Colorado Rockies and the NL West

As of this very exact moment, the Rockies have 70 wins and are 3 1/2 games behind the Dodgers. They're also 3 games ahead of the Giants in both the division and the Wild card races. This is either the start of another playoff run, or the high point of the season.

They have a game tonight against the Giants and then a three game home series with the Dodgers. If they sweep, they'll be in a tie for first place. Just sayin'.

Rockies 3 Red Sox 4

What can you say? Boston was just better. Better hitting, better pitching, better defense. Better. Congrats to Red Sox Nation. Have your fun, but next year do us all a favor and shut up. You are no longer lovable losers. You are unlovable losers with a winning team.

Also, any team that signs Alex Rodriguez deserves whatever miserable finish they get.

Rockies 5 Red Sox 10

Let's just add the Rockies to the long list of unworthy finalists this year: The Buckeyes in College Football, The Bears in the Super Bowl, The Buckeyes again in the Final Four, The Cavaliers in the NBA Finals, and The Senators in the Stanley Cup. Let's face it, the finals never really provide the neck-and-neck competition we crave.

Thank goodness there's only one more night of this garbage to go.

Rockies 1 Red Sox 2

What does it tell you when the only guy who's hitting the ball gets picked off little league style with the go-ahead run at the plate? The Rockies have lost their mojo.

I don't want to say that it's over, but it's over. The Rocks needed to steal one in Fenway to swing the series their way and put doubt in the minds of Sox. It didn't happen. Game 2 will go down as a huge missed opportunity as the Red Sox let their bats rest for once and the Colorado bullpen did its job. I doubt that will happen again. For the Rockies to win now, they'll have to go out and win every game 10-8, 12-9, 7-5, or whatever. I have my doubts.

Rockies 1 Red Sox 13

The Red Sox got everything they wanted: a continuation of the momentum they built up in their win over the Indians, and a lethargic uninspired Rockies team that was not ready to play.

Francis was awful in the early innings and probably shouldn't have been allowed to go as long as he did (not that the bullpen was any help). And the lineup did nothing to slow down Becket has he k'd one after the next.

The only hope of making this an interesting series is if Helton and the team see this as their wake-up call. Otherwise, this is just the first record-breaking loss in a short Boston dominated series.

Go Rockies!

The Rockies being off for a week is starting to give me the same feeling that I had when I realized that 50-something days was too long between football games for my Buckeyes. But the Rocks should have been done back in September and yet here we are, waiting for Game 1 of the World Series.

Why they will win:

• The Offense. The Rockies have an amazing lineup that will only be enhanced by the AL mandated DH. They also know how to beat pitchers by working the count and patiently fouling off balls until they get something they can hit.
• The Bullpen. Clint Hurdle has been working the bullpen in do or die situations all year. He won't be afraid to send out the entire roster if necessary to win a game. The Red Sox on the other hand need their starters to pitch brilliantly for 6 or 7 innings.
• Defense. The Rockies are the best in baseball history and they know how to deal with Coors Field. They won't be intimidated by Fenway Park either.
• Familiarity. The Rocks won 2 of 3 back in June in Boston and beat both of the Red Sox's aces.
• Coors Field. It's big, the wind blows, the altitude is funky, it might snow. More importantly, it will affect the Red Sox pitchers who lack experience pitching in these sorts of conditions.
  

Rockies in 5.

Rockies Sweep! Sweep! Sweep!

What more can be said about Rockies that won't be said in the build-up toward the World Series? I've lived in Colorado long enough to have seen two Stanley Cups and two Super Bowls. I've also seen the Denver Nuggets come up from perennial laughingstock to the makings of a yearly playoff team. But the one thing I thought I would never see was the Rockies in the World Series. Truly unbelievable.

Especially when you consider the ongoing debate between small market and big market teams, the effect of the altitude and dry air, and the fact that every year there was some other Cinderella doing what the Rockies could not (i.e., win games after the month of July). Turns out the Rockies were patient enough to use their farm system (Colorado Springs and Tulsa are well represented here), and clever enough to put the baseballs in a humidor. And this year it was the Rockies turn to be the Marlins or the Astros or the Tigers or the Twins.

Now I have to figure out what to do if Cleveland beats Boston. I may have to place wagers with my family back in OH-IO.

Rockies 2 Phillies 1

You never expect to see a low scoring pitcher's duel in Coors field, but it just shows how far the Rockies' pitching has come. There was a time when they'd all but given up on the idea that you could have quality pitching in the high altitude and so they chose to slug their way through every game. No more.

