For many, MLB recedes as NFL season begins

I wrote on Wednesday that the magic number for the 2014 Rockies to avoid 100 losses was eight. Three home wins later, including a walk-off win last night courtesy of Drew Stubbs, and that number stands at five. With a 7-13 finish to the year, the Rockies won't even match the 2012 team's futility. If they go 16-4 (they won't), the Rockies would match last season's record. Heck, Colorado is only a game behind Arizona for fourth place in the NL West.

It's not like the 100 loss barrier was the magical line over which mass firings and organizational restructuring could commence. Sure, there will be "restructuring" in some capacity, but the comments from Dick Monfort earlier this year don't seem to point to anything major - regardless of Colorado's final 2014 record. If you're the majority of Colorado sports fans, you don't care about any of this though, because the Broncos open their season tonight against the Colts. Speaking of which...

With arrival of NFL, MLB down to final out - The Denver Post

Nick Groke writes about the inevitable rite of late summer - baseball fading from the national consciousness as football hogs the spotlight. As Groke puts it:

The NFL, a $10 billion behemoth, tramples over all other sports, and nearly everything else on TV, and most every fall Sunday afternoon. And Sunday and Monday nights. And now Thursday nights.

It's not that nobody pays attention to baseball come September - it's just that the sheer cacophony of the football talk and football action drives the culture of America even in places where baseball pennant races rage. Baseball is a healthy enterprise, with $8.5 billion in revenue last year (more than the NBA and NHL combined), but it's no longer the cultural touchstone it once was. One of the reasons is that...

Major League Baseball games last longer now than ever before - The Denver Post

As Groke writes, MLB games this year are an average of three hours and eight minutes (three hours, 13 minutes for the Rockies), which is 13 minutes longer than even four years ago. Last night's 12 inning game was four hours and 52 minutes long, thanks in part to expanded September rosters leading to an absurd 18 pitchers being used. There's a lot that can be done to speed up the pace of play, but it's unclear whether MLB is actually committed to making a change.

Jorge De La Rosa, Rockies thrilled with contract extension - The Denver Post

Jorge De La Rosa is happy to receive $25 million to pitch two more years for the Rockies. From what I've read here and elsewhere, so are most other Rockies fans. Could we just clone him five or six times please?

Young starters may get opportunity in Rockies' rotation | rockies.com

Cody Ulm writes that Chad Bettis could possibly see a start this month for the Rockies. Bettis was converted from a starter to the bullpen late last year, but was abysmal in the role for the Rockies and was re-converted back to a starter late this summer.

I’m Supposed to Pitch? Oh, No! – The Hardball Times

Dirk Hayhurst lets us know what it's like to make your major league debut.