Friday Morning Rockpile:

by Russ on Apr 11, 2008 8:43 AM MDT in News

Doug Davis' surgery for thyroid cancer "was very successful," the team doctor said. As Davis recovers and works his way back towards pitching in the majors, the Rockies and D'Backs meet for round two this season. In the first round the D'Backs rang the Rockies' bell, but with the Rockies' bats seemingly coming alive on Wednesday this time it should be more of a challenge. First up is Francis vs. Webb, and Francis will want to get back at the D'Backs for his last outing. Twelve hits and five runs is not up to snuff. Nor is allowing three home runs. Plus, the D'Backs are riding a six-game winning streak. We don't need to see that go any longer.

What about those Giants? They're now winners of three straight after Kevin Correia threw 7 2/3 scoreless innings against the Cardinals last night. The Rockies don't need to be competing for the bottom of the NL West. Besides, I think Adam Wainwright was just being nice to the Giants by getting their hopes up for just a bit longer.

Since Josh Fogg is no longer a Rockie, the team needed a new player representative in the Union. Fogg tabbed The Physicist for that role.

Todd Helton says that the ivy grown at Coors helps hitters since some of the shine is eliminated.

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I have the cure for what ails Tulo.

I benched him on my fantasy team today. Everyone I bench has great games. I already have 2 grand slams from guys on my bench this season.

Every day is a Holliday!

by free7694 on Apr 11, 2008 10:16 AM MDT 0 recs

The Physicist

"I got designated by Fogg," Francis said. "It's not like it was voted on. For some reason, I started to get e-mails from the union."

That cracks me up for some reason. He just sounds so nonchalant about it.

by holly96 on Apr 11, 2008 11:54 AM MDT 0 recs

Coors Field

Oops, one more thought.

The only NL parks that existed before Coors Field are Dolphin Stadium, Shea Stadium, Wrigley Field and Dodger Stadium. Shea Stadium will be replaced next year and the Marlins have plans to build a new stadium at the site of the Orange Bowl, leaving Coors Field as the third-oldest park in the NL.

That's just so odd to me. I had no idea. I still think of Coors as relatively new, but I guess it's really not. Sometimes it seems like yesterday that it opened.

by holly96 on Apr 11, 2008 12:00 PM MDT up 0 recs

That does seem odd

I hope the Monforts dont try to figure out some way to hold the city hostage for a new ballpark :-)

by GreeleyRoxFan on Apr 11, 2008 12:05 PM MDT up 0 recs

Well

I just spent a weekend at Wrigley, and I'm a Dodgers season ticket holder. And I can say this: Coors is probably a distant 2nd in "total experience" to Wrigley, but it kills Dodger stadium. When you are actually inside Dodger Stadium, its pretty great, but everything else about it (and in particular, the isolation from bars/restaurants) is awful. We should be pretty happy that the Coors planners/architects really did it right.

by Teekalong on Apr 11, 2008 12:05 PM MDT up 0 recs

I've been to a few stadiums

and besides Wrigley, Coors IS the best experience I've had, because of what you note: the bars and restaurants around Coors and how it feels PART of the city, not something separated by a big parking lot sea.

Granted when I went to San Fran's I didn't do anything buy get on and off the train (BART)

Others I've been too: Seattle (downtown with NO parking, NO light rail, and NO BARS...great sunset from the upper deck though!), SF, Anaheim, Wrigley, Minnesota (several times It is in walking to bars BUT it's a crap hole, the new stadium looks like it will be great), KC, Texas Ball Park in Arlington, Dolphin Stadium for the Marlins, Milwaukee, Cincinnati

I understand St. Louis is downtown and has bars around it. (driven past the new ball park)

What am going to do with all these "Jeff Baker for 2nd" bumper stickers?

by Redhawk on Apr 11, 2008 12:27 PM MDT up 0 recs

The new Padres stadium

has a great downtown location, though I felt a bit claustrophobic in the park itself. But to me, the "surrounding area" aspect is so crucial. The energy around Coors before Game 3 of the WS was unreal, my friends who couldn't get tickets just came down to LoDo and still had a great time (the Halloween parties didn't hurt the ambiance either).

