BOSTON — The rock is gone from October. Magic? At the World Series, the bats of the Rockies have vanished without a trace. For the first time in more than a month, there’s something new in the eyes of this Colorado baseball team.
Doubt.
On a night when Rockies general manager Dan O’Dowd demanded his players make a big statement, Colorado hitters again went down meekly, not playing worth beans in Beantown, while dropping a 2-1 decision to the Red Sox.
“We’ve put ourselves in a hole,” manager Clint Hurdle said Thursday, after Colorado lost for the second time in this best-of-seven Series.
Issued a bold dare to be great, every Rockies batter except Matt Holliday looked absolutely inept at the plate.
Standing atop the dugout steps as a bad moon was rising above Fenway Park before Game 2, O’Dowd drew an edgy battle line in the ballpark dirt, giving a stern, no-nonsense ultimatum to his young Rockies.
“We have to make a statement. We have to mix it up with the Red Sox. We have to show we’re not intimidated,” said O’Dowd, his voice rising in intensity with every word.
The man was not messing around. O’Dowd spoke with a desperate edge. He openly advocated playing hardball, hoping to see young Colorado starting pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez knock Boston’s Manny Ramirez off the plate with a 98-mph fastball to test the poise of the Red Sox slugger.
And the urgency was clearly communicated to the Colorado clubhouse. O’Dowd revealed he took aside Rockies outfielder Ryan Spilborghs, who is as feisty as anyone on the team, and flat out told him that a stellar pitching staff had been dragging their sorry bats all the way to the World Series.
“If we don’t hit, we’re not going to win,” O’Dowd said.
His concern with a Colorado lineup now batting a pathetic .226 in the postseason only must now border on panic. What was a disturbing trend in the Rockies’ offense has slumped to an undeniable crisis of confidence.
Or did you miss veteran first baseman Todd Helton leaning sadly on the dugout rail with a blank stare after Boston closer Jon Papelbon finished a 1-2-3 ninth inning?
“We scored two runs in 18 innings in this ballpark. That makes it tough. That makes it tough to win,” Hurdle said.
While Jimenez unleashed fastballs with sufficient nastiness to have Red Sox hitters from J.D. Drew to Kevin Youkilis checking to make sure all vital body parts were still attached, what the 23-year-old Colorado right-hander had in chutzpah could not quite match what Boston starter Curt Schilling brought from the pure toughness of hard-won playoff experience.
Asked what never ceases to amaze him about Schilling, Boston manager Terry Francona said: “His will to make the score end up in our favor.”
While they avoided the 13-1 humiliation of the Series opener, the Rockies have done little to dissuade baseball snobs from the arrogant belief Boston actually won the world title by overcoming Cleveland in the American League Championship Series, and the upcoming trip to Denver is nothing more than the first lap in a Red Sox victory parade.
Here’s how O’Dowd figures it: While winning 21 of 22 times to claim the National League pennant had been exhilarating, the emotional wear and tear of so many tight ballgames has become increasingly tough on the Rockies.
So Hurdle now really has no choice. He must take an eraser, if not a chain saw, to his lineup card, and begin by trimming the deadwood that is Willy Taveras from the leadoff spot.
The swagger of Boston is as loud as Red Sox Nation belting out the lyrics of Neil Diamond late in another victory, proclaiming everything is “So good! So good! So good!”
Maybe it’s not over for the Rockies, who have proved their best work is done when all appears to be lost. But magic cannot help them now.
Remember the sinking feeling so many untold thousands of Rockies fans got when they struck out trying to secure tickets for the World Series in Denver? If something doesn’t change in a hurry, everybody in town, from Dick and Charlie Monfort to the last guy in the Rockpile, is going to get shut out from Game 5.
Mark Kiszla: 303-954-1053 or mkiszla@denverpost.com
