Wednesday Morning Rockpile: Rally Day!

by Rox Girl on Oct 31, 2007 6:50 AM MDT in Rockpile Comment 27 comments

The Rockies didn't quite get far enough for a parade, but a downtown rally in support of the team has been scheduled for today.

My Red Sox rooting counterpart and co-blogger at Yahoo!, Dan Lamothe, pointed out this hilarious interpretation of the Rockies run to the World Series:

We'll get Bowser next season, so long as the Monforts put a few more quarters in.

LaTroy Hawkins had his option declined, but wants to return. The Post treats the story as if the Rockies were doing him some massive injustice with this move, but it's just the business of baseball. Hawkins was hired as an eighth inning set-up guy -with the salary to match- but quickly proved himself merely a capable middle reliever. He's not going to get set-up/closer money from anybody, and he knows it, might as well stick with a team he likes. I won't mind having him back in that role, but it was a smart play by the Rockies to not do it at the expense of that option.

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Mamma Mia!

Luigi still gets the shaft; the Rockies are Luigi.

"Don't give up the ship!" - Capt. James Lawrence

by Russ Oates on Oct 31, 2007 7:59 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Curt Schilling: Rox not on his list

According to this blog post, at least, it looks like free agent pitchers still shy away from signing to play with Colorado despite the humidor making the stadium about as hitter friendly as Arizona's or Philadelphia's. Of course, Schilling has a history with those two teams he doesn't have with the Rockies, so maybe that had something to do with it, but it seems like otherwise Denver should meet all of his criteria:

The list of teams that our family has talked over, that we think would be a fit for next year, should we not come back, are pretty much teams in cities we agree would be ok for our last year, and teams I think have a legitimate shot at being in the post season and/or World Series. Teams we didn't include aren't for any one reason. There are a million little things that go into this from stadiums to school districts to travel to spring training to etc. etc. etc. but the list represents the teams after Boston that have some of the off the field things that are big to us, plus the potential to go into October next year.

The fact that three teams within the division are on his list, makes it a strong possibility that we'll have to face him frequently next season, I hope we go back to knocking him around like we did in June.

by Rox Girl on Oct 31, 2007 8:06 AM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Just FYI

MLB.com has a live look-in for the Rockies Rally happening in Denver right now. Great way to get involved for those of us who are...stuck in class...learning about Microeconomics... :P .

by oo_nrb on Oct 31, 2007 12:01 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Jeff wasn't expecting to speak.

"I don't know what to say."

"Don't give up the ship!" - Capt. James Lawrence

by Russ Oates on Oct 31, 2007 12:14 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

I'd love to hear more quotes

Cause I have to have it muted :( . Seems like they're having a grand old time, though.

by oo_nrb on Oct 31, 2007 12:16 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Odd line up

Barmes, Hirsh. This was last minute I guess some had already left town.

Okie by birth, Colorado Rockie fan by choice!

by Redhawk on Oct 31, 2007 12:23 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Just got back from the rally

Nothing really profound said, the players seemed surprised about how many fans showed up. Holliday did say he didn't want to play in front of any half-empty stadiums next year, I'm sure the Monforts cheered at that remark.

Speakers were Hurdle, Francis, Holliday, Hirsh, Spilly, Sullivan, Barmes, Atkins, and Vinny Castilla.

I chuckled to myself when the lieutenant governor got up. She must be campaigning already. Like anybody cares what the lieutenant governor has to say at a Rockies rally.

A world series parade would have been better.

by Roberbola on Oct 31, 2007 12:37 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

i think we can say

in april there will be 40,000+ at each game. after that depends on how the team is doing.

Frank tv premiers nov 20

by roxfan4life on Oct 31, 2007 1:08 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Hawkins never "proved" he wasn't capable

So much as circumstances made it so he had no choice but to slot into the sixth and seventh.

When you have a kid like Corpas come in and beat all expectations and dominate then have a three time all star closer come back you're going to pitch them in the eighth and the ninth.

It's not like Hawkins really blew an opportunity to pitch the eighth every night.

He absolutely excelled when Fuentes was on the DL.

Protect the Shield Read it, don't, whatever.

by Onebaseman on Oct 31, 2007 1:20 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Agreed

I want Hawkins back for 2 reasons:

He actually had a very good year in 2007- ERA+ of 140. Wish he struck more people out, but he still impressed me 9 times out of 10, which is all you can ask for from a 34 year old who relies on his fastball.
I always name him as proof that the Rockies front office isn't racist. He leaves, and my douchebag friends who believe every dumb rumor they read on the internet have more ammo to use against me.

rockies in october.

by LarryB303 on Oct 31, 2007 1:29 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

so...

we need a token black guy? Pretty much half the team is non-white, we just need good players, regardless of colour. I'm all for Hawkins in the seventh. I especially like that he wants to play with the Rockies again.

by Kindred on Oct 31, 2007 2:18 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Not really

My second point was 98% joke 2% serious.

rockies in october.

by LarryB303 on Oct 31, 2007 3:00 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

I don't buy this

I think what Hawkins did was blow an opportunity to pitch in high leverage situations by not performing whenever it got really tense.

