BOSTON — Boston baked notes. …
That “CR” on their caps might as well stand for “Credibility Restored.”
The Rockies’ logo never will be viewed the same, not after the incredible 21-1 run that landed them in their first World Series.
“I hope so,” said Todd Helton, when asked if the franchise’s stature had changed. “There will be a sense of pride when it comes to talking about the Colorado Rockies, which definitely hasn’t been the case in the past. Hopefully we’re helping build a tradition, not only for the franchise but for the kids in Colorado. … It’s nice just having people talking about baseball. They’re usually not talking about baseball right now. It’s good to see baseball on the forefront.”
Of course, that’s the view from the here and now. Back in the day, before Helton’s arrival, things were a little different. How different? Let’s put it this way: Red Sox Nation, meet Rockies Nation.
What, you think the Sox have a bigger following than the Rox? They do, but they didn’t back in the day, when the Rockies were growing their roots. Let’s not forget the phenomenon the Rockies were. Or that the word phenomenon barely begins to tell their story.
No doubt, it was a different dynamic, a different type of passion than the one evoked by the Red Sox. The Sox are all about history and tradition. The Rockies of the mid-1990s were all about the novelty, the arrival of big-league baseball in the Forgotten Time Zone after decades of being denied admission to The Show.
The Red Sox are a regional landmark, the old towne team, the pulse of New England. The Rockies in the beginning were a national treasure.
Fact: The bull’s rush for Rockies season tickets in 1992 included fans from 33 states outside Colorado – Alaska and Hawaii among them. Oh, and there also was one District (of Columbia), one U.S. territory (Puerto Rico) and two foreign countries (Canada and Japan). By comparison, the Atlanta Braves, who called themselves “America’s Team,” had season-ticket accounts in 14 states outside Georgia, only one west of the Mississippi River.
The Rockies will never see those days again, but, make no doubt, the dark days are forever gone, too. …
For the record, I tried to talk to someone in the Red Sox’s ticket office to see how far their season-ticket base stretched, but I was turned down. Seems they thought I might ask them about the Rockies’ ticket, um, situation. …
Not that the Sawx’s influence is confined to New England. Here’s what they mean by Red Sox Nation: The team’s average road attendance was a big league-leading 38,643, more than the Yankees’ 37,228. The Cubs were next at 36,053. …
Byrnes’ burn. Hey, cheer up, Rockies fans. Eric Byrnes says the Red Sox didn’t outplay the Rox on Wednesday night. If anything, it was the other way around. …
Speaking of Byrnes and those feisty D-backs, I don’t think we’re in Arizona anymore, Toto. …
Big bashing. By the numbers: Rockies pitchers allowed 16 runs in the team’s first seven postseason games. Wednesday night, they allowed 13. …
The real deal. After seeing the Sox up close and personal, I’ve come to the opinion that the American League is overrated. Kind of like tax refunds and the smell of a new car are overrated. …
Library scene. How anti-climactic was it? Author Stephen King, a card-carrying member of The Nation, was spotted in the crowd reading Newsweek magazine in the late innings. …
A real fantasy. What, you think the Rockies have been living a fantasy? How about the Boston Herald, which gave J.D. Drew the edge over Brad Hawpe in its Series matchups? Drew hit 11 home runs, drove in 64 runs and was roundly booed during his first season at Fenway.
Hawpe hit 29 homers, drove in 116 from the six hole, and ranked second to A-Rod in the majors with 66 two-out RBIs. Other than that, we’re talking dead heat. …
Oh, Canada? Jeff Francis on Wednesday became the second Canadian to start a game in the World Series. The first? Woulda been Reggie Cleveland, Swift Current, Saskatch- ewan’s own, who pitched Game 5 of the Reds-Red Sox Series in 1975. …
Familiar story. When Mike Lowell looks at the Rox, he sees glimpses of his old team, the world champion 2003 Marlins. “There are similarities in that I don’t think anybody gave them credit to get where they are,” Lowell said. “They’ve had young guys who’ve had to step up for them. We got two huge acquisitions from our system in Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle (Willis). (Troy) Tulowitzki is their young guy who’s been huge for them.” …
No October surprise. Sox catcher Jason Varitek on Rocktober: “‘It just shows they have a very good team. … It has to start with pitching. They didn’t do it by winning 15-14 every day. They scored their share of runs, but they have a lot of pitching that’s probably overlooked.” …
Slump season. The Rockies went into the Series hitting .242. Concerned? Nah. It’s called October baseball. “The postseason comes at you with a lot of good pitchers,” Hawpe said. “We don’t get to face the No. 4 and 5 guys. We just face ones, twos and threes and the top guys out of the bullpen. So that’s going to change hitting a little bit. Obviously, these guys (the Sox) are hot right now, so it hasn’t affected them that much.” …
Press pratfall. Dumb media question du jour: So, Carl Yastrzemski, how did you generate your power? “Swung hard.” …
Bad mojo in LoDo. Blogger to The Post’s Game 1 shoutbox: “All the negative vibes, bad mojo, created when the Rockies did not make tickets available at the ticket offices is affecting the players. Too much negative energy.” Right. Josh Beckett wasn’t the problem. It was all Fred in the ticket office’s fault. It certainly wasn’t Garrett Atkins’ fault. His second-inning double off The Monster left him at .636 (7 for 11) career vs. Beckett. …
Sports boom in Beantown. Talk about havin’ it goin’. The Red Sox are in the Series, the Patriots are in their own parallel universe, and Boston College is No. 2 in the BCS. Not that all is well in the old towne tonight. Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce just landed on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
Helton big fan of Fenway Park
Helton on playing at
Fenway: “This place
has – I don’t know
what you’d call it –
kind of an aura. You
walk in and you kind of
feel it. You know some
magical things have
happened here. I’m excited
to get a chance
to play in a World
Series here.”
Ortiz’s playing weight 230? Riiiiiight.
The best joke I’ve heard this
week? David Ortiz’s listed playing
weight of 230 pounds. Kilos
maybe.
Ortiz, who’ll be forced to play
first base at Coors Field, has
played in the field eight times
this season, the last on June 24.
Not that, you know, Willy Taveras,
the proud owner of 27 bunt
hits, has noticed.
Jim Armstrong: 303-954-1269 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com
