 2007. Impressive rookie hurler Franklin
Morales is leading the Rockies to a slaughter of Florida,
giving up no runs over 6 and yielding only 3 hits while
striking out 5. Currently in a rain delay, the Rockies lead
11-0, aided by homeruns by Atkins, Helton, and Holliday. It
may be too little, too late as the Phillies have already won
and Arizona and San Diego are both leading in their games.
The Rockies later concluded the Marlin-mashing with a lucky
13-0 victory.
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Marlins at Molsen
September 15, 2007. Marlins and Molsen (AKA Coors) go
together well, unfortunately for the Colorado Rockies, who
are watching the fish from Florida stomp out the flame of
their postseason dream by posting another victory over the
home team as Wild Card leader San Diego wins again, raising
the Rockies' deficit to 4.5 games in the WC and 6.5 in the
NL West. Their tragic numbers are now 8 in the West and 11
in the Wild Card. That means any combination of wins by the
leaders and losses by the Rockies equals elimination. There
is some good news, though, with the next win, the Rox will
have one more victory than last year, and 6 more with 14
left to play and they will have a winning record for only
the fifth time in team history! If they win 8 of the 14,
they will have the best record ever!
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Rox Miss Marlins at Molsen
September 14, 2007. Matt Holliday hit another one of his
meaningless home runs in the bottom of the ninth to make the
final margin 7-6 as the Rockies lost to a lousy Marlin team
and dropped 3.5 games back of Wild Card leader San Diego.
Their magic number is now 9 in the NL West and 13 in the
Wild Card. Holliday always seems to get his homeruns and RBI
in games that are blowout wins or losses. They'll still look
great on his stat sheet when his agent negotiates his
multi-million dollar contract with some other team while the
rest of the Rockies are watching the playoffs on television.
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Phillies Strike Back 12-4
September 13, 2007. This game started out looking
good for the Rockies, who punched across 3 runs in the top
of the first and sent their ace Jeff Frances to the mound.
The Phillies sent 9 batters to the plate and ended the
inning scoring 4 runs to take the lead. Frances then put out
the fire for two frames, but imploded in the 4th, giving up
4 and the route was on. Matt Holliday was practically
invisible in this game, going 0-3 with a walk and a
strikeout, no RBI and 4 runners left on base.
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Rockies' Pitching Team Shuts Out Phils 12-0
September 12, 2007. Matt Holliday hit his 30th homer, a
three-run shot in the third, as the Rockies used four
pitchers to throw a 4-hit shutout at the listless Phils.
Mark Redman got the win in relief with a 5 inning, 2 hit, 4
strikeout performance, to achieve his first win of the
season against 4 losses. Todd Helton had 3 each of hits and
RBI, Cory Sullivan had 3 hits including his 2nd homer, and
Troy Tulowitzki added 2 hits and 2 RBI.
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Colorado Rips Phils 8-2
September 11, 2007. Philadelphia came out flat and never
seemed to get it together, making uncharacteristic mistakes
and playing without any enthusiasm. The Rockies did their
best to let them back into the game, but the Phillie
pitchers just threw them too many fat pitches. Matt Holiday,
yesterday's goat, knocked in 3 superfluous runs with two
home runs to take the NL RBI lead as Colorado won 8-2. Todd
Helton and Troy Tulowitzki also homered. But the real hero
had to be 21-year-old starting pitcher Jackson Morales who
must have hypnotized the Phillies hitters into waving at
pitches outside the strike zone as they limited themselves
to 3 hits over the first 5 innings against the Rookie.
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Rockies Blow First Game to Phils
September 10, 2007. Matt Holliday demonstrated why he
will never be a superstar. While he is a better than average
hitter with good power and decent foot speed, he doesn't
have the instincts or attitude of a great player. Monday
night, with the game and perhaps the season on the line,
Holliday not only failed to field a ball hit into the left
field corner but he showed a clumsy ineptness seldom seen in
a Major League ballplayer. First, instead of fielding the
ball with the glove to make sure it didn't get to the wall,
he tried to grab it with his bare hand, risking injury and
lessening his chances of making the play. When he wasn't
able to grab the ball, he just gave up, allowing the winning
run to score from first base. The Rockies should have won
the game easily, but with a combination of inexperience and
lack of discipline by the players and coaches, they found a
way to lose the game and possibly any chance at the
playoffs.
