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......