PHOENIX
N-O-T-E-S from the NLCS …
Dan O’Dowd was tempting fate, fooling with the karma, trying to fix something that wasn’t broken. Unless, of course, you consider 17 wins in 18 games a certified disaster.
But he did it anyway. After conferring with Clint Hurdle and his coaches, the Rockies general manager decided to activate Willy Taveras for Thursday’s Game 1 of the National League Championship Series.
“Yep,” O’Dowd said when asked if he had reservations about shaking up a red-hot team. “You talk about that. But then you talk about whether you really want to put your most talented team on the field.”
It came down to keeping Ryan Spilborghs in center field or putting Taveras out there after a 25-game absence because of a pulled right quadriceps. In the end, said O’Dowd, the decision came down to this: “Willy by far is a more talented player.”
Sure enough, as befitting a club that refuses to lose, the decision paid off in a hurry. Taveras, who stole 33 bases in 97 games, singled off Brandon Webb with one out in the third, swiped second and scored on Kaz Matsui’s single.
That steal was the Rockies’ first of the postseason. Before that, they had stolen five bases in 10 attempts in the 25 games Taveras missed. …
For the record, the Rockies’ braintrust didn’t spend a moment thinking about using Jeff Francis in Game 4 on three days’ rest, opting instead for rookie Franklin Morales. “We don’t do that,” O’Dowd said. “He’s never done it, and I’m not a big believer in it. I feel like it puts pitchers in a position to fail, not succeed.’ “…
PA announcer, to the Chase Field crowd as TBS started its telecast: “Let ’em know who the best fans in baseball are!” Let the record show that several thousand of those best fans weren’t in the building at the time. …
“Mirror images,” Troy Tulowitzki says of the Rockies and D-backs. Ya think? The Rox it .267 and scored 16 runs in their sweep of the Phillies. The D-backs hit .266 and scored 16 runs to sweep the Cubs. …
The Dodgers had a 2007 payroll of $108 million, the Giants $90 million. So which NL West teams were playing after the season ended? The Padres ($58 million), Rockies ($54 million) and D-backs ($52 million). …
So much for that NL Worst stuff. Here’s D-backs first baseman Tony Clark, on the State of the West: “Not too many of our teams put up a lot of Bugs Bunny offensive numbers, although the closest group is this Colorado Rockies group. We like to think we play the game the right way. We pitch it and we catch it, and at the end of the day we know we’re going to go about our business a certain way and carry ourselves professionally. That’s top to bottom in the division.” …
How much has the Journeyman Formerly Known as Eric Byrnes transformed his game since arriving in Arizona? When the D-backs opened the 2006 season against the Rockies, Byrnes hit eighth in their lineup. These days, he’s the proud owner of a three-year, $30 million contract. …
‘Zona manager Bob Melvin, on closer Jose Valverde’s fist-pumping theatrics on the mound: “We’ve talked about it over the course of the last couple of years. How much he needs, how much he doesn’t, where the fine line is. He’s a very emotional guy, and it works for him out there on the mound. So he’s not trying to show anybody up.” …
They’re ahead 1-0 in a best-of-seven series. Now comes the tricky part for the Rox: facing left-hander Doug Davis. They were 70-49 vs. right-handers during the season, 20-24 against lefties. …
Davis, like most other ballplayers, has his share of superstitions. “I’ve had the same spikes all year, and I don’t jump on the foul line,” he said. Not that he doesn’t have his limits. “I’ll change my undershirt.” …
Davis, when asked how familiar he was with tonight’s Rockies starter, Ubaldo Jimenez: “I don’t think I’ve ever faced him before. I don’t really know him all that well. I know he throws 100 and he’s got a good hook. He’s in the big leagues for a reason.”
Jim Armstrong: 303-954-1269 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com