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Rox Playing Historic Series in Philly
September 9, 2007. The Rockies are on a plane right now,
winging their way to Philadelphia to play a team that
continues to make fans and experts shake their heads in
consternation and frustration... read more
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Rox Take Series from Padres
September 9, 2007. Colorado only needed 4 hits to beat
San Diego 4-2 Sunday and clinch the three game series.
Garret Atkins had a two run homer and Matt Holliday hit one
out as well, his 26th of the year. Todd Helton had the other
two hits, including his 35th double, making him the first
player in history to have at least that many for 10 years in
a row.
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Rockies Beat Giants 7-4
September 3, 2007. The Rockies stayed in the hunt for
both the Wildcard (4 games behind Arizona) and the West (5
games behind San Diego) with a victory at home. Colorado
scored all of their runs in the third inning, with winner
Jeff Frances chipping in a double as he won his 15th,
against only 6 losses.
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Good Pitching, Hitting Too Late in SF
August 29, 2007. Colorado starters continued their
unbelievable blistering pace, achieving a 1.37 ERA in the
last 5 games. Unfortunately, they got no support from the
offense in the first two games on the bay, losing 4-1 and
3-1 to the last place Giants. The bats finally woke up, or a
least the one in the hands of Garret Atkins, as he launched
2 balls out of the dump as the Rockies salvaged something by
winning the 3rd and final game of the series behind Jeff
Frances, who threw only the second complete game and shutout
of his career. Holliday's streak ended at 17 games on
Tuesday, and he was passed for the club homerun lead by
Hawpe, who belted his career-high 25th. Chris Iannetta also
homered for Colorado, his 3rd. Frances won his 14th game,
tying his career high.
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Nationals Swept Naturally
August 26, 2007. Up until the 9th inning Friday, it
looked like another lost home series for the Rockies. But
that exhilarating 6 run inning carried through the next two
games as Colorado won 5-1 on Saturday behind the 3-hit
pitching of Ubaldo Jimenez and 10-5 on Sunday behind the
3-hit pitching of Elmer Dessens. Hawpe homered on Saturday
and Holliday provided the smash on Sunday, maintaining his
hitting streak at 16.
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Rockies Save Season!
August 24, 2007. Just when it looked like 2007 would be
lost beyond all hope, with the Rockies back at the .500 mark
and too far back to have any hope of catching the West or
Wild Card leaders, a miracle happened. The team had only
managed 4 hits and one run to enter the bottom of the ninth
on the short end of 5-1 score. First pitch swinging brought
a single, homer, and single for Tulo, Holliday, and Helton.
Atkins came next with a double, and Hawpe walked. Torrealba
singled in two runs to tie it, and an error by the
Washington shortstop on Matsui's grounder produced the game
winner. So, Colorado is still hanging on, 4.5 games back of
San Diego for the WC, 8.5 behind Arizona in the West, and 2
games over .500. Better keep on winning.
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Then Blowing it Again
August 23, 2007. Nine runs yesterday, a single pathetic
tally scoring on a single by Ryan Spilborghs today. Beaten
again by the last place Pirates from Pittsburgh. Now 1-2 on
the home stand and falling further and further behind the
Diamondbacks, Dodgers, and Padres, none of whom lost today.
The Rockies, at 64 up and 63 down are now 7.5 games out of
first and 4.5 behind the wild card leaders. Worse, they are
in jeopardy of falling below .500. Time to start winning,
beginning with the Pathetic Pirates tomorrow afternoon.
