An Unfamiliar Position

Here we are, in a position we don't know much about. First, losing two in a row. It's been long enough since we last did that the guys probably had forgotten what it felt like. Also, being behind in a series, and two games behind at that. What do we do now. Well, for starters we have to hope that Fogg has his best stuff on Saturday and can baffle some Boston hitters that are not so easily baffled. Second, we have to hope that the Rockies offense can recapture a spark at Coors Field and put some hits together.

One thing that was apparent Wednesday night and was reinforced Thursday night is that the Red Sox batters are collectively a very patient and disciplined bunch. You wouldn't need more than two hands to count the number of swings they've had on bad pitches. They rarely swing at pitchers' pitches and don't miss very often with pitches they like. This is the opposite of what we experienced with both Philadelphia and Arizona. Both of those teams swung at a lot of pitches that were out of the strike zone. Not Boston. Fifteen walks in two games is evidence of their discipline. Throwing more and better strikes will be the cornerstone if we are to turn this series around.

Apparently it's too much to ask, but it would be real nice if announcers, commentators, etc. would get the basic facts correct. On Wednesday night, Ken Rosenthal said the Rockies played the Cubs in the NLDS. Last night Tim McCarver referred to the Rockies' home park as Mile High Stadium. I didn't hear it, but my wife said that Joe Buck called Boston the White Sox. My ears may have been playing tricks on me, but I thought I heard Joe Buck call Justin Pedroia Justin Timberlake during the ALCS. We're all human and we all make mistakes, but errors like this can be avoided by simply thinking before blurting out the words. Teams that get this far in the season are usually solid in the fundamentals of the game. Why shouldn't we expect the same out of the broadcasting crew?

Is it just me, or is anyone else already tired of the Red Sox bullpens' whole "Stomp" routine. The announcers said it was a ritual when there was an offensive rally in the works. Since when is a runner on first with two outs a rally? It's like the Braves' tomahawk chop, it loses it's appeal when overused and becomes annoying. At least we won't have to witness it for the next two games and hopefully three.

While We Wait for the Rockies to Play in the World Series, Part Five

The nerves are beginning to resurface.

Virtually no one is giving the Rockies a shot, and quite a few analysts are currently debating how the Rockies will respond and whether or not they can bounce back from a Game 1 defeat. Jayson Stark, about the only mainstream media-type who's even given us a chance from the start, has a different perspective. Probably the biggest surprise to me is that Peter Gammons predicts the series to go seven games. As homers go, Gammons is one of the biggest.

There are so many idiotic analyses of this series that they don't even warrant mention. It's funny how easily people give so much credit to statistics when they support their opinion but yet discount them when they don't. The Rockies' pitching is "average at best" while the Red Sox have the best pitching in baseball. The Rockies' offense is "good" but not anywhere close to the lineup the Red Sox can field, even at Coors Field. The Rockies' defense is "decent", but the Red Sox' defense is better. It's as if MLB decided to just put all the NL teams in a hat and draw a name since the Red Sox need an opponent to be officially declared the World Series Champions. Come On! I know as a fan it's difficult to be neutral, but then don't even pretend to be.

The fact of the matter is that the Rockies beat the Red Sox two out of three at Fenway back in June. I'm not claiming that it means anything, but it is a fact. The Red Sox faithful discount it as nothing more than a small sample size from four months ago, and they're right. However, you can bet your $650 Rockpile ticket you got from StubHub that if the tables were turned they'd be proclaiming it the final piece of evidence that all the Red Sox have to do is show up and claim their Commissioner's Trophy. My head and stomach are starting to ache from reading so much nonsense, so I'm going to stop.

Can the Rockies continue "The Streak" against a real team? Can they topple the mighty 2007 Red Sox, the best thing in baseball since the 2004 Red Sox? Can they withstand the onslaught of Manny, Papi, Youk, Lowell and the rest of that unforgiving lineup? I don't know, but I'm ready to find out.

