A glimpse into the future

by The Lodo Magic Man on Oct 30, 2007 7:00 AM MDT

Friday Sept 3, 2027.

"...and Holliday swings..and gets a hold of one! Deep to left field! Smith is back! To the track! To the wall! It's 12 rows into the bleachers, it's gone! And the Rockies have won their 5th game in row! The 23 year old rookie left fielder, Jackson Holliday, has hit a 2 run shot, and Colorado has swept the Giants!"

Both me and my son listened intently.....

"Son of the former Colorado Rockies great Matt Holliday, the rookie Jackson has hit 24th home run of the year. Colorado has pulled 3 & 1/2 games over idle Arizona and Portland. Hopefully this can get the Rockies on a roll like The Stretch that occured 20 years ago..."

Another voice interrupts.....

"Has it really been that long now? It just seems like yesterday. Those retired numbers that are now on the walls of Coors Field: 5, 2, 17, 26, 60, 38, 56. We as both announcers and fans certainly remember the slide, the streak, the throw, the shot. I can remember being in this very same.........."

I turned the radio off. My son looks up at me: "Dad, what was The Streak?"

I looked at my son, and said: "Son, you know those purple and white flags that say NL & World champions that we see when we go to a Rockies game?." "Yes", he said. "The Streak, The Slide, The Shot, all of it, was the greatest pennant run in the history of the game. It was the beginning of one of the greatest dynasties in the history of baseball. All of those pennants and world championships, were born out of all of it."

So everyone, just remember, this is the beginning. This run that we have witnessed, will be talked about for all time. This run to the pennant, will be something that will be remembered as one of the greatest accomplishments in the history of the game. It's not over for our men in purple. We will be back to the world series, many times. The sun has set on our 2007 season, but the 2008 sunrise is almost here, and is brighter for us than anything we can imagine. Keep your hopes up over the winter, and March will be here sooner than we think.

Eat. Drink. Be Merry. But the above FanPost does not necessarily reflect the attitudes, opinions, or views of Purple Row's staff.

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Comments

I almost cried

reading this. This is exactly how I feel about the season, and I couldn't be happier. Reflecting on it, I think the loss might even be a better ending to this season than winning the WS would have been, a la the original Natural. That is, of course, only if we go on to win it in the next few years.

Yes, those guys.

by potterhead4 on Oct 29, 2007 5:16 PM MDT 0 recs

Well I DID cry

Largely because it traces back to my earlier diary about my dad and all of the comments about fathers and sons, and passing down the lore of this great game from generation to generation.

You captured it beautifully. Thanks!

2007 NL Champions, baby!

by rockhead on Oct 29, 2007 5:46 PM MDT 0 recs

I really liked this...

So I bumped it to the main page. Very moving work, LodoMM.

by Rox Girl on Oct 30, 2007 7:02 AM MDT 0 recs

Thanks Rox Girl!

I think I really got what this season is going to mean for the future. :)

The sun has set on our 2007 season, but the 2008 sunrise is almost here, and is brighter for us than anything we can imagine

by The Lodo Magic Man on Oct 30, 2007 11:19 AM MDT up 0 recs

I know you guys have no control over ads

But seriously, why in the world does the ad at the top of the main page say "Be Equipped to Root For the Red Sox?"

Great diary, BTW.

http://mvn.com/mlb-rockies: The best thing to happen to baseball since 1993.

by Rox Fan in TN on Oct 30, 2007 7:58 AM MDT 0 recs

Stupid frickin' FM

At least yesterday they were giving us some Colorado tourism adverts. It looks like the network is healthier than when we started, whenever the top banner would advertise one of our own sites (like Fake Teams) it meant that the techies weren't getting paid anything. I'm glad they can feed their children now.

by Rox Girl on Oct 30, 2007 8:19 AM MDT up 0 recs

I also found that tormenting

and it wasn't even 12 hours after the trophy presentation that that was up.

Can't say it's a great marketing strategy to offer Sox gear to a group of people that would rather not see Red B's for the next few months...

by David OhNo on Oct 30, 2007 8:20 AM MDT up 0 recs

I'm seeing one

on the guy sitting in front of me in class right now, damnit.

http://mvn.com/mlb-rockies: The best thing to happen to baseball since 1993.

by Rox Fan in TN on Oct 30, 2007 8:36 AM MDT up 0 recs

I actually did cry

Very moving. I really really hope the Rockies actually do start to retire numbers now that we've got the attention of the fanbase back. I'd love to see 33 hanging next to 42.

by oo_nrb on Oct 30, 2007 10:07 AM MDT 0 recs

Portland?

My baseball-crazy daughter will be totally thrilled that Portland finally has a team!! I hope Ichiro is the manager.