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Blowing people out at home
August 22, 2007. Ian Stewart, next year's regular third
baseman, hit his first Major League home run in dramatic
fashion with the bases loaded as the Rockies rolled over the
Pirates, 9-2. Stewart's Grand Slam along with the second
homer by Tulowitzki in as many days, not to mention dingers
by Holliday and Hawpe, backed strong hurling by Elmer
Dessens, Buckholz, and Ortiz. The home stand is even at 1-1.
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Blowing it at home
August 21, 2007. Losing at home to the last place
Pittsburgh Pirates: priceless. Tulowitzki hit a home run to
give the Rockies a one run lead, then Fuentes came in and
blew the save by giving up two runs. Wait a minute. Where
have we seen this before?
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1 for 3 in LA, Too
August 20, 2007. They lost 6-4 Friday with Josh Fogg
starting, then won on Saturday when Matt Holliday singled in
the winner in the 14th. Then on Sunday a two-run blast from
Todd Helton wasn't enough as they bowed to the Bums, 4-3 to
finish off a 2-4 road trip to Southern Cal. At 63-60, the
Rockies have dropped to 4th place in the West, 7 games in
arrears of the Arizona Snakes, and 3 games off of the
Padres' pace in the Wild Card sweepstakes. Now they return
home for 4 against the last place Pirates followed by 3
against fellow cellar dwellers Washington. Better win them
all.
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1 for 3 in SD, on to LA
August 16, 2007. The Lodo Lumberjacks left their wood
behind when they departed for SoCal. Greg Maddux and the
Padres shut them 8-0 on Tuesday, but they came back with
unexpected help from neophyte starter Ubaldo "Baldy" Jimenez
with the 3-0 victory on Wednesday. In the rubber game on
Thursday, the Colorado relief staff had a total meltdown,
giving up 9 runs in the fifth inning and going down 11-9.
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Colorado Body Slams Chicago 15-2
August 11, 2007. Jamey Carroll hit his first Grand Slam,
the record-breaking sixth of the season for the Rockies.
Josh Fogg held the Cubs to 2 runs over 5 innings and Affeldt,
Julio, Hawkins, and Speier shut them out the rest of the
way. Colorado pulled within 2 games of Wild Card leader San
Diego, and tied for third place with the Dodgers, 5 and a
half back of surging Arizona. Tulowitzki was the hitting
hero along with Carroll, banging 4 hits and 3 RBI, while
Brad Hawpe chipped in with a Big Fly and 3 more ribbies. So
let's see, it's now 19 runs to 18 in favor of the Rockies in
the series with the Cubs, pending the results of Sunday's
game. Who can predict what will happen next?
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Rockies Lose Second to Cubs 6-2
August 10, 2007. The Cubs made it 5 in a row over the
Rockies with their second win of the series Friday night.
With the loss, Colorado dropped back into fourth place, a
game behind the Dodgers.
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Cubs Rout Rockies 10-2
August 9, 2007. Watch out Cubbies, we warned, and watch
out they did, ambushing the hapless, and helpless Colorado
goons by an 8 run margin. This game serves as warning to the
Rockies and their fans that they are not a good team yet.
Their biggest flaws were embarrassingly evident: thin
pitching, inexperience, and over-confidence. Holliday was
the prime example, failing to back up third base on a
run-scoring error, and then falling asleep in left field and
allowing a ball to be hit over his head. After that 19-4
win, they thought they were invincible. Get over it.
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Priceless! Rockies Win 19-4
August 8, 2007. What's priceless? Sweeping the Brewers,
who are in first place in the NL Central, in a three game
series in Denver. That is priceless. But even more
priceless, if there is such a thing, is moving past the
Dodgers into sole possession of third place in the NL West,
just two games behind the Padres for second and four behind
the Diamondbacks for the brass ring. Doing it by drubbing,
thrashing, bouncing, and blasting the Brewers by 15 runs
behind Jeff Frances? That's not just priceless, its
senseless. The Rockies are playing like a runaway train,
unstoppable with a whole head of steam rolling downhill on a
steep grade. Watch out Cubbies!
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Rockies beat Braves, are 3.5 games out of first!