Until next time, Go Rockies!

While We Wait for the Rockies to Play in the World Series, Part Four

Countless fans were left disappointed today. Supply versus demand dictated there would be some, but not quite like this. As of posting, this poll at 9News.com indicated roughly 2.6% of people who were trying to get tickets did get them. My biggest complaint isn't that I wasn't one of the few who did get tickets, but how it was handled from a PR perspective. Jay Alves needs to be fired. During his news conferences he was arrogant and rude, acting like this was all a nuisance for him and he'd rather be playing solitaire on his PC than talking to reporters who were simply doing their jobs. Here's a link at the Rockies' site if you want to send them your thoughts about the last couple of days. Here's my email I sent them:

With the magical way our season has culminated, this could have been our finest hour, yet it is our darkest. The Rockies as an organization should be downright embarrassed as to how this turned out.

If Jay Alves does indeed represent the Rockies organization, then I am sorry to say it is not the class organization I thought it was. If his arrogance and pompousness does not represent the organization, then someone should be found who does represent it properly. He needs to be fired for the way he treated reporters and fans. For the last three weeks I have been proud to say I am a supporter of the Rockies, not just for what has been accomplished on the field, but even more so for the stories that have come out about a caring and compassionate organization. Today I am not so proud, and it saddens me to have to say that. I suppose I can only hope that lessons were learned from this experience and if the Rockies are so fortunate as to find themselves in this situation again that improvements will be made. All that said, the first improvement that should be made is to find someone who has good PR skills, not someone who just has the title by their name.

Let's just hope our distaste for the Rockies front office right now doesn't bleed into our passion for the guys on the field.

Until next time, Go Rockies!

While We Wait for the Rockies to Play in the World Series, Part Three

We also wait to buy tickets to the World Series. If today goes anything close to what yesterday did, they'd better be ready for a mob at Coors Field. Why do you call a news conference to announce that you have no news?

ESPN has a nice rundown of "The Streak". This is important to read, because, with this long lay off, we fans need to keep our edge too. I've been periodically perusing the video highlights on the Rockies' multimedia page to stay in game shape.

Josh Kalk outlines little things that could impact the outcome of the World Series. All in all I think he did a decent job, but it still amazes me as to how so many continue to get away with writing something while not doing their homework, as he says the Rockies have some experience at Fenway, but none this season. He also uses the outdated reference of Coors Field as "a park that inflates home runs". Enough already. He somewhat piggybacks on Tim Kurkjian's piece where his biggest question for the Series is how the Red Sox will get Ortiz in the games at Coors Field. The Rockies will need to take advantage of Manny in left at Coors and whatever else the Sox decide to do to maximize their offense at the expense of their defense.

This guy, who has exposed his bias more than once over the last couple of weeks, actually thinks this has the makings of a very good series. One thing I do disagree with him on though is Boston's rotation. He calls their rotation "outright imposing". My take on their rotation: Beckett is imposing, definitely, especially when the stakes are high; Schilling can be effective but in no way imposing (three years ago, yes, now, no); Wakefield is befuddling, but imposing probably isn't a word that's ever been used to describe Wakefield; Matsuzaka can be downright imposing at times but can be just as downright bad at other times.

Dave Krieger calls this the Dr. Seuss Series: the Rox vs. Sox on Fox.

Only one more day until we get this thing going.

Until next time, Go Rockies!

While We Wait for the Rockies to Play in the World Series, Part Two

My brother-in-law, who we'll call "Greg", has lived here in the Denver area for about four years or so. He's a transplant from Texas, where he was a transplant from Louisiana. He's a fan of all sports, but his passion is New Orleans Saints football. While in Texas he adopted the Rangers has his baseball team. During the time I've known Greg we've usually gone to one or two Rockies games together each season. He would root for the Rockies when we went, mainly because what else was he going to do, except for the time he went and the Rockies were playing the Rangers. During that game he rooted for his adopted team and the Rockies won the game (the only game the Rockies had won when he attended until very late this year). He would talk about the Rockies, but in a "at-least-it's-Major-League-Baseball" sort of way, not with much conviction one way or the other.

