Colorado Rockies
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The Team with No NameJune 7th, 2008
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I’d like to share a story with you.
When I was eight or nine, my younger brother decided to ride his bike down the hill near the front of our house. It was a small hill, and even though he had been riding his bike without his training wheels for only a year or so, he could have handled it easily.
If the front wheel of his bike hadn’t broken off halfway down the hill.
Man, my brother was messed up after that. He went flying head-first off his handle bars and landed face-first on the street. His face was all bruised, he had bad cuts on his arms, even a couple of his teeth were gone. He looked terrible for a long, long time after that (in fact, it’s probably a blessing that — almost twenty years later — when he first met the woman who eventually became his wife, she didn’t have the best eyesight in the world), and it took him a while to feel comfortable on a bike again. Read more
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The Homestand: Everything Old is New AgainApril 25th, 2008
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Okay, for a few days there, I was officially in Joker-land.
When the Phillies and the Cubbies both came to Coors Field, I was sure the Rocks would take at least three of four (a sweep of the Phillies and a split with the Cubs). The offense was clicking, the starting pitching was holding up, and the bullpen was — as usual — awesome. Sure, there was that minor, little “hiccup” in Houston on Sunday when the bullpen gave up a lead late, but that was just a fluke, right? That couldn’t be the start of a trend, right?
“BZZZZZZ. Thanks for playing. Let’s see what your lovely parting gifts are . . .”
I was so, so wrong. At first, though, I was right. In the two home games against the Phillies, the Rockies were playing great. On Monday, the offense was putting runs up on the board (including hitting a couple of home runs into god-awful wind), and Mark Redman, if not exactly pitching like Cy Young, was still giving his club a chance to win the game and was eating up innings. With a guy like Redman — the 5th starter — you really can’t ask for too much more.
That’s not a knock, by the way. It’s just that a 5th starter in baseball is kind of like a blind date. You don’t expect too much, and you may suffer through a few really bad ones, but every once in a while you find yourself sitting across from a person you really, really like. You’re pleasantly surprised. You’re even glad you’re on the date. You even start thinking that maybe this will lead to something later on that night . . .
Dirty old man.
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The Justice LeagueApril 20th, 2008
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I started writing this waaaaay to early. You see, I had this great article about the bullpen for the Colorado Rockies all mapped out in my head. I mean, these guys have been phenomenal so far this season. Unstoppable. Unhittable. More on fire than Richard Pryor ever was. I even picked out this great picture to represent how truly awesome they’ve been . . .
By the way, and no disrespect intended, but I’d say Kip Wells is probably Wonder Woman, only because he kind of has a girlie name. Unfair? Maybe. But did John Wayne ever portray a cowboy named “Kip”? Of course, I’m not one to criticize. For the first 10 years of my life my mom insisted on calling me “Jamie” only because she had desperately wanted a girl when I was born. Don’t even get me started on the way she dressed me.
But like I was saying, I was all set to write this fantastic piece about the Rockies’ bullpen and how they helped the Rockies sweep the Astros for the very first time in Minute Maid Park.
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The Almost Revenge of the 800-year-old ManApril 8th, 2008
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Whew.
I’m not saying I was ready to wheel in an oxygen tank, but still. I am, though, breathing a little easier tonight. The Rockies closed out a game.
Finally.
Granted, the season is only seven games old, and I probably shouldn’t get too worked up over a little five game losing streak and the Rockies’ inability to actually score runs this early in the year. After all, most clubs have trouble getting the offense on track, and it’s best to think of the baseball season as a marathon and not a sprint. Very valid points. Still, do you know of any guys who went on to win a marathon after they tripped and fell right after the gun went off? Yeah, that’s what I thought.
Baseball is all about momentum. That’s what I believe. We “experts” — and yeah, I’m throwing quotes around experts because you can’t see me roll my eyes when I say it. I’m not an expert, okay? And more importantly, I know I’m not an expert. Fan? Yes. Insightful? Sure. Expert? No. But . . . Sexy? Well . . . No. Shouldn’t have even tried. Sorry — like to talk about pitching rotations and defensive positioning and starting line-ups, and we like to approach the game like it’s one giant chess match. And, you know what? It’s fun to think that way. It really is. It’s fun to analyze which manager is going to make the key move at the right time to counter whatever the other manager had in the works, and which team had the better off-season it terms of front office moves and player transactions. it may not seem like fun to most people, but what can I say? We’re geeks. Maybe not hardcore geeks(Captain Kirk is better than Captain Picard), but we’re close. Don’t believe me? Check out the picture on my writer bio. Newest member of the Lambda Lambda Lambda pledge class. (For the record…Kirk kicks Picard’s ass every day of the week.)
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Colorado Rockies — And the Rain came downApril 2nd, 2008
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Noah may have been mad to see it coming down, but man oh man, was I glad for all that rain on Opening Day. The first day of the season was not supposed to look like this. Not for the Rockies, not for the defending National League Champs. Five to one? In the bottom of the third? Against St. Louis? Look, I know the Cardinals have a pretty good offense, but it’s not like we’re talking about the ‘27 Yankees here. Five to one? These weren’t the Rockies; heck, they weren’t even the Bad News Bears. Jeff Francis looked lost, the rest of the team Read more
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Opening DayMarch 31st, 2008
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We all measure time in our own unique ways. Some people take the more traditional path and recognize January 1st as the beginning of the year. Yawn. Others choose their birthdays as when the calendar starts anew. Snore. But for a few, a special few, the year – nay, life – does not begin until . . . wait for it . . . Opening Day.
Opening Day. Like a Hemingway novel, there’s more here than just what’s on the surface. Those two simple words suggest so much: Hope; Promise; Cold beer on a hot summer day. All covered by the tidy phrase “Opening Day.” The past is forgotten, the long, bitter, soul-numbing NFL-filled winter is over, and the only true sports’ season starts . . . now. (by the way, how do I know that baseball is – as the girls say – “the one?” Easy. There was a freakin’ zombie baseball player in the original “Dawn of the Dead.” Any zombie football players? Nope. Zombie hockey players? Unh-uh. Zombie soccer players? Please. You can’t even tell if regular soccer players are alive or dead. The answer, my friends, is clear: even the undead love baseball. Thanks for calling. Click.)