He said he's not really an autograph hound, only had a few bats and that his baseball collection wasn't really too much to speak of. I know that he and Emily give away most of the balls they snag now. A few days later he sent me these pictures of Emilys room.

This is Emily who just turned five and has been to 225 Rockies home games. Welcome to her room..

 There are a lot of baseballs inside there. I counted 42 balls on the bottom row alone. Dan exactly how many balls are in there?

All the MLB murals you see in Emily's room were hand painted by Dan.  

The attention to detail is amazing. This is what a true Rockies fans bedroom should look like. Note the baseball video game playing on the TV. Nice touch.

               Dan and Emily, t hanks for sharing ...D

10/7/08

 This was some news I didn't see coming.

 Unless your one of these two fellas, If you thought you were a coach for the Rockies...You better check your locker...

Hurdle and O'Dowd have been busy.

They totally cleaned house.

 Now your not gonna find these three guys on a street corner begging. Your more likely to find   Alan Cockrell,  Jamie Quirk, and Mike Gallegos picking up some resume' paper at a Staples or Office Max.

                                                     Good Luck Fellas !

Bullpen Coach Rick Matthews who has 17 years with the Club will be relocated somewhere within the organization.  He and Bob Apodaca are the only two Coaches left from Hurdle's original coaching staff. Glenallen HIll has been with the organization for five years.

I figure Glenallen Hill (first base coach) kept his job because the Rockies led the NL in stolen bases. Apodaca is long time buddies with Hurdle and this was the first season he ever had three pitchers earn double digit wins. 

Dan O'Dowd said the Rockies will look within their organization for managers, but will also entertain outsiders. 

Some names of consideration within the organization:

 Tom Runnels- Manager AAA Colorado Springs

Rich Dauer-Roving Infield Coordinator

                             Bo McLaughlin-AA Tulsa Pitching Coach.

Rene Lachermann-former manager with the Cubs, Mariners and Marlins.

The way I figure, it might be time for some new meat..Shake things up a little...D

10/7/08

   I guess at some point all of your crap just wears out. Not unlike the Rockies last few games of the season, my computers last days have been slow and painful.                        

 I was left with no option but to try and use my backup desktop computer. It's darnn near as old as my daughter Mylee and she'll be eight soon..

I got that thing up and crawling, but it's just to old.

So after some tweaking, fixing, and replacing,  I'm up online again using my old broken laptop.

I'm trying to look at this with the glass being half full, so on a positive note let me say at least my POS computer lasted until the end of the regular season.

Speaking of broke and finished, who do you think the Rockies are gonna get rid of before next season?

 Do you like the way I just slid that in there..I got skills. 

Matt Holliday seems to be the  buzz name for now. I hope not.

He has another year still in Colorado but you know he's got to be wondering what his market value is? I'm curious.

As a Rockies ticket purchaser,  I only help pay the Rockies salaries, I don't write their checks, but I think they should find a way to keep Holliday here. I'd pay a buck more for a Rockpile ticket. 

He likes it here, keep the man happy, pay him what he's worth

Next seasons pitching should be interesting. Brian Fuentes (super southpaw) is coming off his best season  and is now a free agent.

Lets think about this:

Brian Fuentes = reliable closer

Yep, he is going to cost some the Rockies some green, but pitching has ALWAYS haunted this team and this guy does what you pay him to do, win games.

In my opinion he is only expendable if it involves some kind of deal that keeps Matt Holliday in Colorado.

Aaron Cook had a great season except the last month or so.

Jeff Francis never found his groove, then he went on the DL for his shoulder. He struggled when he came off the DL, but was seemingly back in stride toward the end of the season.

Jorge De La Rosa struggled early on, but showed us a few things the last part of the season. I think he'll be back. Buchholz finished the season 50/50 and Manny Corpas was 3-4.

There are bits and pieces of a good pitching squad here, but the Rockies are missing one major thing...A big name pitcher.

If we could guarantee a solid pitching season (we all wish), there is no telling what the Rockies could do in this Division.

Now let me take this full circle. In my opinion, Matt Holliday is only expendable if we bring in a BIG name pitcher. See,...it works both ways.

                      Catchers Duel

   VS 

Yorvit vs Chris. Hurdle will probably split their action 50/50 until an injury or performance dictates which one will assume the position. Both these guys are excellent catchers and the Rockies are lucky they have them both to choose from. 

