We have found a new enemy, and he works for Denver's number one TV channel
by Dex
on Apr 15, 2008 7:34 AM PDT
Dan Boniface is the Rockies blogger over at 9News.com, which is Denver's number 1 TV channel. He asked us to contribute to a piece called ASK THE ENEMY. We said, in unison, "You do not even know us, and yet you call us enemy." He said, "Maybe if the stars had aligned in a different manner from which they have aligned, you would be friends that I hold close to my bosom, but for now, you are my enemy and as enemies we must ask baseball related questions of each other to post to our respective blogs." We agreed and he proceeded to ask us about Matt Holliday in game 163, and it was at that point that we realized, he would hold no punches. Check out his questions and our answers at his blog.
Our questions are in bold. The enemy's answers look like this.
Everybody in the NL West, besides Arizona (and really the Giants), has started off slower than they might have liked. How are Rockies fans taking the start?
I don’t want to call the Rockies faithful "fair-weather fans" but on a cold, intermittently-rainy Wednesday night last week, that’s exactly what they were. Only 23,210, myself included, were on hand to witness the Rockies’ third straight win over the Atlanta Braves. After winning their season opener, five straight losses (three of which came in the home opening series to the rival Diamondbacks) certainly put a damper on the World Series honeymoon period.
However, with that being said, Denver is a different city than it was back in mid-September. Everywhere you go now, you see people wearing crisp, clean Rockies hats with World Series logos, brand-new Tulowitzki and Holliday jerseys (also with World Series logos) and even Rockies NL Champs bumper stickers. Ticket sales are up 25 percent. It’s a real feel-good time to be a Rockies fan in Colorado.
The slow start has certainly soured the fair-weather folk, but the true fans understand that this team’s early struggles were mainly due to problems at the plate. And if you take a look at the Rockies lineup, it’s fair to say they can’t continue to struggle the way they have, as was evident in their 13-run output on Sunday.
What's wrong with Troy Tulowitzki?
I think he put too much pressure on himself. The guy is only 23 and has one year of experience in the bigs. After he signed that 6-year, $31-million deal in the offseason, he basically became an overnight success; the fresh new face of the franchise. Then, things got worse as the Rockies struggled to get out of the gate, Tulo struggled too and started blaming himself for the team’s struggles.
Tulo hates to sit. But that’s exactly what Clint Hurdle had him do on Sunday and in his stead, Clint Barmes looked like Clint Barmes circa 2005; he looked like the guy who hit that memorable 2005 Opening Day walk-off homer off Trevor Hoffman. (You like that reference?)
But, bottom line, the Rockies will only go as far as Tulo takes them. He’s the sparkplug, he’s the energizer, he’s what makes this team go. They feed off his energy. And he started 2007 the same way he started this year: Struggling with the bat. Hurdle benched him then for a couple days and he came roaring back. If I were a betting man, I’d say Tulo is due for a breakout series in San Diego this week. Look out.
You asked me the question about "the slide" just to needle me, didn't you.
Honestly, I just wanted to see how hot the rivalry flames burn in San Diego to compare them with Arizona. They burn red-hot there. Here in Colorado, when asked about "the slide" people either say Barrett didn’t have possession of the ball and therefore, by rule, could not block the plate the way he did, so Holliday was legitimately safe. Some think he may have touched it. Others say he didn’t, but it was the baseball gods correcting the blown call on Garrett Atkins "double," which replays showed was clearly a home run. But, I love the history. History makes for good baseball and I look forward to the Padres/Rockies matchups all season long.
Thanks to Dan Boniface! We will meet again enemy who would be our friend. We will meet again.
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Everyone cites
that rule about possession, but I’m pretty sure that’s been debunked several times. If a catcher is in the process of making a play at the plate, he can block the plate. This happens fairly routinely.
By the logic of this rule, Kouz shouldn’t have been able to block Velez off of third when Adrian turned that sweet DP in the Giants game. Kouz didn’t yet have the ball when Velez slid in, but gasp, he had him blocked off the plate.
by Phantom on Apr 15, 2008 7:55 AM PDT 0 recs
2005 Opening Day Walk-off at Coors
I was at that game. Think that was the worst I’ve ever felt at a game I’ve actually attended. I just remember putting my daughter on my shoulders and walking out as everyone was celebrating, thinking “I hate this place.”
by Winfield's Ghost on Apr 15, 2008 9:05 AM PDT 0 recs
Rule
Right. If the catcher is in the process of receiving the ball to make a play, he can block the plate. If the umpire was awarding Holliday the base because of obstruction, he would have called the play dead, and then awarded him the base. I believe that is true at all the bases actually.
by osbug on Apr 15, 2008 9:09 AM PDT 0 recs
The Rockies
are really desperate for a rival.
Sorry, guys. You should’ve moved your team to Seattle if you wanted to pick a fight.
by Dalton on Apr 15, 2008 9:20 AM PDT 0 recs
i like the idea of a 3-way rivalry in division
sea level vs mile high vs the desert. it’s like a rock scissors paper thing.
by Dex on
Apr 15, 2008 10:03 AM PDT
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Or the NL West could be like the Planeteers
On Captain Planet.
I call Heart!
by Dalton on
Apr 15, 2008 10:47 AM PDT
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Perfect
That would make for some pretty cool retro uniform nights.
by Drama on
Apr 15, 2008 10:48 AM PDT
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+1
Giants and Dodgers can go *#x%x themselves and their rivalry….
THIS is where it’s at.
"I was tied to a chair and he had a baseball bat. Pissing him off was the smart thing to do."
by DbacksSkins on
Apr 15, 2008 10:02 PM PDT
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I don't like revisiting...
..but I like how their answer is “oh, well the catcher blocked the plate, automatically safe…” instead of “he DID touch the plate.” While here, it is universally, “He did NOT.”