I happened to be at the one Dodger playoff victory over St. Louis a few years ago (and don't think that it isn't incredibly fun to rub in to Dodger fans that they have exactly one playoff win since the Rockies have existed, and Lima was the WP) and the pregame activities were pretty blah. No tailgating technically allowed, and even though everyone still does it, its really not that fun.

Non-Rockies fans tend to talk down about Coors until they go. And then you won't find one who didn't have a great experience.

by Teekalong on Apr 11, 2008 12:39 PM MDT up 0 recs

Had a chance...

...to stop in at Coors over Xmas, while visiting my relatives in Denver and skiing in Winter Park. Nice field, would love to attend a game there sometime. (Preferably Rox-Dbacks, of course)

"I was tied to a chair and he had a baseball bat. Pissing him off was the smart thing to do."

by DbacksSkins on Apr 11, 2008 12:45 PM MDT up 0 recs

St. Louis

It's actually a really nice ballpark. The old ballpark wasn't that great (it was built to serve as both a football and a baseball stadium), but the new one is really good. In a lot of ways it reminds me of Coors, except that the seats are red and the views are of the Gateway Arch instead of the Rocky Mountains.

But downtown St. Louis always seems seedy to me.

by Tom (RFTN) on Apr 11, 2008 1:15 PM MDT up 0 recs

Come to think of it....

I'm not a Rockies fan, of course, but Coors still seems "new" to me too... then again, so does Chase/The BOB, and I think it's actually officially middle-aged now.

Coors seems to have been one of the first in the 90s bandbox stadium-building boom. (If not THE first... Jacobs Field?)

"I was tied to a chair and he had a baseball bat. Pissing him off was the smart thing to do."

by DbacksSkins on Apr 11, 2008 12:48 PM MDT up 0 recs

4th actually

after in order: New Cominsky in Chicago, Camden Yards, The Jake in Cleveland.....but first in the NL

And not so much a band box as the old revival style. Coors after all has the largest outfield in all of baseball. Detroit is a very close 2nd.

What am going to do with all these "Jeff Baker for 2nd" bumper stickers?

by Redhawk on Apr 11, 2008 7:00 PM MDT up 0 recs

Ah....

forgot about Camden and New Comiskey. (Camden is possibly the most beautiful stadium in baseball.... even though it's in Baltimore)

You're right about Coors not being a bandbox, of course... what I meant was that most of those stadiums built in the last 18 years or so ARE bandboxes. Case in point; I'd even consider PetCo part of the same trend.... even though it's the opposite of a bandbox.

"I was tied to a chair and he had a baseball bat. Pissing him off was the smart thing to do."

by DbacksSkins on Apr 12, 2008 11:42 AM MDT up 0 recs

I had actually

wondered about the ivy on the batter's eye. I thought that the Coors crew was just trying to add some Wrigley to the park, but I suppose not.

Speaking of the batter's eye, does anyone else think that it would've been a perfect place for a pre-game banner saying "2007 NL Champs?" I mean, go look at the videos on Youtube of how the Red Sox did their championship celebration. In addition to everything else they did, that is one huge banner covering the Green Monster. What do we get for our troubles? That tiny, 2-color, plastic "pennant" sitting below the neon Rockies. Oh, and the dugout got repainted.

by oo_nrb on Apr 11, 2008 12:07 PM MDT 0 recs

Actually...

The dugout tops are vinyl/plastic covered. Don't forget we got a spiffy new State Farm ad on the left center field fence.

by GreeleyRoxFan on Apr 11, 2008 12:17 PM MDT up 0 recs

Ooo, right

Forgot about the State Farm eyesore. And it makes sense that it is vinyl. Heaven forbid we do something permanent to honor our champs. Speaking of honors, anyone else notice that our NL Wild Card '95 thing is missing from the LF fence?

by oo_nrb on Apr 11, 2008 12:21 PM MDT up 0 recs

I think thats been gone for....

About 3 seasons now. Clint Hurdle requested that it be removed. If memory serves me correctly, a Frontier Airlines ad now occupies its space.