If you look at his pLI charts, Hawk had nine games with a Leverage Index of over 2.0 (typical of late and close situations) and in six of them he crumbled under the pressure, contributing more to a loss than a win. Compared to Corpas, who came in for 16 high pressure situations and converted 14 of them, and it's not even close.

Hawkins did in fact prove himself incapable of pitching regularly in the eighth inning, I don't know if there's any way around seeing that when you look at the story of the games he pitched in.

by Rox Girl on Oct 31, 2007 2:25 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

That said,

as I mention in the main article, I'm all for keeping him in a less leveraged role.

by Rox Girl on Oct 31, 2007 2:25 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

You people are freakin' awesome!

I'll be honest. I have absolutely no idea what some of you are saying. Leverage Index? I had no idea such a thing existed.

I've said before that I am math challenged, so I doubt I'll ever be able to get my brain around this stuff. But I'm having a wonderful time reading and finding out about all sorts of cool things I never knew were there. Gives me something to Google.

2007 NL Champions, baby!

by rockhead on Oct 31, 2007 6:52 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Yeah, I worried about that being

too much jargon when I was posting it, but the basic premise is that as games get closer to the end, individual plays carry greater significance on the outcome than they do at the beginning, and the same can be said of plays in tight games versus blowouts. So the closer the game, the later the game, the higher the leverage, and leverage index is a way to try and quantify this.

Because relievers are hired to get a team out of tight spots late in ballgames, how they perform in highly leveraged situations is important in determining their value. In Hawkins case, he does very well in lower leveraged situations, but cracks too often when the stakes are highest, and therefore profiles as a decent bases empty middle reliever.

by Rox Girl on Oct 31, 2007 7:42 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

OK, I get that much

Just don't ask me to understand the numbers. I appreciate, however, that you can break that down for someone like me. I'll know who to ask the next time. :)

2007 NL Champions, baby!

by rockhead on Oct 31, 2007 8:48 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

The Elias FA Rankings are out.

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/nl/2007-10-31-elias-rankings-complete_N.htm

The only type B free agents on the Rockies are Yorvit Torrealba and Jorge Julio. I doubt we'd offer arbitration to Julio though.

Let Torrealba walk, sign Lo Duca/Castro/Kendall and collect a supplemental pick?

by malakian on Oct 31, 2007 7:31 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

I'm fine with that

Torrealba did a very good job handling the pitchers this season, particularly the young Latin players. He wore down with the bat later on but had some clutch hits during the season and the playoffs. He's in line for a raise, probably too large of one for the budget.

Plus, I'm all for giving Iannetta another chance to prove himself with regular playing time.

by avsfan4ever33 on Oct 31, 2007 7:47 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Kaz-Mat and Fogger just miss

Percentage points away from being class B's, I think Elias hates the Rockies and wants us to fail. HATERS.

Just kidding. It is really bad luck, though.

by Rox Girl on Oct 31, 2007 7:58 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

More convinced than ever that

that Elias's rankings are humorous. Troy Percival can be a Type B FA after missing 2006 and pitching 40 innings in 2007 . . . yeah, that's what Percival is worth.

It must suck to be Tony Giarratano with a 0.000. If the rankings were worth it.

"Don't give up the ship!" - Capt. James Lawrence

by Russ Oates on Oct 31, 2007 8:08 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Cook's club option picked up and other news

According to the Rockies Official Website, the Rockies announced they will excercise Aaron Cook's 2008 club option for $4.5 million.

Also, the entire coaching staff will return next season.

They made the official announcement that they declined LaTroy Hawkins' $3.75 million option, but are still expected to negotiate a new contact that was already talked about above.

In the 2007 Internet Baseball Awards, Clint Hurdle was chosen as NL Manager of the Year and Matt Holliday was chosen as NL MVP. Troy Tulowitzki won a fielding bible award by ACTA Sports. He was the only rookie to receive one this year. We'll see if these three get their REAL hardware next month.

Rocktober is the best month!

by rockin randy on Oct 31, 2007 7:37 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Beat me to it

Guess I had the comment window open too long. ;)

by avsfan4ever33 on Oct 31, 2007 7:41 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Cook's option picked up

http://colorado.rockies.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20071031&content_id=2290125&vkey=news_c ol&fext=.jsp&c_id=col

Nothing surprising there. I believe it's been said management will try and lock him up with a longer term deal this offseason as well.

The article also says the entire managerial staff will be returning next season, and lists a few awards Rockies players (and manager) received.

by avsfan4ever33 on Oct 31, 2007 7:41 PM MDT reply actions 0 recs

Hyperlinks

How do you put these in your comment? I was going to do this but since I didn't know how to, I just basically summarized the story.

Rocktober is the best month!

by rockin randy on Oct 31, 2007 9:00 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Copy the URL

and paste it into the comment box. Once you post it automatically turns it into a link.

I'm not sure how to do the fancier ones though. ;)

by avsfan4ever33 on Oct 31, 2007 9:04 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs

Site workings

Read this. By the end of the year you won't have to type out the code since our new system will make it as easy as a click of the button. Well, it will be with a click of the button.

"Don't give up the ship!" - Capt. James Lawrence

by Russ Oates on Oct 31, 2007 9:11 PM MDT up reply actions 0 recs