Rockies legit threat to win World Series
Posted: Wednesday, October 17, 2007 4:34 PM
Jeff Francis made the point during the postgame celebration Monday night. Why not us? Why not the Rockies to win a short series and a championship?
He’s right.
Like many serious baseball “minds” I presumed the ALCS to be the real World Series. But I keep forgetting history. How many times have we seen that the regular-season marathon bears little resemblance to the short series of October.
I grew up with the 1969 Miracle Mets, but they won 100 regular-season games. In 1988, I became a broadcaster for Minnesota, a team that won 85 in the regular season but blasted through the ALCS before winning a seven-game World Series.
And that is the lesson for Colorado. Don’t look at the Rockies' season-long body of work. Instead, study this unprecedented run of 21 wins in 22 games. Note the ridiculous amount of two-out, run-scoring hits. Marvel at the ironclad defense, errorless in 16 of the 22 games and having made one astounding play after another in the NLCS.
The comments of Arizona's Eric Byrnes drew attention. It was his job to believe in his team. I see his words in that light rather than as demeaning the Rockies. Byrnes saw the same games we did. He saw the first baseman kick a routine ball and the Rockies turn the error into six runs. He saw the terrific catch by Willy Taveras in Game 2 and the sick double play turn by Troy Tulowitzki in Game 3. He saw Stephen Drew wandering off second base in Game 1 after being called safe.
These aren’t cases of “everything going the Rockies way” or some other residue of luck. This was one Colorado team that played properly and made its opponent pay for any mistakes. When a Seth Smith jam shot falls on the left field line for a two-run double, the lament is heard that “everything is going the Rockies’ way.” I say they make their own good fortune.
In the World Series, they will have the disadvantage of opening on the road and having to force the DH into their lineup (they used five different players during interleague play with Taveras’ 16 at-bats the team high). But they will force the AL team to lose a huge bat (Travis Hafner or David Ortiz) in the middle three games.
The Rockies have a lights-out bullpen (Brian Fuentes accepting a new role after making the All-Star team is one of the season’s best stories) and they believe that any player on their roster can deliver. They have that 1987 Minnesota feel of destiny. One strike away from elimination on the final Saturday of the regular season only to be saved by Tony Gwynn Jr. Three outs and two runs away from losing the tiebreak game only to rally against the great Trevor Hoffman. Todd Helton, despite not hitting in the postseason, showing his emotions as he looked skyward after catching the ball for Monday’s LCS clinching out and then choking back tears in a television interview.
I think Francis is right...this is going to be a better World Series than I thought.
