Jim Tracy has shaped the Rockies into a tighter, more capable version of the talented 2007 team
- Image by Getty Images via @daylife
On his 1-year anniversary with the Colorado Rockies, manager Jim Tracy recorded his 100th win as head honcho. To little fanfare Saturday evening (perhaps because the win was sandwiched between two losses to the hated Dodgers), Jim touched on an important landmark in his career with Colorado.
The landmark win, though, means less than a big picture painted by Tracy through his first year of leadership.
Jim Tracy took over a troubled Rockies club on May 29th, 2009 and coaxed the talented lineup into a winning fervor. Under Tracy, the 2009 Rockies won two, lost four, and then rattled off 17 wins in their next 18 games.
Tracy mixed up the batting order often (as he has done consistently throughout the 2010 season) to take advantage of hot bats and isolate cold ones. He brought out the best in Bob Apodaca, the Rockies’ Pitching Coach, whose staff had struggled under close friend Clint Hurdle’s watch. Jim brought a no-nonsense, winner’s mentality to a Rockies club already possessing of a general swagger and excellent team chemistry.
The results were electric.
From the dregs of the National League in late May, the Rockies battled for the NL Wild Card and an opening round playoff series against the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Rockies bowed to the eventual NL Champs in four mostly hard-fought games, their only win coming in Game 2 at Philadelphia. That 5-4 road victory was followed by a cold-weather postponement that allowed Philly ace Cliff Lee to pitch in a tight Game 5. Philadelphia closed out both Games 4 & 5 in Colorado with 9th Inning scoring that the Rockies simply could not overcome.
The Phillies won their second consecutive NL Title, and the Rockies were made to look like a young club lacking some final element.
Lacking was a confident closer, as Huston Street melted before the deadly, lefty-heavy Phillies lineup.
Lacking was the clutch scoring that is the hallmark of Championship-caliber teams.
Lacking was a solid postseason pitching rotation after left-handed dynamo Jorge de la Rosa went down with a groin injury late in the season.
But the Rockies were not lacking in leadership. The Rocks never looked disorganized or scattered as a team, and throughout both their regular season recovery and postseason battling they took on the businesslike demeanor of their stalwart manager.
Gone were the sloppy, streaky days of Clint Hurdle. The Rockies looked whole.
And despite an off & on start to this season, Colorado has held a certain form; maintained an edge missing at times under Hurdle. Losing streaks have been brief and often altered by the kind of workmanlike performance that wins big games… playoff games. Jim Tracy’s fingerprints are all over this club.
So, still in the early stages of a season that could still go either way, I want to propose a toast to Mr. Tracy. Â Something about that 100th win on the 1-year anniversary of his ascension to manager just feels right, and we need to make sure that we take a moment to notice.
Because Jim knows he’s got something special in these young Rockies… and it’s important to recognize that the Rockies have something special in Tracy.
Cheers to Mr. Jim Tracy, may this be a Junetober to remember.