So, the Rockies win again and move on to the National League championship series. A mighty achievement. They'll be facing the one team that will not be surprised to see them: Arizona. They are also the team that Colorado beat 2 out 3 last weekend just to get to the Wildcard tie-breaker. Since we've seen nothing but sweeps so far, it wouldn't surprise me to see this series go 7. On the other hand the Rockies haven't had a losing streak (of any kind) in almost a month, so it's getting harder to imagine them falling behind in the series.

Either way, I expect it will be more competitive than the division series were.

Rockies 10 Phillies 5

Things got a little dicey there in the 8th when Philadelphia loaded the bases, but in the end it was all about the Rockies' relievers and the Rockies' bats.

Colorado is in the driver's seat now as the series moves to Denver for the weekend.

----------------
Listening to: R.E.M. - Burning Hell
via FoxyTunes

Rockies 4 Phillies 2

Colorado wins a crucial game 1 on the road and continues to baffle the experts. Heh.

Rockies 9 Padres 8

What a long, weird, fantastic ball game. You couldn't ask for more than Monday night's epic of hitting, pitching, fielding, misplays, and controversial calls. Sure Holliday missed home plate in the end, but he sacrificed his face in the process. Baseball is not a game of precision, it is a game of justice, right and wrong. There is moral latitude in the way umpires call games, and as soon as the ump saw the catcher drop the ball he declared the play over.

I have to admit I almost went to bed in the middle of the 13th when the Padres went up 8-6. The Rockies seemed to have run out of steam and run out of pitchers. But I sat there, figuring I might as well go down with the ship. The announcers had hyped Hoffmann's appearance throughout extra innings to such a degree that once he was on the mound there seemed to be nothing to do but wait for the inevitable. And then, boom! The top of the line-up that the Padre's middle relief had completely shutdown came back to life.

Great finish to a great season. The Rockies are this year's Tigers, and might just take it all the way.

Rocky Mountain Baseball In October

I managed to jinx them for Friday night, but the Rocks recovered beautifully to win the final two games against the Western Division champion Diamondbacks, and force a playoff against the fading Padres. This is probably the biggest sports event to hit Colorado since the days of Stanley Cups and Super Bowl championships. The game was so huge that it was hard to switch over to see the Broncos get thumped by the Colts (and hardly anyone noticed anyway).

If the Rockies can get past the Padres tonight, there's no reason to think they can't compete against the other National League teams. This is a much better team than the 1995 team that stumbled into the playoffs in the era of Atlanta dominance.

Let's hope they can get it done, and move on to Philadelphia!
----------------
Listening to: Grandaddy - El Caminos In The West
via FoxyTunes

Rockies 10 Dodgers 4

The Rockies do it again, sweeping their series with the Dodgers and extending their winning streak to 11. I have to admit I went to bed with the score 3-2, confident they could win without me. I'm just sorry I missed all the fireworks in the later innings.

So, the playoffs unofficially start today with the Rockies playing 3 games against the Diamondbacks. A sweep could win the division, 2 wins keeps them in the hunt. If Arizona wins the series, it's probably all over.

I fear the jinx, but however things turn out it's been exciting to watch the team come together. It's not often you get to see the best team ever for a particular franchise loaded with so much young talent. A lot of these guys I've seen come through Colorado Springs (AAA) on their way up to the majors so it's pretty cool to see them find so much success.

Go Rockies!

Shhh! I don't want to jinx it (again*):

If you were to pick a team to get wildfire hot down the stretch, Colorado would have ranked down the list. The Rockies haven't made the postseason since 1995. They were the only major league team without a win streak of at least five games in 2005 or 2006. And when Aaron Cook and Jason Hirsh went down with injuries in August, that left Jeff Francis and Josh Fogg as the only April starters left in manager Clint Hurdle's rotation.

After a 10-2 loss to Florida on Sept. 15, the Rockies were fourth in the NL West, 6½ games behind the first-place Diamondbacks. But they beat the Marlins 13-0 behind rookie starter Franklin Morales in the series finale and proceeded to whip up on the Padres and the reeling Dodgers. Now they're one game out in the wild card and two behind Arizona in the division.

The series this week with the Dodgers has been keeping me way up past my bedtime, but its been worth it.

* The last time I blogged on the Rockies was after they had swept the Yankees in a phenomenal series at Coors Field. They then proceeded to lose their next 9. They have one last game at LA and then three at home against Arizona. It's completely possible that could not only win the Wildcard but actually end up with the Division pennant. It's not likely, but it's possible. And there's nothing I enjoy more than the triumph of the possible over the probable. Anarchist miracles, &c.


----------------
Listening to: Iron & Wine - Pagan Angel and a Borrowed Car
via FoxyTunes