Before this magical, mysterious, incredible, historic Rockies run to the National League Championship Series, baseball in Denver rarely registered on the national scale. This season, for instance, the Rockies’ first national television appearance came in Game No. 163, the wild-card tiebreaker against San Diego, hereafter known as “The Slide.”
In their early years, the Rockies drew attention for big crowds and high-scoring games. Then the franchise fell off the radar. Seemingly in the blink of an eye, everything changed about the perception of Rockies baseball.
With a 17-1 streak and three of the brightest young stars in the game – MVP candidate Matt Holliday, rookie-of-the-year candidate Troy Tulowitzki and ace pitcher Jeff Francis – Colorado is at last getting attention for its brilliance on the diamond.
It’s been a long climb up, but the Rockies are four wins from baseball’s mountaintop, the World Series.
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Earning it the old-fashioned way
PHOENIX – Shortly after Wednesday’s workout, long after TV cameras had disappeared, a handful of Rockies emerged from the visiting dugout at Chase Field.
It was another episode of stupid human tricks. Josh Fogg held a bat and a ball at home plate. Matt Holliday, Garrett Atkins, Cory Sullivan, Ryan Spilborghs and Chris Iannetta stood and watched. During batting practice, Fogg predicted that it would take no more than two swings to belt a ball into the Friday’s restaurant occupying the second deck in left field.
“He thought he could do it,” Holliday said.
Fogg flipped the ball into the air and took a mighty swing, connecting with nothing but air. His teammates roared with laughter.
It was a bit ironic. As the Rockies open their first National League Championship Series tonight, nobody sees them as a joke anymore. Fifteen years after hatching, Colorado has shed its label as a novelty, or worse, a carnival act.
There is nothing hokey about these Rockies. Two baseball staples define them: pitching and defense. And, oh, a healthy cache of sluggers.
“That’s what we are trying to establish here,” manager Clint Hurdle said Wednesday. “Offensive numbers send you to the All-Star Game, but if you can pitch and field you are going to win championships. You can look it up. It always seems to work that way, and that’s where we would like to land.”
As the Rockies begin their series against the Arizona Diamondbacks, it’s hard to tell what’s more striking: their style or how much it contradicts their past.
This year’s team is not known for its incredible support. Where the first seven Rockies teams drew 2 million for batting practice, this season the Rockies ranked 11th in attendance. Fans tiptoed out of closets the past three weeks to witness one of the state’s greatest sports stories.
And these Rockies bear no resemblance to the Blake Street Bombers, who turned Coors Field into a pinball machine. As late as 1997, the Rockies had three hitters club 40 home runs. The Rockies haven’t had anyone reach that threshold since the humidor was installed in 2002.
“I can’t say that I knew definitively it was going to work, but it was what we wanted to do,” Rockies general manager Dan O’Dowd said of the seismic philosophical shift.
For those without an airbag-equipped seat on the purple bandwagon, here’s a Cliffs Notes version of the season. The Rockies had the best fielding percentage in major-league history (see shortstop Troy Tulowitzki), compiled their lowest ERA (4.32, hello, Jeff Francis) and finished second in the National League in runs scored (perhaps you’ve heard about Holliday’s NL MVP candidacy).
With apologies to Broncos coach Mike Shanahan, that’s getting it done in all three phases.
“When I first came into the league, Coors Field was a beautiful place, hitters loved it and pitchers absolutely hated it. And it seemed like all anybody talked about was the fans and the Blake Street Bombers,” said reliever Matt Herges, who has played for every National League West team. “Now, this team is legitimate. I don’t know much, but I know that if you are going to still be playing this time of year you have to pitch and play defense.”
In many ways the Diamondbacks are a mirror image. They lean heavily on pitching, asking starters Brandon Webb, Doug Davis and Livan Hernandez to gobble innings before letting the two-headed monster of Brandon Lyon and closer Jose Valverde floss their teeth with opponents.
There’s only one problem: Will anyone be watching?
Of all the matchups TBS wanted for its first NLCS, this would have ranked near the bottom. The Rockies and Diamondbacks are about as easy for the country to embrace as a cactus – and they have the ridiculously late game start times to prove it.
“I am just happy they are still televising the games,” said Holliday, tongue slightly in cheek. “I figured with the Diamondbacks and us they just might cancel it or put it on the college sports network. I am kidding, of course, but obviously they would have preferred the Cubs and Phillies.”
That pair, however, didn’t earn it. The Rockies and Diamondbacks did, with the two highest winning percentages in the NL and first-round playoff sweeps. Success wasn’t their only common trait. They also share youth, a chilling factor for the rest of the division.
Look at the rosters – from the Brad Hawpes, Tulowitzkis and Atkins to the Chris Youngs and Stephen Drews. These guys aren’t going anywhere for the next few seasons. If they were to make the playoffs next season, no one would be surprised.
“My fear was that Colorado and Arizona would get a taste of winning and become dangerous,” San Diego Padres general manager Kevin Towers said Wednesday. “You look at Colorado and they have maybe the best middle of the order in baseball, they catch the ball and they can pitch.”
Again, there are no gimmicks. Just talent and rolled-up sleeves.
“People might not know much about us, but we are a well-rounded team,” Atkins said. “If they watch, they are going to see good baseball.”
Mirror, mirror on the ball
Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki said it’s hard to
see Arizona as a rival because the teams are “mirror
images.” The two share more in common than their
homegrown approach to roster construction. National
writer Troy E. Renck breaks down the teams’ domination
in their division series sweeps:
(Category Rockies Diamondbacks)
Avg. .267 .266
Opp. avg. .172 .194
Runs 16 16
Runs per game 5.3 5.3
ERA 2.33 2.00
Troy E. Renck: 303-954-1301 or trenck@denverpost.com
