Saturday Rockpile: Despite On-Field Woes, Rockies Remain a Class Organization

Rockies honor victims of Aurora tragedy - The Denver Post
Even for me, a guy who doesn't live in Colorado, last night's game was somewhat difficult to focus my attention on, as I spent a good portion of the day dwelling about what sort of deranged individual could actually walk into a packed movie theater and shoot it up. That dwelling carried over into the game, so it was nice to see that the Rockies were honoring the victims of the horrific incident. The thing about it, though, is that it is expected out of the Rockies organization. I'm really not trying to make this about baseball, but bear with me.

One of the reasons I simply cannot buy into peoples' argument that the organization (particularly, the owners) don't care about winning is because they do SO many things the right way. Say what you want about the product on the field, but the Colorado Rockies have proven to be among the class of baseball off of it. Many, MANY journalists and other mainstream sports media types have cited on numerous occasions that this is the case. Last night's tribute to the people who were affected by the tragic events of early Friday morning illustrate this. It's not just that, it's also how they're involved in the community, how they stick to their own morals as an organization no matter what (even if it has, at times, affected the on-field performance), and how they value and protect just about everyone inside of it.

The Monforts are naive about what it takes to win baseball games. They're just not baseball guys. Keli McGregor was a baseball guy, but we lost him a couple of years ago. He hasn't been replaced, so there's nobody above Dan O'Dowd's level that can give input to how to put together a winning team. THAT'S why this team is in the predicament they're in. I believe this season, which has no doubt been trying on everyone involved, will be a big step toward correcting that. Until that happens, the Rockies will continue to be one of the class organizations in professional sports. Even if they're not winning at the moment, that's something in which the fans can take a tremendous amount of pride.

Here's Thomas Harding (MLB.com) with his take on the Rox honoring the victims of the shooting, including quotes from Carlos Gonzalez, Jim Tracy, and others.

Colorado Rockies Top 20 2012 PRE-SEASON Prospects in Review - Minor League Ball
Over at Minor League Ball, John Sickels reviews his preseason rankings of the Rockies' top prospects. There's some good stuff in there.

That's about it for now. Get outside, breathe the fresh Rocky Mountain air, and enjoy your day that much more. I know I will.