Name any baseball movie and you will generally find loveable losers that conquer in the end. A drunk coach, a female pitcher, and a team of misfits turn it around in The Bad News Bears. Jake Taylor and his team of castoffs take Cleveland to the playoffs in Major League. And once Roy Hobbs finally gets his shot (no pun intended if you’ve read the book), the fledgling New York Knights are practically unbeatable in The Natural. Unfortunately, the Colorado Rockies are not a movie. The script reads like one with frugal owners, star players leaving for greener pastures, and a roster full of colorful... Read More

It’s barely August. There are more than fifty games left in the regular season, and Colorado Rockies fans have seemed to have given up. Where is your faith? Where is your belief? Colorado has tasted the playoffs two years in-a-row and you sit there like the season is already over. Yes, the Rockies are nine games under .500, more than 20 games behind the Dodgers, and sit in last place in the NL West, but that doesn’t mean it’s over. Just because the Rockies won only 6 out of 24 games in July and gave up 100 runs over a ten-game-stretch from July 13th to July 23rd doesn’t mean it’s over. Sure,... Read More

Baseball is a team sport.  A 40-man roster in which clutch hitting meets quality pitching, spin rotations and exit velocities are scrutinized to maximize player performance, and managers are asked to adjust strategy and personnel on an ongoing basis in order to win games. Baseball is a choregraphed dance of many.  Defensively, the entire team shifts in unison as a pull-hitter comes to the plate.  The catcher surgically frames the pitch asking for something low and inside, the shortstop signals to the second baseman that he’ll cover the open base if needed, and the right-hander continues to... Read More

The formula has been working for the Colorado Rockies over the past few years.  Hit a few homers, drink some microbrews, sprinkle in some pitching, and make the playoffs.  With Nolan Arenado sporting a bigtime contract, Kyle Freeland pitching gems, and the usual cast of characters mostly returning, 2019 should be a good one. But like Ian Desmond at the plate, I’m still not comfortable. DJ LeMahieu and Adam Ottavino are now New York Yankees, Wade Davis and Mark Reynolds are practically eligible for AARP, and our issues at first base . . . still have issues. Here are eight major factors that... Read More

One of the difficulties of trying to write a weekly Colorado sports article is focusing on the biggest story of the week, and timing it within the deadline provided.  Follow that up with the challenge of informing and entertaining the reader in 600 words or less, and the problem becomes compounded.  Within the last ten days the Colorado Rockies had a playoff series, the Denver Broncos played twice, the CU Buffs traveled to USC, the Colorado Avalanche were five games into the start of the hockey season, while the Denver Nuggets were just hours from their NBA opener. And that’s just Colorado! ... Read More

What a difference a week makes.  Well, ten games to be exact.  After getting swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Colorado Rockies were sitting at 82-70 and 2 ½ games out of first place.  Trevor Story had injured his arm, Nolan Arenado was in a major slump, the Rockies were fading from playoff contention, and I was writing their obituary. But the Rockies ended up winning nine out of their last ten games in what could only be described as the perfect storm, and for the first time in Rockies history, Colorado has made the playoffs in back-to-back seasons.  I tried to find the one single catalyst... Read More

I sat at my laptop looking at all the stats, all the numbers, all the scenarios, and asked myself just why are these Colorado Rockies so much better than last year? At 64-48, 16 games over .500 and charging towards a playoff spot, I was determined to figure out the answer by looking at hitting, pitching, injuries, and even the manager. Finally, it all became clear. The answer was Greg Holland. 1) It was difficult not to credit the powerful Colorado bats as the major factor in the Rockies turn-around from last year’s 75-87 record. Charlie Blackmon, Nolan Arenado, and DJ LeMahieu have been... Read More