I must say that I'm surprised that Arizona is 3 - 1/2 games back, because Jackson Grace (son of Mark Grace) is on track to set a new HR record.

Rookie of the year candidate, Brendan Koskey, is also having a wonderful year. His grandmother remembers when he called her in 2007, when he was only 3, to say he'd hit a home run in his batting class!

And remember when we used to complain about East Coast bias? After so many years of Arizona and Colorado absolutely owning the baseball world, most baseball shows are braodcast from the West. East Coast fans complain that their games get little coverage because most of them are played while baseball fans are still at work.

Great article all around.

Friendly Diamondbacks Visitor

by 4CornersFan on Oct 30, 2007 11:09 AM MDT 0 recs

It's not all roses and daisies though....

Everyone already hates the egotistical Billy Bonds, the Giants' 5th year right fielder, and he's started to bulk up mysteriously....

Also, did anybody in Miami care when the Marlins moved to Portland?

Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies - 2008 NL West Champion and 2008 NL Wildcard, in some order.

by DbacksSkins on Oct 30, 2007 3:28 PM MDT up 0 recs

Re: Miami

A handful of fans gathered at a protest, but the reaction was muted and completely forgotten by the time MLB expanded into Havana a decade after the fall of the communist regime. The Hernandez brothers, former MLB pitchers, have been great owners down there.

by Rox Girl on Oct 30, 2007 4:37 PM MDT up 0 recs

I'm really glad....

that I got to witness all of this through the eyes of my 11 year old son. He enjoyed going to ballgames in the past, but he really started to get involved with the Rox this year.

His timing was perfect. He had as magical a season as an 11 year old could possibly hope for:

In June, he won a contest to be part of the Junior Starting Lineup at Coors. He got a tour of the ballpark, went into the dugout, met Clint Hurdle and, in one of the highlights of his life, stood on the outfield grass in LF and greeted his idol, Matt Holliday, as he took the field.
On the final Saturday game, the one that Redman started against the D-backs, he caught a batting practice home run and I took him down to the stands by the field, where he got autographs from Spilly, Koshansky, Carroll and another of his heroes, Matsui.
I took him to the tiebreaker game and the clinching game against the Phillies. For the tiebreaker, we sat in the pavillion, and the fireworks went off right over our heads as they won. I remember looking at Matthew, jumping up and down and pumping his fists, and thinking that it was like we were living that final scene in The Natural.
We had tickets for game 5 of the Series, and he so badly wanted to go. When Seth Smith was batting, he attempted to cross his fingers, his legs and every other joint in his body. When Smith struck out, Matthew just stood up, headed to bed and said "we'll go the world series next year."

Today, he took the "Boston Sucks" sticker off my car and taped it on his bedroom window, facing out for the whole world to see.

The kid's a baseball fan now, for sure.

by BroJB on Oct 30, 2007 2:47 PM MDT 0 recs

Wow

thanks for sharing. That really is cool.

I'm Manny Ramirez's Barber

by Redhawk on Oct 30, 2007 4:57 PM MDT up 0 recs

210 days till opening day

i did it really fast so i think im off

Ambassador of the aquire santana party

by roxfan4life on Oct 30, 2007 6:47 PM MDT 0 recs

180 is closer

Ambassador of the aquire santana party

by roxfan4life on Oct 30, 2007 7:15 PM MDT up 0 recs

That was awesome.

by Quiz23 on Oct 30, 2007 7:10 PM MDT 0 recs

Hawkins option

was declined, according to Troy Renck.

by Roberbola on Oct 30, 2007 7:52 PM MDT 0 recs

Not shocked...

but definately bummed. Now who will do the Soulja Boy with Aaron Cook in the clubhouse?

In all seriousness, say what you want about Hawk's pitching this season - there were certainly some moments where it wasn't great - but he was a true professional all season long and a good leader for that bullpen. He's one of the game's good guys.

mvn.com/mlb-rockies - Staying on the sunny side of Blake Street since 1993.

by Franchise26 on Oct 30, 2007 7:57 PM MDT up 0 recs

great guy

he gave me a rox beanie. he said he is willing to take a paycut to resign with rox and he really wants to be here i say go for it

Ambassador of the aquire santana party

by roxfan4life on Oct 30, 2007 8:29 PM MDT up 0 recs

Holliday

how about former Rox and Sox outfielder Matt Holliday? They'll need someone to replace Manny in a couple of years and Boras loves delivering his guys to big markets!

That said, the team should get out their wallets and prepare to bid high! and get some starting pitching ...

by Cageylefty on Nov 6, 2007 11:54 AM MST 0 recs