Believe in the unbelievable. The unreal is real. On a night that the Earth seemed to reverse rotation and spin uncontrollably on its axis, the Rockies, the wildest card of all, transformed inevitable defeat into incredible victory.
They’re not down; they’re not out. They’re up and in.
Rox roll.
Refuse to lose, should be their mantra.
Who cares if Matt Holliday never touched home plate in the 13th inning, because who cares now if the Rockies were denied a home run on an incorrect call in the seventh?
On to the postseason. On to Philadelphia. On to more adventures and escapades of the daring-do.
The Rox didn’t give in; they didn’t give up. They wouldn’t quit; they couldn’t be stopped.
They played on and on and on in LoDo, and they came back, as they have come back throughout 2007, come back from an awful start, come back from a 1-9 road trip, come back from certain elimination a few weeks ago and a couple of days ago, come back from a questionable call and, finally, come back from an 8-6 deficit to win 9-8 over the San Diego Padres.
It took the Rockies 12 years and 163 games and four more innings to drink the champagne and taste the glory.
It was a walkoff in the playoff.
“To come back from everything they have, shows nothing is impossible,” co-owner Dick Monfort said. “These last two weeks they didn’t know how to lose.”
Once again, it appeared that the Rockies would lose when San Diego’s Scott Hairston jacked a two-run homer in the top of the 13th.
The Padres had been saving future Hall of Fame reliever Trevor Hoffman just for this save situation.
Kaz Matsui doubled to right-center. Troy Tulowitzki doubled to left-center, and Matsui scored. Holliday tripled to right field, and Tulowitzki scored for an 8-8 tie. Todd Helton was intentionally walked.
And the unlikely utility infielder, Jamey Carroll, hit a mid-range fly to right field. Brian Giles made the catch and fired a laser beam to home plate.
Holliday and the ball arrived at the same place at the same time, and it was one of those moments that will be frozen forever in the Rocky Mountain time zone.
Holliday busted into catcher Michael Barrett, and the ball plopped away. Holliday sprawled on the ground by the plate, and Barrett tagged him. But plate umpire Tim McClelland, perhaps the best in baseball at his job, ruled that Holliday had touched home.
Run.
End game.
The Padres claimed Holliday never touched home. The Rockies claimed he did. Whatever happened, in the aftermath as the other Rockies began to gather and shout with glee, Holliday lay still, unable to get up, unable to join his mates. Eventually, though, he walked away, then raced into the arms of the other Rockies.
Just as I and other skeptics who didn’t trust in the Rockies have been led (dragged) to believe, the rest of the U.S., watching this club on national TV for the first time the entire season, must now know that Holliday is the National League MVP.
He won the batting and RBI titles Monday night, but, more important, he won after wavering. Holliday had struggled at the plate, and he misplayed a ball in left field to allow the Padres’ tying run in the eighth.
But, at the conclusion, he drove in the tying run and scored the winning run, and the Rockies move on.
MVPP, Most Valuable Playoff Player.
Understand that Ramon Ortiz wound up as the winning pitcher. He hadn’t been on the mound since Aug. 15 and became the forgotten pitcher. He was remembered last night after nine other pitchers had been used – and used up.
The loser was Hoffman, who was brought in six innings after Jake Peavy, the cinch Cy Young Award winner, was removed. Peavy didn’t have a live fastball and looked like he had a dead arm. He gave up six runs, Hoffman the other three.
For the Rockies, as reliever Matt Herges said, “The hero list goes on forever.”
This 4-hour, 40-minute battle royal, nip and tuck, tuck and nip, Padres and Rockies, was the best of ball at Coors Field since the Rockies outlasted the Giants 10-9 on the last day of the regular season in 1995 to reach the postseason.
It’s been awhile, as another crowd of almost 50,000 helped bring the game back to life in lower downtown Denver.
Last night the inconceivable became conceivable.
The Rockies, who always believed in themselves, made believers out of everyone else last night at 9-8 and 10:17.
Woody Paige: 303-954-1095 or wpaige@denverpost.com.
