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Thoughts from the bench
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In the state of Colorado, it’s not the month of October, but rather the month of “Rocktober.”
The Colorado Rockies are currently the hottest team in baseball. They just swept the Arizona Diamondbacks in four games, which totaled a 21-1 record in its last 22 games and the Nation League Pennant.
The win also means that the Rockies are headed to the World Series for the first time in franchise history.
Now all the red-hot Rockies have to do is sit back and wait.
They will be waiting to face the winner of the American League Series, which will either be the Cleveland Indians or the Boston Red Sox.
What’s so remarkable about the Rockies and what they’ve accomplished this season so far is endless and mind-boggling.
As they are the babies of the Major League Baseball playoffs this season, they haven’t been playing like it. In only their second appearance in the playoffs since 1995, when they lost to the Atlanta Braves in the first round, the Rockies have burst onto the playoff scene as the wild card after a thrilling 9-8 win over the San Diego Padres in 13 innings.
Just think, if the Padres had won that game, would they be in the position that the Rockies are in and be this hot? Probably not. It was Colorado’s destiny to win
that game.
Going into the playoffs the Rockies took advantage of the gained momentum they had, and went on crush the Philadelphia Phillies, who didn’t look like the high powered offense everyone made them out to be.
The Rockies cruised in three games to give the team its first playoff series win in the 15 year history.
This is a pretty big accomplishment within itself for a team that has struggled to win games at all over the past few years. This was the first year that they had won 90 games in the history of
the franchise.
The next victim on the Rockies’ warpath was division rival Arizona. No contest at all in this series. This was just another team that the Rockies had to beat to get to
the big one.
What is most impressive about this team and their winning is that they’ve done it without the big bucks.
Of the 15 players on the roster, 25 were signed and developed by the Rockies, the most of any team in the postseason. To put it plain and simple – these players are home grown.
Take Todd Helton for example, he was the Rockies No. 1 draft choice in 1995, and has stayed with the team, throughout everything. Now look at him.
He is one of the key players on a team that is headed to the World Series.
As the Rockies wait for their opponent to join them in the World Series, many are wondering if the Rockies will be hurt by eight days. As hot as they are right now, a little rest won’t hurt them in the least.
As for who they will face, it shouldn’t matter. In fact, when the Rockies played the Red Sox in June this summer, they won the series 2-1, in a convincing fashion.
“Rocktober” is not over yet and the clock has not hit midnight on the Rockies quite yet.
Come the end of October a new baseball team will be crowned champs for the 2007 season. That team will be the Colorado Rockies.
MARY ALBL
Sports Writer