Forgive them. The Rockies sinned. And it felt good. Real good.
Perhaps there’s hope for this group of Colorado choirboys after all.
In the 151st game of a season that has seen the National League’s most polite team mind its P’s and Q’s but give away too many W’s, the Rockies got mad. It was about time, don’t you think?
If winning is an attitude, maybe Colorado finally has one.
After crushing a home run deep, deep into the night, Rockies star Matt Holliday raised cain at the San Franciso pitcher on the mound. As he rounded first base, Holliday screamed in anger at Giants hurler Matt Cain, who had plunked him square in the back with a pitch during the slugger’s previous at-bat.
Although Holliday’s exact words probably cannot be printed in a family newspaper, there was no mistaking his message by any lip reader at Coors Field.
Whoof, barked Holliday.
Although I’m not quite sure, it seemed to me as if Holliday might have been suggesting Cain was his dog, which in this case would definitely not be a term of endearment.
But I guarantee you Holliday did not shout: Let’s do lunch.
“That’s correct,” Holliday said Tuesday night, after the Rockies smacked down San Francisco by a score of 12-4.
“It gets your blood flowing after getting hit in the back.”
He apologized for not being more professional.
OK. So somebody should wash Holliday’s mouth out with soap.
And then the Rockies should give him a big, fat raise.
To be a contender, what Colorado needs more desperately than a swift center fielder or another power hitter is a leader who’s bad to the bone.
Big Daddy is what teammates call Holliday. Who’s your daddy now?
The Rockies, proof positive that nice guys finish last, must learn to tell teams they ain’t going to take it anymore.
“We need to show fire and excitement and emotion,” said Holliday. “Sometimes, in a 162-game season, that wears off a little bit, because you’re just trying to make it through the day.”
The Colorado clubhouse is the friendliest place on earth this side of Disneyland. But what’s missing is the orneriness that instills hatred in rivals for the Rockies and inspires unwavering love for the home team by Denver fans.
Baseball is a grind. But great teams maintain a hard edge all summer long. When the heat was on and the division race got tight, the Rockies wilted.
Sure, there is an undeniable, smoldering intensity to pitcher Jason Jennings, who looks as if he could chew glass rather than sunflower seeds in the dugout.
And first baseman Todd Helton takes every loss as if it were an insult to his family, demonstrating a competitive streak the dunderheads who want to trade Helton obviously fail to understand.
Who’s your daddy?
With a salary of $500,000, Holliday has been one mean bargain.
Big Daddy wants to get paid, and hired notoriously tough agent Scott Boras to make sure it happens. This causes apparent trepidation for Rockies ownership, which leans on that bad, old contract to long-gone pitcher Mike Hampton as a tired excuse for never spending serious money again. But there can be much more to Holliday’s value than his 29 home runs, 100 RBIs and .334 batting average.
He not only carries a big stick, Holliday can give voice to Colorado’s desire to be taken seriously as a franchise that means business.
Holliday delivered the team’s biggest blast this year. And I’m not talking about the homer he clubbed almost 500 feet in the third inning, over the left-field wall, past the bleachers and onto concrete, forcing pedestrians to scatter.
“I just think he gave it a natural reaction after getting drilled in the back and he hit one on the concourse,” Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said.
When Big Daddy talks trash, people listen. Now hear this: If the Rockies even think about ever letting Holliday go for financial reasons, any talk about this team’s commitment to winning will be worthless.
Staff writer Mark Kiszla can be reached at 303-954-1053 or mkiszla@denverpost.com.
