Dragging

I'm dragging just a little bit this morning as I tried to stay up and watch the entire game last night. It didn't work. I fell asleep in the 11th, woke up about 11:40 and went straight to bed. Anyway, I was pulling for the Astros to win. Not because I want the Astros to win the Series or that I don't want the Sox to win, but a 3-0 Series at this point is a lot less interesting than 2-1 would be. From a standpoint of a baseball fan and not particularly a fan of either team, a drawn out series with multiple lead changes and drama at every turn is infinitely more entertaining than a lopsided victory by either team. What baseball doesn't need is a series sweep for the second year in a row. Each game individually has been very entertaining with plenty of tension and playmaking, but collectively are turning out to be only slightly more entertaining than the 2004 WS.

Things were looking pretty good for the Astros heading into the 5th with a 4-0 lead and Oswalt pitching well. The game changed quickly though with the Sox sending 11 batters to the plate and scoring five runs. Oswalt's fastball which was clocking in at 96-97 mph in the first was only registering at 93-94 by the fifth and the Sox hitters weren't being fooled at all. The Houston bullpen pitched admirably and kept them in the game until the offense could rebound and tie it up in the 8th. Houston may be getting used to these marathon games, now having played the longest game in playoff history and the longest game in World Series history.

It seems like the networks that broadcast the championships for the major sports always feel it necessary to unveil some technological or graphical innovation with each year's telecast. Fox, possibly the most notorious for this, has had it's FoxTrax gadget this year. FoxTrax is a graphic that illustrates the location of a pitch, indicating the speed and break (in inches) up or down of the pitch. After three games of seeing it and evaluating it, the staff at DITR has decided it is useless and distracting from the action on the field. It really doesn't enhance the game and it's... ok, I'll say it, stupid. (We don't use that word around our house, having a three-year-old and all.) I happen to like Dusty Saunder's take at the RMN that he longs for the good ole' days when the only things on the screen were the players, umpires and managers.

Another thing that I'm starting to have a problem with is the endless replays from every possible angle. If a ball is foul, I don't need to see from multiple angles if it was two feet or ten feet foul. If it's hard to see from the live angle, show it was foul in a replay and move on. Don't get me wrong. Replays are good, but sometimes the networks get a little carried away. Plays that have been highly controversial this postseason, (the ball in the dirt with Pierzynski, the hitbatsmen with Dye) all probably happened in the past. However, with instant replay from so many angles, the networks can determine if close plays were the right call or wrong call, usually before the next play occurs. The results are often claims that the umpires unfairly helped determine the outcome of a game. DITR takes the stand, along with others, that the umpires reviewing plays by looking at replays has no place in baseball.

Passion and Sports

Great! Just what we need. Another Manning to torment us.

If you've wondered what the elements might be like for baseball in late October in Denver in 2037, you got a sneak peek last night in Chicago. It looked miserable, with the temperature at 45 and a steady rain most of the game. A high-scoring game was definitely surprising, given that cool and damp weather usually give the pitchers an advantage.

I think that the way the game ended last night serves as a reminder to me why sports, in general, are so endearing to us and we find it so easy to get passionate about our team. After all the strategizing and maneuvering, things can still happen that are so unexpected that noone could possibly script them. Sports are filled with failures, some that are so painful that they are embedded in our minds forever, and successes, some that exude such joy that the only way we can express it is to hoot and holler. Our lives are also filled with failures and successes, so we can relate as human beings. Baseball tends to offer this element to a greater degree than other sports due to the one on one battle between pitcher and batter. It lends itself to personal heroics more than other sports for that reason. So, Scott Podsednik, the AL version of Juan Pierre, who so rarely hits a homerun but has hit two in the postseason, hits a walk-off against Brad Lidge, the next generation's most likely dominant closer.

Houston will now return to the Juice Box, putting nearly all of it's hopes on the shoulders of Roy Oswalt. The Astros can be briefly comforted by the fact that their best pitcher will be starting game 3. However, they will be going against Jon Garland, who at times during the season was Chicago's best pitcher. So far, the series hasn't been disappointing, being pretty entertaining.

There's been a few changes for the website and blog. I've finally decided to go with a Rockies color scheme. There are a few bugs still being worked out, so if you use FireFox you'll need to revert back to IE for the time being. If you read DITR from an aggregator or newsreader, go check it out. Also, at work I got a new computer a couple of months ago and with it came Office XP. Excel XP has XML capabilities so, instead of XLS files on the site, I have converted most to HTML and XML files. I have a short help section for using these files. Hopefully they will be more useful in these formats. All the Excel files should be in these formats in the near future.

I didn't do quite enough homework on the latest trivia question, so as it turns out there are three correct answers. Ryan Mattheus, Darren Clarke and Ryan Shealy were all drafted out of high school and college by the Rox and are currently in the organization. Shealy was the one I was thinking of.

Miscellaneous Ramblings

So, the World Series is set with Houston's win over St. Louis last night. Before the postseason began, ESPN listed all the possible matchups from least to most appealing and a Chicago/Houston series was the least. However, given how these two teams have been playing recently, it has the makings of a pretty competitive and entertaining series. In my opinion, the two best teams will be battling it out for top honors. Given how the Chicago starters have been pitching, maybe the bullpen pitchers should have to buy tickets to get into the World Series. I was talking with my baseball buddy Scot and he told me that, as a Rockies fan, he was sure there was some MLB rule limiting a team to two complete games per season. Like other stats, I guess complete games start over with the playoffs.

The Astros' fans have waited 44 years to get into the WS. If the Rockies can match that, then we only have 32 years to go. There is hope after all. I suppose my biggest concern is in the event that Tampa Bay gets there before we do. Now that would be depressing. I say that if we haven't reached the WS by 2037 we consider hiring Jack McKeon as manager.

In what may end up being the biggest move of the offseason, Leo Mazzone has reportedly accepted the job of pitching coach for the Orioles. Apparently Mazzone and Baltimore manager Sam Perlozzo have been almost life-long friends. So, the decision makes more sense from a personal standpoint than from a baseball standpoint. Mazzone's arrival in Baltimore could have an immediate positive impact on the Orioles, but will certainly have an immediate negative impact in Atlanta. After reading 3 Nights in August, I am convinced that the most important variable for a manager is his pitching coach. Not only a good one, but one that has been with the manager at length and they think the same way. Regardless of the pitchers that Atlanta has had during their streak of winning their division, Bobby Cox has had Mazzone by his side.

I have a new poll on the website and hopefully it will be a fun one. Vote for your favorite old logo. The choices I have are the original Colorado Rockies, the longtime Denver Broncos "D" and the Denver Nuggets from the 70's. You can also vote for another if you'd like. If you do, please email me your vote and a picture of the logo if you have it.

The DITR regular season awards ceremony is just around the corner. I am dropping my tux off at the cleaners tonight. I will be announcing the winners of the awards in an upcoming posting.

After a lengthy absence, DITR is bringing back a trivia question, at least for this post. Here you go: What current member of the Rockies organization was drafted by the Rockies out of high school AND out of college? Leave your answer as a comment or send me an email.