Off Topic...How do the Rockies determine who participates in the 'in game' promotions like the Fly ball game, ground-crew challenge, etc? Ive only missed 10 games in the last 5 years at Coors, and have always wondered how ya do it...Im sure i can catch 3 flyballs for a trip anywhere Frontier flys!

by GreeleyRoxFan on Apr 11, 2008 12:30 PM MDT up 0 recs

Really?

I could've sworn I saw it there last year. I thought it was further to the left from the Frontier thing, on the gate.

by oo_nrb on Apr 11, 2008 12:36 PM MDT up 0 recs

Missed 10 games in 5 years?

I want your life.

by Teekalong on Apr 11, 2008 12:40 PM MDT up 0 recs

ha!

Yea, and all were because my kids were born during baseball season...If not for them, i think i should have seen every single one of em.

Ive got a collection of ball game giveaways that just makes my wife roll her eyes every time we clean the basement.

by GreeleyRoxFan on Apr 11, 2008 12:42 PM MDT up 0 recs

Frontier

Declared bankruptcy. They will keep opperating though.

The poster formerly known as Blake20th.

by NewMexicanSteven on Apr 11, 2008 12:47 PM MDT up 0 recs

the rockies marketing people

pick it out.... i have no idea how they decide... i think they have a plan for the type of person they want... such as race, gender, age cause its a different type of person every night. but i think its just luck of the draw.

the 95' wild card thing they took down 5 or 6 years ago. cause it was an eyesore and made people dwell on the teams constant losing. what thats it only one wild card in 10 years man we suck.... that kind of thing.

hurdle mistake counter: 4

by roxfan4life on Apr 11, 2008 3:22 PM MDT up 0 recs

OT

Huh, I hadn't heard that Frontier. I used to fly Frontier ALL the time when I would go back to Denver, but in the last few years they stopped being the cheapest option for me. I'm not sure what changed, but they've been more expensive by a fair amount every time I've needed to book a trip lately. That's a shame, because if all things were equal, I'd probably choose them (even if out of loyalty).

by holly96 on Apr 11, 2008 5:25 PM MDT up 0 recs

You don't...

...usually fly ATA, Alaska Air, or Aloha Air either... do you?? Because if so, I've got some bad news....

"I was tied to a chair and he had a baseball bat. Pissing him off was the smart thing to do."

by DbacksSkins on Apr 12, 2008 11:44 AM MDT up 0 recs

Heh

Nope. Never flown any of those. All my recent trips to Denver have been either United or Southwest.

by holly96 on Apr 12, 2008 3:47 PM MDT up 0 recs

Skybus too...

Which is too bad as it was good to me while it lasted. I got a round trip ticket from Columbus to Oakland for under seventy dollars in January. That's not really the smartest way to run an airline in the land of $110 oil, but I didn't complain.

by Rox Girl on Apr 14, 2008 2:11 PM MDT up 0 recs

If I may, for a second,

1. Winning the NL and winning the WS are quite different. (And I mean that with the GREATEST respect for your team's accomplishments in '07, and no offense intended whatsoever)

That having been said,

2. Do you REALLY want to emulate the sheer arrogance and self-centeredness of Red Sox Nation?? (AKA The Evil Empire's Mini-Me, Yankees Lite)

"I was tied to a chair and he had a baseball bat. Pissing him off was the smart thing to do."

by DbacksSkins on Apr 11, 2008 12:52 PM MDT up 0 recs

NOOOOOOOOO

I prefer our fatalistic - wait for the other shoe to drop - mentality. Its cozy, warm, and familiar!

Gosh i love Kip Wells.

by GreeleyRoxFan on Apr 11, 2008 1:07 PM MDT up 0 recs

Agreed

While I think celebrating what the Rockies did last season is important, its not like they won the World Series...I think being the NL Champs is something to be proud of, but I think the give aways and what not were a little overboard.

by Hizilla on Apr 11, 2008 2:40 PM MDT up 0 recs

Not hardly

What we're really all complaining/whining about is that the Rockies finally had a chance to do something exciting and grand for the first time in their history. Sadly, they screwed up again.

A baseball game is simply a nervous breakdown divided into nine innings. ~ Earl Wilson

by rockhead on Apr 11, 2008 2:10 PM MDT 0 recs