Anything the Rockies have ever done in their history, this ballclub can do better.
These are not your father’s Blake Street Bombers, Eric Young Jr.
As the son of the happiest home run in franchise history crossed the plate Tuesday night with a major-league blast to call his own, Young ran toward the Colorado dugout, where he was wrapped in a bear hug by teammate Yorvit Torrealba.
Welcome to the pennant race, kid.
“When you’re a little kid, you dream about playing in the World Series,” said Young, a rookie who smacked his first career homer in the Rockies’ 3-1 win against Cincinnati.
“My ultimate goal has been to get to the big leagues and win the World Series. In my first month, I’m right in the thick of a playoff race. It’s all that much better, because my first home run helped the team get one step closer to the postseason.”
Although the victory put Colorado 19 games over .500 for the first time in the franchise’s 17-year history, the real wonder of watching these Rockies is in the self-discovery by players with great potential that there’s no reason they cannot win now.
“What we’re seeing is a lot of players make the transformation from having a lot of talent, with the ability to hit the ball far or throw the ball hard, to being baseball players,” said pitcher Jason Marquis, who has appeared in the playoffs each of his previous nine big-league seasons.
“There are a lot of five-tool prospects who have turned into players who know what it takes to win in this game. They’ve become baseball players. It happens by young guys watching veterans like Todd Helton and Yorvit Torrealba. It’s knowing how to let the game come to you rather than force it, knowing how to move a runner as a hitter, knowing who is on deck in a key situation if you’re a pitcher. It’s all the little things that are the common thread in teams that win. And it’s fun to watch the transformation of a lot of these young guys in this clubhouse.”
What we’re seeing is the maturation process in Carlos Gonzalez, who has gone from stabbing blindly at pitches in the dirt to being the proud owner of a .296 batting average.
What’s happening is as undeniable as the burgeoning confidence of Franklin Morales, a pitcher whose wildness has been tamed, while retaining that stubborn refusal to surrender in tough situations.
The Rockies are living as large as the growing statue of shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, who no longer has to talk about being a leader because he just does everything you want in a leader.
So we ask: As legitimate World Series contenders, do the Phillies, Cardinals or Dodgers really have anything on Colorado?
With starting pitcher Aaron Cook, closer Huston Street and Dexter Fowler nursing injuries, this is a time when the Rockies could be muttering prayers and hoping to hang onto a postseason berth by their fingertips.
Instead, Colorado is in relentless pursuit of the best record in the National League. The best way to finish any race strong is by never looking back.
“You don’t worry about an Aaron Cook or a Dexter Fowler on the disabled list. It’s not that you don’t care about them. But they have no say in what goes on during a game, so you sit there and feel sorry for yourself,” said Marquis, who won his 15th game of the season in a seven strikeout performance.
Sure, there remains work to be done to hold off San Francisco and clinch a playoff berth. But there is a sense among the Rockies that they are doing big things. “There are no small roles you play in a pennant race,” Jason Giambi said.
OK, it’s obvious we’re witnessing the best baseball team in the history of the Rockies. That has been apparent since June, when after Colorado moved a single game over .500, it was easy for even me to say there might have been World Series magic in 2007, but this ballclub has more talent.
So now for the bigger question: If you look everywhere from Philadelphia to Los Angeles, is there a better team in the National League?
Rocktober was a dream.
This is real.
Mark Kiszla: 303-954-1053 or mkiszla@denverpost.com