A few weeks ago, Greg and my fellow member(s) of the Designation Committee had decided that if the Rockies somehow managed to get in the playoffs, we would do our best to get to a playoff game. Right after the Rockies won and the Padres lost to force a one-game tie-breaker for the NL wild card, I bought three tickets to the play-in game, but didn't invite Greg. He seemed somewhat disappointed by this when I told him I'd been at the game. My bad. I assumed it was an event that "Rockies fans" would primarily want to be at. That should have been my first clue. The day of the play-in game, I went to Coors Field and bought tickets for Game 3 of the NLDS against the Phillies (working four blocks from CF has its advantages).

Witnessing the Rockies win the game to sweep the Phillies in the NLDS and celebrate their advancing to the NLCS was a wonderful experience. I was beginning to sense a change in the way Greg cheered for the Rockies. As the Rockies played Arizona for the NL pennant I could tell that he was becoming a little more involved than a mere by-stander. We each had tickets to the NLCS, I for Game 3 and he for Game 4. Fortunately, he was prepared and recorded the final out and ensuing celebration as the Rockies won to earn the right to play in the World Series. He showed me that video last night. While the celebration began on the field and in the stands, I could hear Greg screaming and hollering on the recording. I thought to myself, if I didn't know better, I'd say that was a Rockies fan. Shortly after the video was over he declared, "I'm a Rockies fan". Scenes like this are happening everyday, all over this city. As a dedicated fan, it's fun to see, and tried-and-true, die-hard fans are saying "welcome".

Greg, let this be my official welcome to the not-so-little anymore and growing group that call themselves "Rockies fans".

Until next time, Go Rockies!

We Earned a Banner for the Outfield Wall

The Rockies are going to the World Series.

Say that ten times.

It's just as sweet the tenth time as it was the first, isn't it?

Sign that Pennant Fever has, in fact, reached epidemic proportions: my wife logging onto mlb.com to check out stats.

It was only fitting that Tulowitski and Helton were the bookends for the play that clinched the series for us, sending 50,213 into a collective celebration this town hasn't seen since, well, maybe never. Tulo and Helton are the heart and soul of this team, each gladly alternating between heart or soul when necessary. One, young and naive enough to not realize that rookies aren't supposed to do what he does. The other, a classic veteran, for years content with simply playing hard in order to show the youngsters how it's done. Now they both get to play for baseball's ultimate prize, together.

Sign that Pennant Fever has, in fact, reached epidemic proportions: thousands of people in Denver who didn't know what a pennant was a week ago, do now.

Jayson Stark's column gives me goose bumps every time I read it. The reality of this whole thing is just too difficult to comprehend. What they did is incredible. How they did it is already legendary. Seldom does something achieve legendary status so soon afterwards, but, without a doubt, this is the stuff that legends are made of.

One of the most impressive tidbits during the celebration last night was that, to a man, the Rockies' players claimed that they have "unfinished business". Getting to the World Series is certainly worth celebrating, but it wasn't their goal. Their goal is, and always has been, to win it.

Sign that Pennant Fever has, in fact, reached epidemic proportions: Seth Smith is a household name.

One of the best things about this amazing run is witnessing the release of all Helton's frustrations that have piled up over the years. While being interviewed last night, Helton said,

I'm experiencing emotions I didn't even know I had.

This is a man we rarely see get emotional. We've experienced more emotion from him in the last month than probably the rest of his career put together. It's wonderful to see.

Mr. Byrnes, paging Mr. Byrnes. His mouth made it onto the flight from Phoenix, but apparently nothing else did.

Sign that Pennant Fever has, in fact, reached epidemic proportions: Brandon Marshall announced he will buy as many World Series tickets he can get and distribute them to Broncos' season ticket holders.

