October 25, 2006
The Rockies Saga
aka Life in the Cellar

The Fall Classic.  Evenings this past weekend were spent watching Tiger fans sit, shiver and clap with mittoned hands for their Detroit baseballers as they battled the St. Louis Cardinals in another frigid World Series. Even pro football, a game designed to be played in the rain, snow and mud had the good sense to move the Super Bowl inside when it was played in Detroit.  But common sense and the Lords of Baseball have never traveled in the same circles. 

Watching the game while listening to Tim McCarver blather; he’s to baseball what Iowa State is to college football, both have participated but give the impression they haven’t a clue as to what’s happening, one can only imagine the thrill of seeing a local team, i.e. our Rockies, playing in the Series.  Hey we’d get excited if the “Purple Pride” could ever again win as many games in a season as they lose.  But again, come World Series time, our baseball heroes are well into hunting season. For Coloradoans who actually care about the Rockies, and their numbers continually wane, the highlight of the post season is seeing the Yankees eliminated, not the locals winning. 

Name one example of major league incompetence exceeding the wizards of Blake Street?  Kansas City? The very fact the Rockies are the National League version of the Royals illustrates how far our team has fallen.  

Here was a sports hungry section of the country aching for a major league team.  And the people in charge took a nest on the ground, a team leading the majors in attendance for the first three years of existence, and in little over a decade turned that passionate fan base into a ball club ranking in popularity somewhere between the NBA Nuggets and the Arena Football Colorado Crush.  Sure the Rockies sell out on fireworks night and when the Yankees, Red Sox or Cardinals come to town.  But fans of aerial rockets attend those games plus people not there to cheer for the locals but instead giving their loyalty to franchises located over a thousand miles away.  They’re fans preferring teams attempting to put a winner on the field every year.  But the Rockies, when relying on letting the team speak for itself, must search long and hard for folks still claiming to be hard core Coors Field fans. 

Rockies management needs only to look in the mirror when pointing the finger of blame. This past season the Rox finished last in their division, again.  After another dismal effort, oh we’re told better times are ahead because the team won 9 more games in 2006 than 2005 in this their sixth straight losing season, the Rockies awarded the general and field manager contract extensions for a job well done. Really. 

Good baseball teams, goes the axiom, are strong up the middle.  Yet the brain trust given a vote of confidence puts a team on the field lacking a major league catcher, second baseman, shortstop or center fielder.  But Blake Street executives insist the Rox are good enough, except for some minor changes, to stand pat for next year.  Were Rockies management playing blackjack in Vegas they’d never hit on 14 when the dealer had a face card showing.