Justin Bieber rocks the Rockies. But it is baseball fever sweeping Denver. Anybody remember when this used to be a football town?
Baby, no.
In one month of baseball, Colorado has supplanted defending World Series champ San Francisco as the team to beat in the National League West. After defeating Pittsburgh 4-1 on Saturday night, the Rockies ended April with 17 victories.
Baby, oh.
Without playing to its full potential, Colorado has established a winning formula that can sustain this team from the frigid nights of spring through the dog days of summer.
It’s a formula that can win in October, according to Rockies manager Jim Tracy.
The Broncos, who haven’t sniffed the playoffs since 2005, are so downtrodden that maybe locking them out could save everybody in Denver some heartbreak. When and if the NFL gets back to work, Tim Tebow might have to become a 60-minute man, playing both quarterback and defensive tackle.
Another one of the Nuggets’ customary playoff flameouts is in the books.
And the Avs? Does pro hockey still exist in Colorado?
This is baseball according to the gospel of Earl Weaver. Throw strikes. Play defense. And let a home run drop the hammer with three runs on a single swing.
“If you catch the ball and you pitch the ball and you are fundamentally sound and when opportunity presents itself to score runs, you take advantage of it, then you can still win baseball games,” Tracy said.
The Rockies lead the National League in double plays, which even in the humidor era of Coors Field, counts double in a ballpark built at 5,280 feet.
The needle on the team batting average is stuck at a decidedly unspectacular .236, but Colorado has watched eight different hitters go deep with a three-run homer, and none of them is named Carlos Gonzalez.
Starting pitchers Jorge De La Rosa and Jhoulys Chacin have stood so tall on the mound it’s little wonder nobody notices presumed ace Ubaldo Jimenez has been missing in action.
In a sport where dealing with the grind is the thing, maybe what’s most encouraging is how the Rockies have discovered ways to win without their best stuff, whether it’s overcoming a slump by Gonzalez or an injury to Jimenez.
“It’s such a cliche when you say: One day at a time. It’s all blah, blah, blah,” said Huston Street, who recorded his 10th save Saturday. “But that being said, this is the best team I’ve ever been on at doing that, being that and actually being true to one day at a time. And, believe me, it’s a tough process over 162 games.”
As odd as it might sound, the zero to 60 in 3.9 seconds start from the gate in 2011 might have been born from watching the wheels fall off short of the finish line last year, when the Rockies dropped 13 of their final 14 games in the regular season to crash and burn from the playoff race.
“You see a team and wonder how they could lose 13 out of 14, like we did last year,” Street said. “But, in the long run, maybe that was a huge help for us. It was embarrassing on some level. It made us humble. It made us respect the moment. And, if you respect the moment, you’re not looking for an excuse.”
There is much to learn in reflective moments of belly-button gazing. But getting up to dance is better. The Rockies didn’t really start rolling until shortstop Troy Tulowitzki changed the music that accompanies his walk to the batter’s box during the first week of the season, dumping Katy Perry like a short-lived, middle-school crush for “Baby” by Bieber.
Hey, whatever works.
On a bone-chilling evening that felt more like Santa Claus than bluebirds were on the way, a first-place ballclub attracted 33,684 paying customers to LoDo.
This team is already bigger than the Giants in the NL West.
Heck, if the Rockies aren’t careful, they might even be bigger in Denver than Tebow.
Mark Kiszla: 303-954-1053 or mkiszla@denverpost.com