Four to go.

Until next time, Go Rockies!

Bring Them Back

If you are still wondering about the sentiment in Denver towards Jim Leyland, read Dave Krieger's column in the Saturday RMN. He pretty much sums it up as well as anything I've seen so far.

Dirtgate continues to be interesting. While everyone associated with baseball appeared to be minimizing the entire episode, the media at large and the blogging community was not. Rogers has not wavered from his claim that the substance on his hand was a mixture of dirt and resin ( except to add spit as an ingredient later) and LaRussa says he didn't believe it was dirt while the umpires don't know because they didn't inspect it. Bad Altitude makes a good point, since when are the umpires obligated to enforce the rules only when a manager requests it? If the substance on Rogers' hand was illegal, then he should have been ejected and suspended for the rest of the postseason. If the substance was not illegal, then they would have asked him to wipe it off and he would have continued to pitch. The latter is exactly what happened, by most accounts, but yet an element of doubt will forever trail Rogers and the Detroit Tigers, regardless of the outcome of the World Series. I'm guessing that the umpires now wish they knew and had taken that extra step of actually looking to see what the substance was on Rogers' hand. If they had, then Rogers would either be guilty or innocent, but dirtgate wouldn't be a topic of conversation. Instead, we can only speculate about Rogers, and the other Detroit pitchers for that matter, and the topic of dirtgate will continue to feed the media's hungry appetite.

We here at DITR are taking on a cause. It's not an important cause, but a cause nonetheless. Now that Vinny Castilla will be retiring, we believe it would be a great idea for the rockies to bring back the members of the Blake Street Bombers for a "reunion" of sorts and have a special day of recognition at a game during the 2007 season. Galarraga, Walker, Bichette, Burks and Castilla deserve a special tribute and the fans deserve the opportunity to honor players that were part of one of the most impressive offenses baseball has ever seen. In an effort to gather and document support for this cause, we have created an online petition. The goal is to deliver the signatures of the petition to the rockies at the beginning of the year to introduce the idea and encourage the rockies to pursue an event of this nature. If you agree with this cause, there are two ways you can help. First, go sign the petition and second, tell others about it. Let's work together and do our best to get these five players back together at Coors Field for one last time.

Until next time, go rockies!

Enough Already

The only good thing about the Tigers sweeping the ALCS from the A's is that we get a reprieve from the endless accolades Jim Leyland has been receiving from the Fox commentators, and everyone else for that matter. You only had to watch a game for an inning or two to get a look at Leyland in the Detroit dugout and get a solid dose of how great a manager he is. The commentators have painted a picture of confidence, swagger and a winning attitude wafting off of Leyland. Unfortunately, the only thing wafting off of Leyland when he was in the rockies' dugout was cigarette smoke. Leyland may very well be a very good manager, but a great manager does not quit on his team, as Leyland did in 1999 with the rockies. A manager would not tolerate that from one of his players, so how can a great manager do that very same thing himself? Now, we get a second dose of Leyland and his winning ways, this time from a local source, making it even worse. "Leyland" and "winning" were rarely mentioned in the same sentence during the 1999 season. Leyland is quoted as saying "When I've had good players, I've done pretty well. And when I haven't had good players, I haven't been worth a (darn)." If that isn't an indictment on the 1999 rockies, then I don't know what is. Now, I'm not saying that the rockies were a championship caliber team, but the rockies did have talent and should have finished better than last place in the division. The best collection of talent in the world isn't going to win with a coach/manager that's disinterested. Going into the 1999 season, the rockies made few personnel changes other than the manager, believing that a top-notch manager could make the difference. Unfortunately, the rockies did not get that in Leyland and it cost the GM Bob Gebhard his job. Needless to say, I'll be routing for either the Mets or Cardinals in the World Series.

If you haven't been to the website recently, go visit. I've made some significant improvements and added a few features.

Until next time, go rockies!