 Where will Garrett Atkins wind up next season? This one is a pickle.

 Garrett starts the season on third base. Todd Helton gets hurt midway through the year, Garrett takes over first base and does a great job.

Ian Stewart takes over third and does a better job than Garrett did.

Ian is younger, more athletic and gets paid less than Garrett.

On Garrett's side, one thing he has that Ian doesn't is a proven track record. Only time will tell for Ian.

I have more plenty more questions as do you I'm sure. I also have five months to kill.

Tell me what you think the Rockies should do for next season.

Now that I have a working computer again, I'm going to do some playoff blogging..Thanks for reading...Watch out for those Phillies..I'm just saying...D   

                                       Answer to Baseball Card Trivia # 2

-Tell me this players middle name.

-What was his nickname?

-Name his claim to fame. 

Not a whole lot of action on this one, can't says I blame you with the playoffs and all going on.

 The Baseball Card Trivia was just a gimmick to get you to visit my blog. When you blog about a team that isn't in the playoffs you have to resort to measures like that. I figured if people liked it, I would keep doing it. If it flopped it flopped. Nothing gained, nothing lost.

It is what it is, don't hate me...D

                                      The answer is:                    CLIFF FANNIN

 Clifford Bryson Fannin, nickname Bull or Cliff, pitched a shutout in his first Major League start in 1946.

                                                  Thanks for playing or not...D

10/2/08  5:02 pm

A friend asked me today who I was picking to win the World Series. Not an uncommon question, but strangely one I haven't been asked yet this post season.

 A couple of weeks ago I would have told you the Rockies would win the World Series.

At this point I can no more pick a winner in baseball than I can pick a good president.

Decisions, decisions.

Ross Perot, where are you?

Even as I'm sitting here typing I don't know who I think can do it all.

How about the Rays? Sure it would make for the Cinderella story of the season, but.they lack a .300 hitter and reley on mostly manufactured runs.

On the other hand look at their record.

 They silenced me with Game one today vs the White Sox. In front of a sellout crowd, Evan Longoria hits two homers and scores and and RBI for the day. 

Dewayne Wise homers in the third with two out and scores three.

I didn't think this would be a close series,  and to be honest I didn't give the Rays any love, but I think I'll keep my mouth shut.. 

Props to the Rays for winning their first ever Playoff game. 

Phillies vs Brewers. Watch out for Philidelphia..I'm saying it now..they could be the big surprise.

Here is their immediate problem,

Cheeseburger Cheeseburger, 

            This is not CC------->

<----This is actually CC Sabathia.

This dude is 11-2 with a 1.65 ERA. Not only that, he is rested and has been smokin lately with a 0.83 ERA in his last three starts.

Phillies have thier hands full with this guy. He is dangerous. But their one game up. The drama unfolds....

 I'm going to go catch the rest of this game...D  

9/29/08

 A little while back I did an entry about bet I made with a guy I work named Todd.

 The bet was which of our teams would win more games by the end of the season. The loser had to wear the winners teams jersey. He proposed the bet,  and I accepted.

I actually won the bet before the Rockies played their last series with the D-Backs. Good thing cause the Rockies lost all three. Todd was a good sport and wore the Todd Helton Jersey all day. He did however have a Giants T-Shirt and cap on.He said he didn't want the Jersey touching his skin...

I would have done the same thing.

So for the world to see, here is Todd sporting none other Todd Helton #17 Jersey..

Sorry for the blurry pic, It was the only one I was able to get.

                                  Congrats Todd...Thanks for Playing...D

9/28/08

                  It's over.

   A pitchers duel you might say.

I'm glad the game ended like it did. If it would have been a slugfest, it would have just made it harder to let go.

The next time I'll be face to face with a Rockies player will be March 2, 2009 in Tucson...Spring Training

                                        Rockies Vs Diamondbacks Game 3 

  VS

Ubaldo was on his game tonight. He had his issues early on this season, but he has been solid and dependable this last couple months. He pitched seven scoreless innings tonight with ten strikeouts. He finishes his season 12-12, with 172 strikeouts and a respectable 3.99 ERA.  Ubaldo pitched 198 2/3 innings, second only to Aaron Cook.

                        Manny and his mom--------->

Manny Corpas allowed Chris Young to homer in the eighth and then in the ninth, Luis Vizcaino loaded up the bases and proceeded to walk home the winning run.

