Hey, where did everybody go?
With the Rockies in the heat of a playoff race, was a library on Tuesday night. What gives? Haven’t we hoped and prayed for meaningful baseball in September? But Colorado’s 9-6 victory against San Francisco was attended by 24,245 spectators, the smallest home crowd since late April.
Where was everybody else? Out to dinner with Brock Osweiler?
OK, I get it. The worst part of a long holiday weekend is how bitter the coffee tastes on the first morning back to work. Maybe the sofa was more inviting than a trip to LoDo for baseball on an evening with a strong hint of autumn in the air.
Yes, we are T-minus five days and counting until the Broncos open the NFL season. But does Denver really need a whole week to put on its game face for Los Angeles Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers?
But here’s what I fear is the real reason the vibe in Coors could not have been deader if somebody forgot to pay the electric bill. This team, which has a 27-38 record since June 20, has become almost unbearably painful to watch. The Rockies haven’t won three in a row in over a month. While playing first base against the Giants, pulled a whole bag of seeds from his back pocket and started chomping. Nervous eating?
After shortstop smashed a home run 423 feet to stake Colorado to an early lead, and a double by Ian Desmond put the exclamation point on four runs in the sixth inning, the Rockies built a 6-1 advantage against the last-place San Francisco. But then they did their best to fritter away all that prosperity. When the Giants pulled to within 7-6, it got so quiet in the ballpark you could practically hear worry-warts mutter: Here we go again.
Although the Rockies began the night with a 1½ game lead over Milwaukee for the second wild-card berth in the National League, it felt as if Colorado was already behind in the race.
Just when fans wanted to get all jacked up about the playoffs, the Rockies forgot how their bats worked, got swept by Arizona, and all of Denver came down with a bad case of the same old, same old.
We’ve seen this movie too many times. For the vast majority of the past 25 seasons, taking our local baseball team seriously is a good way to get your heart broken.
Hey, I’m in no position to tell hardworking peeps how to spend their money. But Nolan Arenado produces a web gem at third base that would do Brooks Robinson proud almost every night. sports the grooviest beard of any Colorado resident since Buffalo Bill Cody. By defeating San Francisco, the Rockies improved to 74-64 and put a little breathing room between themselves and Milwaukee.
The Rockies probably need a dozen more victories to make the playoffs. They need your help.
Nobody said it was going to be easy.
Don’t go soft on the Rockies now, ye of little faith.