August 3, 2007. Jeff Frances gave up 1 run in 6 innings,
while Garret Atkins provided all the offense need with a
3-run home run off John Smoltz as the Rocks cruised to a 9-3
victory over the hated Atlantans and assured themselves a
successful road trip. They also moved to 4 games over .500
and within a game and a half of the third place Dodgers.
Woo-hoo.
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Colorado takes ill-advised day off
July 30, 2007. Just when they were on a roll and playing
at home, the Rockies decided to get lazy and take a day off.
"My whole family was looking forward to today's game,
they're in a pennant race and the weather is beautiful. How
could they do this to us?" exclaimed disappointed fan Jayson
Banning who drove all the way from Grand Junction with his
family to attend Monday's game. If the Rockies end the
season a game out of first, they will rue the day, July
30th, 2007, when they decided to take a day off rather than
continue their quest for the World Series.
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Only three and one half back!
July 29, 2007. The Rockies took another home series, this
time from the Dodgers, a feat they hadn't accomplished 8
straight times since 2005 against the team from LA. The win
put Colorado 3.5 games behind Arizona and Los Angeles, and 3
behind San Diego. Rookie Ubaldo Jimenez got his first Major
League win by holding the Dodgers to just two runs on 4 hits
over 6 frames. Bullpen pitching was shaky, but the offense
compensated amply in the 9-6 victory. Matt Holliday stayed
hot, kicking in a homer and knocking in 3, while Jamey
Carroll plated 2. The team resumes play in Miami on Tuesday
with 6 road games with Florida and Atlanta.
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Home Sweet Molson
July 23, 2007. The return to Molson Canadian field
returned immediate benefits as the Rockies destroyed San
Diego's bullpen and ruined a good effort by sure HOF Maddux
by erupting for 5 in the 8th and beating the division
leaders 7-5. They also returned to the plus side, boosting
their record to 50-49. Jeff Frances had a bad outing, giving
up 5 earned over 6, but Buchholz bailed him out with two
scoreless and the win, aided by the zero and the save from
Manny "Corpuscle" Corpas. Holliday and Hawpe were the
hitting heroes with homers, with two on for the former and
one for the latter.
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Almost a good start...
July 22, 2007. Things were looking good for the Rockies
at the resumption of the Major League season after the
borefest that is the All Star Game, won as usual by the AL
for the 10th straight year. Colorado lost two of three to a
tough Milwaukee team, then swept the hapless Pirates in
three, steaming in to D.C. to play about the worst team in
Baseball. At 4-2, they were certainly expecting to finish
the road trip at 6-4 or 7-3. After splitting the first two
games, things still looked good. Who knew the Rockies
offense would not score again, losing the last two games by
identical 3-0 scores to pitchers you never heard of? Well,
5-5 is not bad, and they even made it to third place ahead
of Arizona for one day! Now to beat SD and LA at home and
make a move for the division title.
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Rockies Home Streak Ends
July 8, 2007. The Colorado home win streak ended at eight
as the Philadelphia Phillies came from behind to win 8-4 on
Sunday Afternoon. This time, the second rain delay of the
season seemed to cool the Rockies bats instead of the
visitors, as they overcame a 3-0 Rockies lead mostly on the
strength of homeruns by Burrell, Victorino, and two-out RBI
singles by Utley and Howard. The Rockies ended up winning 5
of 6 on the home stand and will start a 10-game road trip
after the All Star break.