Ok D-backs, you got us back for making you look like chumps last year.

Johnson was incredible to watch allowing only  two hits and one unearned run. He threw 105 pitches and struck out nine.

35,908 people watched the Rockies fall to the D-Backs 2-1 in the Rockies final game of 2008..there I said it

What a  season this has been. One I'll never forget. So many highs and lows. No different than life I guess.   

 I decided I will blog for the MLB playoffs.  

Right now, I'm looking for a  place to host my basketball blog.

I'll be blogging for the Denver Nuggets and I will be known the Nugg Thug.

                   Keep it real all...I do...D

9/27/08

Paul Newman

1925-2008

Rest in Peace.

My favorite Paul Newman movies were Cool Hand Luke and Slapshot.

Forgive me but now my salad is going to taste like crap.

                   Not me---------->

  Blogging and supporting the Colorado Rockies has been a huge part of my life the last seven months.

 I've been in kind of a funk the last week and wasn't really sure what the cause was.

 I've seriously been on overdrive for the last seven months. Now that things are wrapping up for me I feel sort of lost. Not depressed, more of an underlying sadness.  

I'm not sure I'm ready to slow down. I mean I know I have to, but how do you put your passion on hold?

 If someone has the answer please share it.

I don't have the means financially to travel and watch fall baseball (sucks to be middle class),so I guess I just have to some how program myself to slow down.

 Spring training is five months away.  That's a whole lot of MON-FRI 6am-2:30pm, working for the man shifts between now and then.

 Have I mentioned lately how much I hate losing to the D-backs.

 Damn man, Grill takes over a tied game in the seventh and pitches a scoreless inning. Eighth inning, he lets the D-backs score two and the Rockies never recover. Grilli gets the loss and the Rockies fall to the D-backs 6-4.

Props to Jason Hirsh for at least keeping it even when he left the game.

Were going out for a good mexican dinner this afternoon, a couple of margaritas and then heading home to watch game 2 vs the D-Backs at 6:10 pm MST...

Only two games left.....Go Rockies...D

9/26/08

Jorge De La Rosa.

 I can't remember how many times this season I've watched this kid blow a baseball game. Jorge had a serious bad start this season and his ERA by the All Star Break was 7.26.

 I like Jorge. Hunter and I got his autograph early on this season and I mentioned back then how laid back and polite he was.

I was just checking out his stats. He is now 12-10 for the season and his ERA is 4.92. He's bringing it on strong and doing exactly what every other Rockies player is.

Trying to get noticed. Only three games left.

Jorge struck out seven allowing only three hits in seven innings. He also singled in the fourth and drove in a run.  

Matt Holliday (Rockies please keep him), hit a  single in the first inning to score Tulowitzki.

Matt this season has hit .321 with 25 home runs and 88 RBI. He has played 139 games,  had 539 at bats and managed 173 hits.

Matt will only continue to get better as a player. There was a dramatic improvment in his outfielding this season.

He is physically healthy and lives a clean lifestyle.

Matt has a lot of good years left in him

Fact: In June 2006 Clint broke his collarbone carrying a large slab of meat given to him by Todd Helton upstairs to his apartment.

 It was probably deer or elk meat.

Clint hit a solo homer in the seventh inning to give him eleven home runs for the season. That is a personal record for him topping his previous best of 10 in 2005. Contrats Clint..See you next season.

Rockies square up against the D-Backs in a couple of hours. On the mound for the Rockies is Jason Hirsh.

Have you seen the size of this guy?

He is 6'8 250, bats right, throws right.

He's been a relief pitcher only three times this season. Here's a quote from Jason.

"I'm going to have fun, at this point of the season, that's pretty much my mind-set. Have fun and enjoy the rest of the year. This season has been trying, the most trying of my career. At this point, what have I got left to lose?"

He's right, who knows..lets see how it goes..

No winner on the Baseball Card Trivia #2.

Did I make it too tough?

                                                          Go Rockies...D

  9/25/08                                 BASEBALL CARD TRIVIA #2                               

-Tell me this players middle name.

-What was his nickname?

-Name his claim to fame?

Clues:

He threw right, and hit left.

His highest season batting average was .250.

He played pro for eight seasons.

This one is a little tougher. Good luck and thanks for playing. Let me know if you need more clues.

Rockies are up over the Giants 3-0, top of the seventh...can you say sweep....D