Notes to wile away the hours before pick No. 49 …
July is just over the dashboard and the Rockies have the fourth-best ERA in the National League.
See, there you go already. You’re thinking it’s all about the humidor. It isn’t, but that’s what you’re thinking. And for the record, the Rockies’ pitchers prefer it that way, particularly if opposing hitters are the ones doing the thinking.
“Whatever people say, they’re going to doubt us,” Rox right-hander Jason Jennings said. “Maybe some people who don’t like the fact that we’re using the humidor, maybe that’s their excuse. They’re not going to get into the fact that we’ve been pitching better. It’s like, ‘Well, we lost to the Rockies, but they’re using humidor balls.’ It’s an advantage to us. I hope it’s in their heads.” …
Rox on-base machine Jamey Carroll, surveying his growing media entourage: “I must be doing something right. Either that or something really, really wrong.” …
Carroll, by the way, went into Tuesday night with 235 plate appearances. Clint Hurdle had him penciled in for 250 to 300 for the entire season. …
Here’s hoping the Nuggets draft West Virginia’s Kevin Pittsnogle with the 49th pick in tonight’s NBA draft. Why? Simple. Because I love to type the word Pittsnogle. …
UNLV forward and Colorado product Louis Amundson could go late in the first round of the draft. For the record, Amundson says he was recruited by CSU but never heard from CU during his high school days at Boulder and Monarch. …
What, you thought San Diego’s Petco Park and Seattle’s Safeco Field were pitcher’s parks? They’ve accounted for seven shutouts apiece this season, one fewer than Coors Field. …
Not that things aren’t what they used to be in LoDo, but Kevin Ritz won 17 games in 1996, tied for the franchise record, with an ERA of 5.28. The highest ERA among
a Rockies starter this season is Josh Fogg‘s 5.08. As a staff, Rox starters have a 4.38 ERA, almost a run lower than last year’s 5.30. …
The media guide wars continue. The Broncos’ guide has grown to a whopping 720 pages, up from a mere 704 last season, when it was the biggest in NFL history, just ahead of the Dolphins in the high 600s. …
So much for the notion that Nebraska doesn’t like playing the big boys. The Huskers, according to the National Football Foundation, have scheduled UCLA in 2012-13 and Tennessee in 2016-17. …
Then there’s Kansas State, which will play Miami in a two-game series starting in 2011. Since this is K-State we’re talking about, I probably should mention it’s Miami (Fla.), not Miami (Ohio). …
Talk about Christmas in June. Iowa State football coach Dan McCarney just got a $175,000 raise to $1.1 million per season through 2010. …
Dan Hawkins‘ honor-the-past program continues at CU. Hawkins has hired ex-Buffs and Broncos linebacker Jashon Sykes as a part-time recruiting adviser while Sykes works on his master’s degree.
Hawkins is on the cover of CU’s media guide with ex-coaches Eddie Crowder and Bill McCartney, who has turned into a Hawkins confidant. …
Got a spare $25 million? You could be the proud new owner of Hulk Hogan‘s Belleair, Fla., mansion, all 17,145 square feet of it. “I’ve got to downsize,” the Hulkster tells The Miami Herald. “We’ll head toward Miami like the Beverly Hillbillies.” …
More proof that, deep down, I’m actually a passionate soccer fan: I sure hope that guy with the mosquito bite, the one they wheeled off on a stretcher the other day, pulls through. …
E-mailer, commenting on the World Cup: “Clearly there is a sinister plot and conspiracy afoot. Who are these people that threaten to ruin this great land of ours and, most important, how do we find and stop them before it’s too late?” …
And finally, happy birthday to my man Woody Paige, who cut the cake on Tuesday. So how old is he? His website claims he’s 39. Uh-huh. Either that or he voted in ’39.
Catch Jim Armstrong from 6-9 a.m. during “The Press Box” on ESPN 560 AM. He can be reached at 303-820-5452 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com.
