It’s here. The 2017 Colorado Rockies season is upon us. And with it comes another season at Purple Row. We couldn’t be happier.
We want to welcome newcomers and old-hands alike. We’re glad you’re here as a reader, commenter, lurker, and/or FanPost contributor. We want nothing more than to make your experience here enjoyable and informative for this year and many more after.
Since you're so valuable to us, we feel compelled to tell you about what you should expect from our staff this season. We'd also like to give you some tips on how to make your experience here at Purple Row more enjoyable.
What to expect: Content
Prospects. Our bread and butter has always been minor league coverage. This offseason, we unveiled another edition of Purple Row’s top 30 prospects in the organization (as voted on by you, the community). During the season, you’ll get daily recaps of the previous day’s minor league action in our Pebble Reports. We'll have a week-in-review series for each affiliate and the organization as a whole. Given the Rockies' deep farm system and dividends it’s starting to pay in the majors, there's never been a better time to follow the organization at every level, and we're going to ensure that you're able to do so on a daily basis.
Really, we'll have so much minor league coverage that we're confident each and every one of the readers will be an expert on the Rockies' farm system by the end of the season. That's our goal, and we'll do all we can to live up to it.
Game coverage. Our aim for game coverage is to be not only quick, accurate, and detailed, but also fun. For every game, you’ll find a preview and game thread, where you can join other community members in the comments to discuss the day’s game. Our game threads are unrivaled in the Rockies community; nowhere else will you find the passion, knowledge and, let's be honest, hilarity that you'll find on Purple Row while our purple-clad heroes are in action. In addition to that, we’ll bring you a recap for every game of the season, just in case you missed it.
Rockpile/Scaling the Rocks. The morning Rockpile links post, usually up around 6 a.m. MT, is where all baseball-related discussion takes place—at least, until other articles are posted later in the day. You should expect a Rockpile and ensuing Scaling the Rocks post, which takes the biggest story of the day and expands on it using the detail, knowledge and analysis you've come to expect from our staff, on a daily basis.
Weekly features. You’ll find everything from transaction analysis to sabermetric analysis, from weekly recaps to satire, and from news to commentary. Most importantly, you’ll find something here every day of the year.
Purple Dinosaur Podcast. Tyler Maun (MiLB.com) and Anthony Masterson (Fox Sports) are back for their fourth year of podcast shenanigans! The PDP guys provide unique analysis and always have top-shelf guests on the show. You can listen right here on Purple Row or look for the show on iTunes and Stitcher. PDP is required weekly listening for all Rockies fans just as Purple Row is required reading. Subscribe today!
In addition to the above topics, we'll provide our usual brand of breaking news and ensuing fallout. We also may add a surprise staff member or two at some point, with additional content plans accompanying them.
What to expect: Community
We've always been proud of our community. Its diverse interests, deep knowledge and passion for the team and continuous hilarity have been a huge part of our operation from the start. It’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with the site’s Rules & Regulations. Whether you're already part of the community or would like to join, here are a couple of quick rules taken from our community guidelines:
- Practice civil discourse. This means don't be a jerk.
- Remember: Purple Row is a place for Colorado Rockies fans. Nobody wants a complete and total curmudgeon being a Debbie Downer in every thread.
People are going to disagree about the way the team is constructed or about whether Player A is overrated or about if Jeff Bridich and Bud Black are truly the guys for the job. While you're doing so, remember these two rules and you'll be fine. You can bring up concerns you have with the team (let's face it, there are still a lot of those), but don't start fires in the comment threads just because a fellow poster is exhibiting positivity or giving the front office and coaching staff the benefit of the doubt.
We want this to be a place for everyone. Whether you're a numbers person, an eye test-reliant fan, an eternal optimist, or a dire pessimist, it doesn't matter; you're welcome in our comment threads. Take the temperature of the conversations, don't attack anyone for their interests or line of thinking, take care of one another, and enjoy baseball. If we all do that, our community will never be stronger.
FanPosts. We always encourage community members with thoughts that go beyond a simple comment in an article to use our FanPost function. The rules are outlined in Purple Row's Rules & Regulations. One thing to consider: To some degree, we're always looking for writers. A good FanPost is a great way to make yourself stand out not only to us, but perhaps to other prospective sites or publications. If you want to write something but don’t know what to write about, we regularly feature FanPost Friday prompts designed to get the creative juices flowing. We highlight some of our favorites on the front page.
PuRPs voting. We publish our top 30 Rockies prospects lists twice a year, and your input is what makes the rankings happen. As promised above, we'll give you all the tools necessary to make your decision on which prospects should be ranked where. So, pay attention and take notes, and when the time comes for PuRPs voting, your list will be the best of them all.
Rockies Roster. Born from Sage Farron’s Project Libra (from all the way back in Purple Row's early days), RockiesRoster.com is an invaluable resource for Rockies fans, media members and, quite possibly, even the team itself. It's that good. Need to know how many options a player has remaining? Rockies Roster will tell you. Want to keep up on every single major or minor transaction throughout the organization? Look no further than this brilliant creation, which is now operated by Tim Zappe.
Meetups. Given that most of our staff is located nowhere near Coors Field, we'd like to get together and talk baseball and life with our community members whenever we have the chance. We're trying to make the home opener a tradition, but on occasion we will try to schedule in-person meetups during other times throughout the year. Keep an eye out.
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If you have any questions or comments about the site, staff or community, don't hesitate to email us (Bryan Kilpatrick and/or Eric Garcia McKinley—you can find our contact info on the masthead). We can also be reached via Twitter at @PurpleRow. Otherwise, let's make 2017 a year to remember (in a good way, of course!), regardless of what the Rockies do on the field.