Losing 2 out of 3

by comedian on May 3, 2007 9:52 AM MDT

Is getting old.

I know. I'm not supposed to panic. The sample size is still small. It's only 30 games (roughly) into the season. Our catching/shortstop/centerfield/pitching situations have to come around (the numbers never lie).

Who do I blame for the poor start? Sure, you could pick 13 (13!) of the 25 players on the roster at one time or another, or you could realize that ANY time that many players underperform it's the managments fault- either they picked the wrong guys for the job or missed entirely on the skill level of the employee.

Or put another way, if at your workplace of roughly 30 people you could ID 13 who were screwing up regularly, you'd wonder about the mutt that put the crew together.

Some probably meaningless numbers:

11-17. 3rd worst in the NL, 5th worst in baseball. Same as it ever was. We're not even the best at sucking.

5-10 on the road. Small sample size not withstanding, that's a 28-54 season road record at this pace. And I see nothing in the recent history of the team to indicate why it wouldn't be.

Worse, 6-7 at home.

Offense is averiging 4.29 runs a game (120 runs divided by 28 games), giving up 5.64 runs a game (158 runs divided by 28 games).

3 runs or less scored: 12 games (.428)
5 runs or more scored by opponents: 15 games (.535)
7 runs or more scored by opponents: 8 games (.285)
7 or more runs scored: 7 games (.250)

Losses by 4 or more runs: 5 (.178, Hey! Not bad!)
Losses by 2 runs or less: 10 (.357)

Positives?
Ianetta does look better. Tulo too.

Just in time to see the pitching not perform and still not enough production from our big hitters.

Well, for a long time the Monforts/Rockies employees would say to us "Wait till 2006, we'll be out from under some contracts!", then the refrain came to be "Wait until 2007, these kids just need some experience!".

So what's the over under on the first time "Wait until 2008, when it will all will jell!" is uttered by the Rockies?

This season is NOT fun so far.

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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Well...

First off, and my friends will prove this, I've said from the moment we signed Taveras and Hirsh that 07 is the year for it to come together, and that we'd be competitive in 2008. I mean, what else can you expect? A rookie starting shortstop and catcher, a rookie in the rotation, another spot in the rotation taken by a guy who we got because BALTIMORE didn't want him, and our biggest hitters are all under the age of 30.

I know it will make you groan, but this team does need time to come together. I'll be the first to say that I have absolutely no faith in O'Dowd this offseason, and if he ships out Holliday, Helton, Atkins, and/or Hawpe, I'll be ready to hang him by his entrails by the flagpoles above the Rockpile. BUT, on the off-chance that he leaves our roster alone for once, and just makes necessary changes (the CF issue, new MRs), then come 2008, I expect to see the team compete with the likes of the Dodgers and the Padres. The NL West will look very different in 2 to 3 years. The Dodgers cannot hold up their spending spree from this past off-season, and will most likely have to shift off some of the vets. The Giants will be pulling up younger players to replace their aging roster. And the Rockies will (hopefully) have a more solid bullpen.

Secondly, I do believe you are focusing too much on the negatives. Check the current NL batting leaders - you'll find Holliday at #2 and Helton at #4. We can also, now, compare Tulo's stats from last year and this year, because he's played nearly the same number of games (25 last year with 96 ABs, 24 this year with 90 ABs). He's increased triples and home runs, doubled his RBI count, drastically increased his slugging % and has shown gains in BA and OBP, and has decreased his K count a bit. He is improving.

Now, there are lots of trouble spots in this. Francis is in a funk, though he did hold the Giants to 2 runs last night. Cook is in the same boat. But look at how much Hirsh is contributing: 5 GS, 3.41 ERA, allowed the fewest hits of the other 3 consistent starters, walked the fewest batters, and K'd the most by a fairly large margin. This kid is young, good, and most importantly, OURS. Unless Dan O'Dowd decides to ship him (entirely possible, unfortunately), he's ours to keep, and he'll just keep getting better.

No, this season is not the best so far. But look, we have won games! We could very easily be 0-28, but we've won 11 of those games. And there will be more wins to come, and I'll enjoy those ones, too. I relished beating the Braves, and watching Tulo's UTP. I enjoyed every second of the beating we put on the Mets. Hell, I even enjoyed the 7th last night, when we made the Giants go through 3 pitchers and ruin Zito's CG. I guess I'm a bit more lenient than you - I enjoy watching the little moments. I get goosebumps when Holliday hits a 450 ft bomb to LF, and I adore watching Fuentes K the 4-5-6 hitters of an opposing team. I just can't simply focus on Ws and Ls, even though, yes, those do count for the most in the end.