The right man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world.
by Axion on Apr 15, 2008 9:20 AM PDT 0 recs
I just expected more of a hard-nosed position on it, more of a “well that’s your reality… but I saw it with my eyes and he did touch it” kinda thing.
Seems to me them arguing what Barrett was doing is kinda surrendering, that they know he didn’t touch the plate either.
The right man in the wrong place can make all the difference in the world.
by Axion on
Apr 15, 2008 1:11 PM PDT
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He might have, might not have
The replays are not conclusive. But in the end, we must live with the fact that he did touch it… it’s how it’s written in the books. Funny commercial on in denver right now… check it out if you haven’t seen it yet. youtube.com/watch?v=S1OLJNQW_d0
by Rox R Champs on
Apr 15, 2008 2:18 PM PDT
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that commercial
made me laugh pretty hard
clever
"Heroes are people who are all good with no bad in them."
Mickey Mantle
by iLOVEkouz5 on
Apr 15, 2008 2:42 PM PDT
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makes me feel wise, old
i guess i should start growing a wispy beard.
by Dex on
Apr 15, 2008 11:11 AM PDT
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No way he touched it
Pretty clear in every replay. Close, sure, but not really debatable.
It’s the second explanation that matters-it was karmic payback for the Garret Atkins “double” that was really a homerun. If the Padres had won that game, I would fully expect to be hearing about that Atkins homer-but I like to think I’d be able to admit it was a blown call that went my team’s way.
That’s the only thing that bothers me about the Holliday call—just admit it already: it was a blown call that went the Rockies way. The end.
And anyway, the point is: Ubaldo needs to get roughed up tonight. No way someone named Ubaldo can beat a Wolf.
by goose1 on Apr 15, 2008 10:27 AM PDT 0 recs
Rockies fans?
I don’t buy a word of his “Rockies fans aren’t fairweather fans”. If they were so into their team last year, where were they? I went to 3 games in Denver against the Rockies late in the season and the stadium was not full. At the time we were ahead of them and the DBacks were in first, Holliday was getting MVP chatter, and the weather was warm (for Denver). I chatted with Rockies fans that told me that people just couldn’t rally around this team. But yet, once they ripped off their win streak and were playing October baseball, there they were. They wanted to be part of the end result, but had no interest in the journey. This is my definition of a bad fan. For all the crap we give Dodger fans, at least they are there for their team. I’ve even talked to many Giants fans that are way more into their crappy team this year than the Rockies fans were into their NL Champion team last year (before the win streak). They are pathetic.
And, I'm still waiting for Meredith or Bell to come in the seventh inning of April 4's game with the bases loaded, the score tied and Thatcher struggling.
by Wonko on Apr 15, 2008 10:40 AM PDT 0 recs
Totally disagree
Having lived in Denver for 10 yrs, people have wanted to rally behind that franchise since the Blake Street Bomber and Don Baylor days but Dan O’Dowd did an absolutely horrific job of tearing down the team and then trying to build it back up. The first few yrs they went into decline, people did still turn out for games, waiting for the turnaround. But it never happened because O’Dowd made mistake (Mike Hampton) after mistake (Denny Neagle) and when the owners wouldn’t get rid of O’Dowd, people decided to stop spending their money at Coors because it was like the owners didn’t care. The main reason they are rebounding isn’t O’Dowd – though he likes to take the credit – it’s because their scouts have done an excellent job of drafting and finding young talent. Their surge at the end of last yr took that city by surprise and people came out in droves because they’ve been dying to get behind the team.
by Winfield's Ghost on
Apr 15, 2008 1:00 PM PDT
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What!?
dodger fans arrive in the 3rd and leave in the 7th, after the beer is gone! I’m telling Wiggins; dodger lover!
"We've... we've got lumps of it 'round the back."
by ABY on
Apr 16, 2008 12:58 AM PDT
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There were...
24,000 people at last nights game, which is about 50% capacity. Does that make Padres fans fair weather??
by ThrowinRox on
Apr 16, 2008 5:00 PM PDT
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Alright, damnit! I have lived in Colorado since ‘85, I have seen the Rockies since they started playing in ‘93. I go to quite a few Rockies games as an unofficial GasLampBall correspondent proudly wearing any Pads gear I can get my hands on…and yes…Rockies fans are “fairweather”!!!! Last year they could barely pull 12,000 to the game before they got their asses in gear late in the season. I truly believe most fans came out in September to see the games because it was just the place to be seen. The Colorado Avalanche, once a powerhouse of a team, and some considered Denver a hockeytown, couldn’t sell out the Pepsi Center on Opening Night last year…it’s only 17.000 seats! I will give that the Rockies have made some questionable decisions over the previous ten years or so, so some fans might consider leaving the game, but still “true” baseball fans/freaks would want to go to the game anyways. It’s freakin’ baseball! Hold it like an egg!
by DarthBarf on Apr 15, 2008 3:21 PM PDT 0 recs
The fact of the matter...
Is that Denver is just like any other sports town. If a team is not winning, they will not draw very well, that’s just the way it is. I’ve seen plenty of Chargers home games where there were more Broncos fans than Chargers fans. Now that the Chargers are winning they sell out every game. It doesn’t matter what town you’re in or what sport it is, winners sell out stadiums and losers don’t. Bottom line.
Also, Denver has four major sports teams to support. San Diego only has two. It’s not that people in Denver aren’t “real” fans and don’t love their teams, it’s that there are a lot more choices as far as what sporting event to go to in Denver than there is in San Diego…which makes it even harder to sell out the stadium if you’re not winning.
Of course, none of this applies to the Broncos. Every Broncos game is a sellout.
by ThrowinRox on Apr 16, 2008 4:52 PM PDT 0 recs
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