Tuesday Rockpile: The Road to 100 is a Dead End

The road to 100 officially reached a dead end last night in the desert, an hour south of Route 66. With that, the Colorado Rockies remain the only National League team to never fill their L column with triple digits, and while that may seem trivial on the surface, it was giving the young players something to play for.

"Nobody wants to lose 100. Now that's over, and we are done with it," said Chris Nelson.

"Either way it hasn't been the season we wanted. But you don't want to lose 100," outfielder Tyler Colvin said.

they pulled it off!!the dugout was crazy excited...they badly wanted to avoid 100 L's

— Joel Klatt (@joelklatt) October 2, 2012

It took until October, but that only brought more poetry to the uninspired accomplishment. The death of "Road to 100" came on October 1, a significant day in Rockies history. Colorado clinched their first ever playoff berth on October 1, 1995. Their most recent playoff appearance came after clinching on October 1, 2009. And of course, Game 163 in 2007 was played on October 1.

Five years to the day after the Rockies used 13 innings to win the best game in franchise history on their way to a pennant, the Rockies used 13 innings to avoid 100 losses. Try to sum up the directionality of the club more than that.

Now, Colorado can finish 63-99, 64-98 or 65-97. All look better than 62-100, but other than cosmetics, it is no different. 2012 has been the worst season in franchise history, something that is bound to be discussed when Bill Geivett and Jim Tracy have the annual GM and manager end-of-year chat.

Some weak dignity is preserved by keeping the loss column in double digits, but spilling into 100 was never going to be the final domino to set off a plan for major change within the organization. That does not mean no changes will be made. But the chances of them happening are the same today as yesterday, because such change only occurs when those in power believe the men making decisions have the organization going in the wrong direction. That belief, if it exists, would have started long ago.

Links

Troy Tulowitzki does not plan to play for Rockies for rest of season - The Denver Post - This is certainly best. Nothing would have been gained by his return at Chase Field for two games.

Baseball Prospectus | Monday Morning Ten Pack: October 1 The feature rolls on even with Kevin Goldstein on the Astros payroll. Yesterday's feature was on ten prospects who did not live up to expectations in 2012, and Nolan Arenado is one of them:

It's not so much that he failed, because his overall season was once again solid, but the scouting reports weren't as favorable as the numbers...This could be another player where the expectations created more hype than the reality could back up, as Arenado is more solid than special. - Jason Parks

,BaseballAmerica.com: Prospects: Rankings: League Top 20 Prospects: 2012: Keep an eye on BA the next two days, as Trevor Story and Kyle Parker will feature prominantly in their SAL (Wednesday) and CAL (Thursday) rankings.

Colorado Rockies Leaderboards " 2012 " Pitchers " Standard Statistics | FanGraphs Baseball - I note this because Drew Pomeranz struck out 7 batters last night, using a career high to now lead the Rockies in strikeouts with 83. Despite the disastrous season, Colorado can still have a starting pitcher lead the team in punchouts, but Rex Brothers cannot strike anyone out the rest of the season. And Adam Ottavino has to stick to two or less.

Colorado Rockies face myriad of questions for 2013 - The Denver Post - and we will debate them endlessly over the next six months!

The 2012 Orioles bullpen will be the best in MLB history as measured by WPA, and it isn't even close.

Todd Helton opens Ford dealership in Rifle - The Denver Post - One foot out the door?

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