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Fate Favors Rockies
July 8, 2007. Talk about your team of destiny, the
Rockies clearly have fate on their side, at least while they
are playing at home at Molsen Canadian Field. On Friday,
with two out in the bottom of the ninth, the baseball gods
clearly interceded to make Phillies relief pitcher Antonio
Alfonseca think he was throwing at the home run contest at
the All Star Game (where the object would be to help the
batter hit a homerun), so he promptly grooved a fastball in
Spilborghs wheelhouse and watched it sail over the center
field fence. Yesterday, the Phils were on a roll in the top
of the first, slamming the Rocks starter for 3 runs on 2
homers. Then the fates once again interceded with a rain
delay, after which the Phillies did not threaten again. In
today's game in the second inning, the umpire's eyesight was
apparently affected as an obviously foul ball was ruled a
triple for Hawpe. Also, in the entire series, the usually
dependable Phillies defense has totally fallen apart,
especially the outfield, who came in leading the world in
throwing out base runners, but suddenly can't seem to handle
the humidified baseballs. One other peculiar occurrence, the
Rockies starter, Cook has great control except when facing
Pat Burrell, to whom he throws the ball 3 feet inside
plunking Burrell on the upper arm. Even stranger is the fact
the Burrell "owns" Cook, hitting over .600 against him
coming into the game. (In the next at bat, Burrell hit a
homerun off Cook.)
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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... (click the heading for
more)
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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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Victory at Home Over a NY Team
III - MetSweep
July 4, 2007. Rockies 17, Mets 7. Whoa.
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Victory at Home Over a New York Team
II
July 3, 2007.
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Another
Victory at Home Over a New York Team
July 2, 2007.
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Back to
the Dark Side in 12-0 Debacle
July 1, 2007.
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Finally
Frances to the Rescure, Rockies win 5-0
June 30, 2007.
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8 in a
row, will it ever end?
June 29, 2007. Not today, as Fuentes once again doused
the light of Clint Hurdle's hopes and dreams by serving up a
two out gopher ball to Mark Loretta after a five pitch walk
to last night's hero, Lee to set the stage for the Big Bomb.
Fuentes could not be found after the orb cleared the barrier
to the glee of Houston fans who haven't had much to cheer
about prior to the visit from Rockies' Choke Festival.
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Oh, no!
Seven in a row
June 28, 2007. This time Fuentes' last pitch resulted in
a Grand Slam as the Rockies lose again after Tulo put them
ahead with a home run in the top of the 11th. Carlos Lee did
the honors for the Astros launching the missile that downed
an 8-5 win in Steam City.
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6 in a
row
June 27, 2007. Well, it didn't end today, as the Rockies
rolled over in Chicago once again, 6-4. Maybe they can win
one in Houston...
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Road
Warriors? More Like Road Apples...
June 26, 2007. The once proud (last week) Colorado
Rockies Major League Baseball Club has now lost a
season-high 5 games in a row. All on the road. All with
Clint Hurdle managing. When will it end?
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Can it
Get Any Worse Than This?
June 25, 2007. After being stuffed all day long, the
Rockies bats came alive as they rallied from a 5 run deficit
in Chicago to take a 9-8 lead, capped by Tulo's three-run
homer. Then they blew it in the bottom of the ninth, losing
10-9.
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From
Bad To Worse, Swept in Toronto
June 24, 2007. The Rockies lost and didn't even get their
lone hit until the ninth inning, a Jeff Baker single. Josh
Fogg was on the losing end of a brilliant pitching
performance by some Toronto pitcher no one had ever heard
of. Looks like the 2007 collapse is coming earlier than
2006's. The Angels won again.
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Argh!
Rocks Go Down Again
June 23, 2007. Aaron Cook had a bad night, Tulowitzki hit
his 3rd home run in as many days, and the Rockies lost again
in Toronto, 11-6. Maybe it's just the shock of finding
themselves in another country without a sea of fans wearing
Yankees Jerseys. Despite the loss, they are only 4.5 games
back, nothing a good win streak couldn't erase by
Independence Day.
Meanwhile, the Angels are staying on course to meet the
Rockies in the World Series, winning their 48th game, the
most in the Major Leagues. The Rockies have won 38.
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Buzzkill! Rockies Lose in Toronto
June 22, 2007. They will have to forget this one quickly.
What looked like a great come-from-behind extra innings
victory quickly turned into a devastating loss. Tulowitzki
had given them an 8-6 lead in the top of the tenth, but
Brian Fuentes gave it back, with the help of a throwing
error by catcher Chris Iannetta that let the winning run
score with only one out in the 9-8 loss.