I guess, if you're not finding things to like about the Rockies this year, then there are other teams getting the W's for you to watch. The Brewers are in first in the NL Central, and both the D-Rays and the Orioles are playing better than the Yankees. They'll help satisfy your need for W's.

I'm going to stick to watching my team, through the good and bad.

(PS: I will give you one thing, however: we do need to quit losing 2 out of every 3 game series. It is pissing me off a bit)

by oo_nrb on May 3, 2007 11:36 AM MDT 0 recs

I agree on some of that

As far as needing time to come together, sure, I can accept that. If we we're sitting at .500 and competitive in the division, I could swallow that easily.

But what makes it harder is every year there is a new excuse from the organization as to why we need to be patient.

At what point do you stop being patient?

For some, it'll be never as they love the team, warts and all, no matter what. I'm like that with the Broncos. Of course, it's also easy for me to say that because in general, in the last 25 years, the Broncos have been in the hunt more often than not.

But with the Rockies, I guess from me they won't get that kind of leeway. Fair or not, I get sick of hearing excuses, seeing people get extensions, etc., while the team never really competes.

Trust me, I've started watching other teams. I'm finding the Dodgers a heck of a lot more fun to watch than the Rockies, and almost all of the AL too. But I'd also like a hometown winner. I'd liek to think that there will be some playoff baseball someday I can attend that won't require a road trip.

I'd like to put my money towards a 25 game package or even season tickets, rather than the MLB package on the satelite, but am not going to if odds are that the team will lose two out of three each series. Or at least, I'm not going to because of the above AND the fact that for the last few years the Monforts have treated the fan base like chumps.

If I didn't care, the poor performance wouldn't bug me. I want a winner here, in our town, for us to watch and enjoy. If it was baout just picking a winning team to watch each year, well, heck, that's easy.

And there are of course reasons to be happy or excited. Tulo and Ianetta seem like great young talent. Holliday is fun to watch hit. I riff jokes to my wife about Helton being Grizzly Adams/ cousin of the Unabomber when they show close ups of him with that horrid goatee.

But above that I get frustrated with a franchise that outside the players, seems to take winning about as seriously as they do the concession stand prices.

by comedian on May 3, 2007 1:01 PM MDT up 0 recs

Hey now

Helton's hitting much better with the goatee :) .

I agree, though - I severely dislike putting money in the Monfort's pockets. I wouldn't mind if the money was actually going towards making the team better, rather than paying the salaries of the Clints.

And as for when I'll lose patience? That will come if/when Dan O'Dowd decides it's in the team's best interest to trade Matt Holliday to the Nationals for 3 double-A shortstops. I've been very upset with O'Dowd's dealings these past few years, and if he starts trading away the talent after one year of frustration, I will lose my patience. It seems like the Rockies are adopting a Broncos-mentality - win at all costs this year, and worry about next year when it comes. I have a very bad feeling that we're going to be looking at Holliday, Hawpe, Atkins (the most likely), or Tulo in different jerseys next year, simply because the team didn't win this year and doesn't have the ability to see through to next year.

So, I can lose my patience with them. I'm just optimistic for right now.

If the team is still in the NL West cellar at the end of 08, I will be as pessimistic as you. But with our young talent, I can't help but be optimistic that these are roadbumps to contention next year.

by oo_nrb on May 3, 2007 1:29 PM MDT up 0 recs

Keep in mind

I don't suggest anyone should loose patience if they are not inclined too. If some folks can stay optimistic and find little rays of hope each and every year, good for them.

I'm not trying to change any opinions as much as I am venting.

by comedian on May 3, 2007 1:44 PM MDT up 0 recs

Agree completely

I think Hurdle and or O Dowd are gone after this season, if only so the Monforts can con the Post and News into writing "maybe this year" stories (for the 5th straight year) next spring.

by moomacher on May 3, 2007 11:38 AM MDT 0 recs

We've had

to be patient for every year now since 2002. I remember 2002 was the year they started to tell us to be patient. 2 years pass and we still had to be patient, now we're sitting here in 2007 and we still have to be patient! When will it end is all I ask. We have a new excuse every single year about being patient and it's getting extremely old and tiresome. Everyone says oh well we will be competitive in 2004, or we will be competitive in 2008 and then when that time rolls around and we're still not competitive they bump it back another year. This is the same B.S. the Atlanta Hawks and Arizona Cardinals feed their fans every year. The problem is we're going to have a rookie every single year starting somewhere. We're building from within right? What's going to happen down the road when we inevitibly lose Holliday, Atkins (becasue the Monforts will not pay them), and Helton is coming out of his prime and we have Ian Stewart, Joe Koshanski, and Jeff Baker filling in their positions, or whatever other rookie comes along. It'll be more excuses of well we're young what can you ask of them? Just wait until they develop, we will compete in 2018 don't worry. It's all just getting really old and I was gullable enough to believe them back then but I'm not anymore.

