Like the majestic Black-chinned Hummingbird, the Rockies were just waiting for warmer weather...
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Despite all the injuries to speedy position players.
(Dex, Tulo, Cargo, EYJ)
Even while missing a crucial starting pitcher in lefty Jorge de la Rosa.
Still without their 2009 closer, 35-save righty Huston Street… the Rockies soldier on.
Colorado Rockies History 401 :Â Playing Possum or the Great .500 Deception
Colorado has managed a 22-22 record just over a quarter of the way into the season. Many have wondered, with all the pre-season hype that accompanied this team, why the Rockies have struggled. Chalk it up to experience.
The Rocks have failed to lose or win more than three games in a row this year. They have incidentally metered out a perfectly uninteresting first fourth of the season without breaking a sweat. They have, by virtue of their historical early-season sucking, managed to not dig themselves an enormous 5-10 game hole.
In fact, their only two 3-game streaks came back-to-back as they gutted out three Coors Field wins versus Washington, then hit the road and lost a two-game stint to the Cubs before dropping the first of two in Houston.
And that little piece of history brings us full circle…
It was exactly one year ago today that the Rockies were 18-26 after losing the first of three home games (all losses) to the LA Dodgers. That dreadful home showing against the NL West’s elite club portended great changes in Rockieland.
Clint Hurdle, the Rockies’ manager for 7+ seasons, was abruptly dismissed and replaced with bench coach Jim Tracy.
Sportswriters and fans alike wrote off the season as finished. Hurdle declined to stay in the organization as a front office role player. And overnight, despite the ‘interim’ tag associated with his managerial title, Jim Tracy took control of the Colorado Rockies.
The team responded by winning two of three over the Padres in the latter half of their homestand, then took their 20-29 2009 record on a fateful trip to Houston for a 4-game series against the 20-29 Astros.
In the last game of that San Diego series Jorge de la Rosa pitched another foul outing and dropped to 0-6 on the season. The first game in Houston, Aaron Cook dropped to 3-3 with a loss. Game 2 at the Astros the Rockies lost a heartbreaker in 11 Innings when Miguel Tejada hit a solo home run off Colorado reliever Josh Fogg. And as a final ringing insult, Jason Marquis, the Rockies’ only winning starter in the first part of that ’09 season, got creamed for three first inning runs on the way to a 6-4 Game 3 loss.
Then, like the crack of a bat, the Rockies turned their season around.
The story goes something like this.
10-3 @ Houston, 11-4 @ St. Louis, 10-1 @ St. Louis, 7-2 @ St. Louis, 5-2 @ St, Louis
The Cardinals were a dominant 31-23 going into that series, and the Rockies swept the whole 4-game set in St. Louis with a sort of righteous and overwhelming chorus of hits.
Colorado followed that performance with a tight 3-game sweep of the Brewers in Milwaukee, winning two of the three by a single run. Some versatile winning on the road.
Then came a homestand versus Seattle, Tampa Bay & Pittsburgh, where Colorado sandwiched one 12-4 loss to the Rays between three wins over the Mariners, three wins over the Pirates, and two squeaker wins over Tampa.
By the time the Rockies rolled out of town for their annual trek along the California coast (Anaheim, Oakland, Los Angeles), they were a respectable 36-33.
Now, this lesson in Rockies history is good for posterity’s sake.
More than that, though, it is an important reminder that the Colorado Rockies work in a definitive cycle…
They stink it up in April & May, wait for the weather (and the bats) to warm up, and make mincemeat of opponents throughout June.
So certain is this information that it’s in the Farmer’s Almanac. Migrating birds are called from 600 miles away by the faint ringing of late-inning crowd noise emanating from Coors Field on warm nights in late May. The Mayans even predicted the last five years of Rockies history in their little known Calendario de Béisbol, accurate to within 5 games on a 162 game season.
And so, we know that it’s coming. Like the tides, it’s coming. ‘Junetober’ is nigh upon us.
And this time, the Rockies are not 8 games below .500 and considering a mid-season overhaul. No, this time the Colorado Rockies are just waiting for all the pieces to be in place. Waiting for J-Dealer. Waiting for Mr. Street. (Waiting, perhaps, for Jim Tracy’s 1-year anniversary as the Rockies’ manager this Saturday night versus the Dodgers.) Watching as Jeff Francis rises phoenix-like from the ashes and hints at a future rotation featuring three bona fide #1 pitchers.
So this time, when the bats come around, even the East Coast sports media may notice.
The Black-chinned Hummingbird certainly will.
Rocktober is Colorado history. Junetober is the present. The Rockies are ready to prove themselves a perennial contender by virtue of their ‘strong’ start, and a time-honored tradition of warming up with the weather.