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Colorado Sweeps The New York Yankees!
June 22, 2007. The impossible has occurred. The Rockies
have actually out-pitched, out-hit, and out-won the greatest
team (so-called) in the history of Major League Baseball!
Granted, they aren't so hot this year, and their best
pitcher is in his forties, but it was a great and improbable
3-victory sweep none-the-less. If the Rockies can keep this
momentum going on the road in Toronto and beyond, the World
Series is within there reach.
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Yanks
Lose in Denver!
June 20, 2007. Unbelievable! A low scoring 3-1 pitcher's
duel with the Rockies beating Mussina and the Bronx Bombers!
Josh Fogg held the Yankees down and Matt Holliday drove in
the winning runs.
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Blake
Street Bombers Face the Originals
June 19, 2007. The Rockies have won 4 of the last 5 and
face the New York Yankees tonight. Colorado is boasting a
winning record at 35-34, 5.5 games off the Padre's pace, and
will face the 35-32 Yankees, who are coming in hot, having
won 9 or their last 10. This is a pivotal moment for the
Rockies, with a chance to prove they are for real. The
Baseball Observer will be convinced if they win one of the
three and avoid any humiliating, crushing blowouts. Not too
much to ask is it? Anything else would be gravy.
Meanwhile, the BO's pick for the Colorado opponent in the
World Series, the Angels, are keeping up their end of the
bargain. They are not only maintaining a 6 game lead in the
AL West, they have beaten the Dodgers 5 games out of 6 in
the interleague series, single-handedly keeping the Rockies
in the race in the NL West.
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Rockies
Win 7 in a Row!!!!!!
May 29, 2007. This time it was Rodrigo Lopez, fresh off
the DL and holding the World Champs to 3 runs over 6 innings
as the Rockies win 8-3 and elevate their record to 25-27,
which I am pretty sure is their best mark of this century.
It also moves them ahead of San Francisco and out of last
place!
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Rockies
Win 6 in a Row!!!!!!
May 28, 2007. Jeff Francis shut down the defending World
Series champs as the Rockies extended their winning streak
to 6.
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Rockies
Win 5 in a Row!!!!!!
May 27, 2007. Just when it looked like the wheels where
coming off, and catching fire, and going flat, and the whole
machine was being run over and pulverized by the Kraken and
Godzilla. And Spiderman and Superman and the Fantastic Four
along with all of their friends and relatives couldn't save
them... The Rockies went out and won 5 in a row on the road.
In your face, Lincicome! At least for this week, it's good.
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Bell Bests Backstabbing Buddy
May 20, 2007. Buddy Bell came to town Friday, with the
team he manages, the lowly Kansas City Royals, owners of
the worst record in baseball. Rockies fans remember Bell
as one of the short-term managers between the hideously
incompetent Don Baylor and the clueless "Clem" Hurdle.
In fact, Bell and his predecessor, Jim Leyland, were the
only managers that had Major League experience at that
position prior to their employment in Colorado. Leyland
had Hall of Fame credentials, and Bell had some
successful years with Detroit and the Rockies. In sad
chapters for the franchise, both were run out of town on
the heels of totally unprofessional machinations by the
screwed-up Colorado brass. Buddy Bell was undone by the
slimy backstabbing of one of his trusted subordinates,
whom he had brought to the big leagues - none other than
Clint "Clem" Hurdle, the current manager-in-name-only.
While visiting the clubhouse during Bell's
administration, the staff of the Baseball Observer noted
unparalleled professionalism - in fact, it was like a
real Major League club instead of the disorganized mess
prevalent during the Baylor and current regimes. Bell
and Leyland have both gone on to respectable careers in
the sport, with Leyland instantly bringing more than
respectability to the defending American League Champion
Detroit Tigers. Bell has a much more difficult situation
in Kansas City, but the Observer is betting that he will
have some success before he is done.