by stuntdaddy1 on May 3, 2007 8:05 PM MDT 0 recs

It's called reality

Until global warming kicks in and Denver becomes a coastal, booming metropolis, the Rockies are going to have to deal with being a mid-sized/small market. I'd love for the Rockies to be able to go out and have a 120 million dollar payroll, but it's not going to happen. That shouldn't suprise you, so stop complaining about it.

The last time the Rockies went out and got a huge free agent, they basically mortaged the future of the franchise to win right then and there. When it didn't pan out, we had to be patient to get out from under the enormous contracts that were weighing us down. Now that we're finally emerging from them, it's silly to think that we should start signing big name players to albatross deals again. And who's to say that Holliday and Atkins are both going to be gone?

The constant negativity of your comments make me wonder why you like the Rockies at all. I get frustrated when they suck too, but keep the faith. Think about it this way-- the last few years, the Rockies have gotten off to good starts and then faded hard towards the end. What's to stop them from starting slow and then finishing strong? Nothing. And I believe they will. The glass isn't half empty, it's just twice as big as it should be.

Free Jason Bates!!

by rox in october on May 4, 2007 11:40 AM MDT up 0 recs

I never

Mentioned anything about us breaking the bank for players like comedian said. I'm just mentioning the inevitable truths we're going to have to deal with.

by stuntdaddy1 on May 4, 2007 4:04 PM MDT up 0 recs

From the team's perspective

It doesn't make sense for them to come into a season and say things like, "We'll be terrible this season. Hey fans, don't bother caring, cause we'll be 20 games under by the allstar break." They have to be optimistic.

I took your comments to mean something along the lines of (and I'm paraphrasing) "The franchise will always be bad, and the current management will do nothing to curb this trend." Just seems a little defeatist, that's all.

Free Jason Bates!!

by rox in october on May 4, 2007 4:33 PM MDT up 0 recs

Well of course

They have to be optimistic, they have to sale tickets. And no I don't think this franchise will be bad forever I really don't. Do I think this management is going to curb the trend of losing as you say? Lets just say they have a hell of a lot to prove this off season.

by stuntdaddy1 on May 5, 2007 1:18 AM MDT up 0 recs

The only reason

I make the claim about Atkins is because, given O'Dowd's track record of trading away our talent, he seems the most likely victim. He (O'Dowd) likes the big-hitting Holliday and Hawpe, Atkins just hasn't fit into the scheme, especially with his slow start this year.

by oo_nrb on May 4, 2007 4:27 PM MDT up 0 recs

I wouldn't mind

Seeing Atkins go, considering we have a guy like Ian Stewart to take over there. But I will be real disappointed if Holliday isn't signed.

by stuntdaddy1 on May 4, 2007 4:32 PM MDT up 0 recs

Where did stuntdaddy

Say they should go out and spend 120 million?

He's point, on money at least, may end up being valid. How will people feel if next year Holliday is let go, and each preceeding year we end up shipping off our rising stars ala Oakland in the early part of the decade.

Now, you're also in the ballpark- there is nothing right now that says we as a team will lose any of the good young players we do have.

One reason to be pessimistic on this I think has been ownership's constant excuses for porr product and the way they have handled player personel for the last 7 or 8 years. They themselves have dictated the hard ceiling on salary. Maybe they will find a way to keep everyone and stay under taht ceiling. Maybe not. Maybe they will find a way to almost always have an as good or almost aas good replacemetn waiting in the wings when they do lose a Holliday, Tulo, etc. Maybe not. Currently I don't think they do and that is a sign of worry, especially considering the almost perpetual "You have to be patient and wait till next year" mantra of the management of the franchise.

And last, I don't mean to come off as snippy, but so it goes. If you only want to read/believe happy thoughts about the franchise, by all means, be my guest. It's your right. I'd suggest you avoide my comments for the near term then as we won't see eye to eye on much of anything. I'm not going to tell you to ever give up optimism even though I don't understand ANY level of optimism with this team nor the way it's run. Please do the same for me (and others), in return.

At the same time I promise to not be a naysayer ALL the time. If I get excited about the team I'll post some happy thoughts/opinions as well.

by comedian on May 4, 2007 2:32 PM MDT 0 recs