Monday, October 29, 2007

Putting A Cap on the 2007 Rockies Season


Waking up the morning after the final nail was driven into the coffin of the Rocks' season and a number of thoughts are going through my baseball-soaked mind. I'll admit it, I didn't sleep very well last night, in large part due to a slew of unrelated bad dreams that contained an unsettling Red Sox undercurrent. Their swift handling of the Rox in the World Series has apparently made an impression. I could bitch endlessly about the Sox' payroll, fans, and their transformation into the Yankees as an elite hated team, but I am trying to focus on the Rockies season from their standpoint, both good and bad.


There are loads of positive aspects to this season. The emergence of the young talent has been at times frustrating to watch (see April - August), but ultimately very fun (see September - October). This can only mean good things in years to come, unless ownership flips the bird to the fans these kids have brought back into the fold and doesn't resign the likes of Holliday, Atkins, Hawpe, etc. While Atkins and Hawpe struggled mightily at the plate in the WS, I'm not ready to flush them away. This playoff run has hopefully provided some October experience that will come in handy down the road......


Which brings me to my main problem with how this whole thing went down in the WS. The ride that got the Rockies to the Fall Classic was of epic proportions. You could argue that the Rockies were the best team in the NL down the stretch and should be right there again next year. I'm not sure I necessarily buy that. The Dodgers and Mets can be expected to be in the mix next year, and the Cubs will likely shell out more cash to improve their team. Our road through the NL in the playoffs wasn't exactly through the teams who would be considered the cream of the NL crop. This was likely part of the reason we swept our way through the NL, which maybe wasn't the best thing to happen. While it has been more or less shown the AL is dominate over the NL, (with the exception of last year's bizarre WS sweep by the Cards over the Tigers), it's a shame we weren't able to keep playing when the team was hot and try to ride that late-season magic all the way to a world championship. I am pleased with winning the NL Pennant and don't think the Rockies embarrassed themselves at all by getting swept by the AL Champ (winning a game or two would have sure been nice though), but the chances of getting to the World Series and to be a team as hot as they were at that point, is not something that happens very often at all. If a World Series drought is prolonged significantly, we all may look back at this last week with a little bit more disdain.


Still, no shame in losing to the best team in baseball this year. Too bad the Tribe couldn't have stepped on the Sox throat when they were up 3-1. I guess that all that deficit did was get the Sox' attention and once the dragon was awaken, there was really no stopping it.


All in all, a fine season Pet Rocks (Our Rocks?)! As a result of the last month and a half, the bar has been significantly raised for the players, the organization, and the fan base. I just hope Slinky's doesn't plan on raising those 20 ounce game day beer prices next year due to their success......

2 comments:

Riggins said...

No shame in losing to the best team in baseball, from start to finish, as the Sox were this year! I would love to bitch about payroll but instead choose to accept and admire it considering the Stanley Cup runs the Avalanche made year in and year out because ownership chose to step up and put a winner on the ice where they understood there was and is a fan base to support it. The Rockies, and Denver in general, have the best professional sports fans in the country and if you put a "competitive" team on the field, let alone a playoff team they will come support it. Easy examples would be the Broncos, Avs but what about the Crush etc. I have lived in the LA area and now in Htown and the support pro teams get in Denver doesn't even compare to the lacksidasical attitude in many big cities across the country. So STEP UP Monforts! If you going to get a copyright on Rocktober then do everything you can to give your fans the best chance of one year in and year out!

More importantly there should not have been an 8 day layoff. Don't punish a team for playing well. Secondly, the fact an exhibition game, the All-Star game, decides home field advantage is ridiculous. Regardless, the Sox deserved it this season but still...
The beauty of being a Denver fan is tonight we move on to another team trying to rev up some momentum of their own, not to mention a hockey team starting to put together a nice little streak!
Let's go Broncos, Avs, Nuggs! Not to mention the bowl bound Buffs, "this ain't intramurals brother!"

TroutDog said...

The Dodger maneuvering is already beginning. Rumor has it that Grady Little is out and Torre will be hired.

A-Rod next?