Guaranteed

Interesting. Here's an exerpt from 38 Pitches, Curt Schilling's blog:

Man, the Colorado Rockies sure put a whooping on us last night. I obviously didn't have the same stuff as the last time out when I one-hit the A's. I didn't shake off Tek once last night and see what happens. So much for my superstition that I pitch better with Hunt's on my sock than Heinz. Who are these guys anyway? Holliday, Hawpe, Matsui? I remember hearing something about Todd Helton in the off-season, but these other guys I don't know anything about. As Keith Jackson would say, 'Whoa Nellie!'

One thing about Schilling, he always speaks his mind. Anyway, with the Rockies' win last night they guarantee themselves a .500 road trip. Things are looking rather encouraging. Our ERA is the lowest it's been since April 30 and the batting average the highest since May 1. The batting average over the last 10 games is .300 and five of those games have been away from CF. The last two games have been encouraging in that we now know that we can compete with the top-tier teams, on their field no less.

The Rox signed 19 of their recent draft picks. The draft file will be updated in the next day or so to reflect those signings.

Until next time, go Rockies!

Its' About Time

After 322 straight days without the Capital R (now simply known as, CapR), the Rockies have earned it back. The Designation Committee met yesterday and determined that either winning or tying six straight series warranted a full restoration of our beloved team's name. This is by far the longest the Rockies have gone without CapR. Last season was the first time since in the history of CapR that the team played so poorly down the stretch that the Committee had no choice but to withhold CapR for the entire off-season. It sure would be nice if the Designation Committee had to go another 322 days without changing CapR.


I'll be the first to admit that the competition the Rox have been facing during this recent surge doesn't exactly strike fear, the combined winning percentage of those teams being .459. However, there are a number of elements in the current version of the Rockies that have greatly improved over what we were seeing for much of the first seven weeks or so. For one, the problems that were plaguing the bullpen have seemed to right themselves. No longer do we feel like we need a 5+ run lead in the 7th to give our pen a good chance to bring it home. Jeff Francis, after a dismal start to the season has found his form as the dominant starter we expect each game. The team as a whole is hitting better with runners in scoring position. I don't have data to back up this claim, just my observations, but the improvement has been talked about in various circles. The three games at Fenway will tell us a lot. After Boston the Rox don't play a winning team again until July 2-4 against the Mets. We don't play San Diego again until July 23-25, so hopefully the Rox can keep up the momentum and have the confidence they need when they start playing some of the better teams.

The draft file on the website has been updated with the Rockies' 2007 selections. As is tradition at DITR, the staff would like to offer their congratulations to Larry Day, the 1,453rd, and final, pick of the 2007 draft. Day is a catcher from the University of Connecticut selected by the New York Yankees.