Buddy clearly demonstrated his superiority over Hurdle,
not only by beating the Rockies two out of three on the
road, but by causing a desperate Hurdle to make more
than his usual quota of boneheaded mistakes. Karma sucks
for someone like you, doesn't it Clint?
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Hurdle Headed for Meltdown
May 9, 2007. Clint "Rube" Hurdle is acting more like the
Hee Haw character he looks like with each passing game.
Last week he went ballistic when umpire Bob Davidson
ruled what looked like a homerun was officially a
ground-rule double. Today he reamed out his pitcher in
front of 43,000 people in St. Louis after pointedly
signaling his catcher not to follow him to the mound. It
didn't do much good, either, as the Rockies continued
their mediocre play, losing 9-2 to run their record to
14 up and 20 down. Old Rube is pretty cranky these days,
anyway, because the fans and local media responded with
outrage when the twin buffoon owners of the Colorado
Baseball Club announced on opening day that they had
given both Hurdle and his partner in crime, GM Dealin'
Danny O'Dowd two-year extensions through the 2009
season. All of the radio, television, and print news
machines in the area had built up 2007 as a do-or-die
season for the Dyspeptic Duo, but the Meathead Brothers
blew the whole theme and left them to try to come up
with something else to maintain the public's interest,
which they haven't done yet. Actually, the Rox
aren't doing too bad, considering they have played more
road games than any other team and start a 10 game home
stand tomorrow. If they win 8, they're back to even.
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The Angels are Now in First, Rockies Still in Last
May 8, 2007. Los Angeles seems to have recovered from
their early troubles and are now tied with Oakland for
first place in the American League West. The Rockies, on
the other hand are continuing with business as usual,
mired in the cellar. To be fair, though, of all the last
place teams, they are the closest to first. And, they
have had a tough opening schedule, playing 21 of their
first 30 games on the road in some tough places like New
York and St. Louis.
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Rough Going Early On for the Observer's World Series Picks
April 16, 2007. The Angels have lost 6 of their last 7, including being outscored
15-2 by Boston in the last two games. The Rockies have lost 3 in a row including
tonight's meltdown by Jeff Francis, giving up 7 runs and losing to Barry Zito and
the San Francisco Giants 8 to nothing. But Helton is on a tear, hitting his first
homerun yesterday and pounding 3 hits today. Hawpe and Holiday are doing well but
need to get on a hot streak, along with Atkins if the Rox are going to mount a win
streak. The 7 game home stand is off to an inauspicious start, but Colorado has
a history of hitting at home, so they could break out of it.
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O P E N I N G
D A Y !!!!
April 2, 2007. The fly-over was spectacular, as usual, as was the great big
American Flag... Click for more...
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Celebrate Opening Day
April 1, 2007. Yes, tomorrow is opening day. It's not only a great day
because the Observer says it is going to be the best year in Rockies' history,
but because Opening Day is always a great day! In case you didn't know, it is
also a holiday in Colorado, so the atmosphere is totally festive. Go downtown in
the morning, eat breakfast at one of the great places on the 16th Street Mall or
LoDo, get a sandwich or burrito for lunch and get to the stadium at least two
hours before game time. Check out the lame attractions the Rockies put up around
the park, then get to your seat early to watch the festivities that always
include an impressive fly over by some kind of aircraft. Watch the game, which
the home team usually wins, then get some dinner and head home. It's one of the
best days of the year without a doubt. It's sold out, but tickets can usually be
had from scalpers. |
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Rockies Chase
Worst Record Ever
February 26, 2007. They dumped their
best pitcher, tried to jettison their best hitter, served notice to
their GM and Manager that this would be their last year if they
didn't win, and then put together a team the looks, at least on
paper, capable of losing over 100 games in 2007. The good news is
that it will be easier than ever to get good seats to any game
except the ones with the Bronx Bombers. The bad news is that the
tickets will cost more, there are fewer deals to be had, and the
team is a joke again. But what else is new? Oh, yea, Woody Page is
back! That should make it all worthwhile! |
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