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

 

 

9-25-08

You know there were some pissed off Giants fans leaving AT&T park last night. I myself have felt like that several times this season.

All I heard today was "why didn't the Rockies play like that last month, why now?".

To which I replied "why the hell are you asking me, I'm wondering the same thing myself".

 Too little, too late, ahh whatever. It was still fun to watch and I'm officially three wins up on my bet.

If the Rockies win tonight I'll be bringing that Rockies Jersey into work tomorrow for the Giants fan who thought up this bet to wear. Oh, and the loser's picture gets posted on here. He is a good sport, I think.

Thank You Rockies ( knock on wood),  for not making me look like a chump in front of everyone I work with and the blogging community.

Hope I'm not celebrating too early?

 

Clint Barmes was on fire last night. He chalked up a homer and four RBI's. Barmes is bucking for a full time job and who can blame him.  

I cant believe this guy can hit the way he hits. Shoot, I'm bigger than him..I guess it's all in the swing.                                                 

Just heard some scary news. My favorite player is going to go under the knife. Todd Helton is going to have what's called a microdisectomy  next tuesday. That just sounds uncomfortable.

They are going to remove part of his bulging L5 disc to hopefully alleviate pressure on the nerve that has been messing with him. 

Good Luck Todd, We need to see you on first base next season.

 

Congrats to Chris Iannetta !

Chris's two run double gave him 65 RBI for the season. That was enough for him to surpass former Rockie Brent Mayne's club record of 64 RBI in 2000.

Don't count on seeing Willy Taveras steal any more bases this season. Apparently, super speed comes with a pricetag.

Willy has a stress fracture of his right tibea. His season is officially done. Good luck Speedy! I hope you heal as fast as you run.

The Rockies owned this game. They won 15-6. I was skeptical of Hernandez, but he had two of the Rockies eighteen hits himself.

Livan gave up five runs with twelve hits in seven innings. He is now (13-11).

I know these last few games mean nothing. But straight up, I would rather see them win the last six games than lose them. I hate losing to the Giants. 

I do plan to blog about the playoffs but I just can't seem to blog about other teams while my team is still playing and winning.

Game 3 vs the Giants is tonight is at 8:15 MST. Only four games left.

Go Rockies...D  

  

I've never been a guy who toots his own horn so to speak, but oh hell yea !

I made number seven this week with no major controversy to boost ratings. Best part is, I did it without living on or even near the east or west coast, and with a team that's not even making a playoff run. All that against me and I still made it.

Who knows?  I could drop off the list next week, but for now I'm going to attribute it to good blogging and leave it at that.

I've had eleven guesses so far today on my Baseball Card Trivia question. People have been guessing through comments and through email. Nobody is even warm yet. So here are a few hints..

1. As of 2007 this player was still a scout for the Philidelphia Phillies.

2. This player had a 15 season career and was and retired a .234 hitter with 106 home runs and 501 RBI in 1384 games.

If you think you know, post your answer in a comment or email it to: therockpileranter@yahoo.com .

I have one more hint and I'll give it out tomorrow if nobody gets this today.

      Right now I'm working on an entry from the Rockies/Giants game last night...D

                                   UPDATE...WE HAVE A TRIVIA WINNER  

 

 

The winner is:  

 

 

 

DAN SAUVAGEAU (red hat). 1st row season ticket holder for the Colorado Rockies and one hell of a baseball snagger.

He got the correct answer of Ron Hansen.

Ron Hansen was the 8th player to get an unassisted triple play. He was also the first of the bigger shortshops.

Ron never made it to a World Series in fifteen seasons. Thanks for playing. Wonder who I could pick next...D                                               

9/24/08

                                         Baseball Card Picture Trivia

Can you tell me who this player is, and what position he played?

Also what was his claim to fame so to speak?

For bonus points, tell me the one thing he never got to do.

No prizes as of yet, but if you answer it correctly,  I'll post a picture of you on here and tell the world how smart you are.

Please post your answer in the comment section.

Good luck ! time starts now..12:38 pm.

 

                                              Rockies vs Giants Game 1

  I was glad I stayed up late to watch this game. The score didn't change really,  I just needed to fall asleep knowing the Rockies had secured this win

.

That puts me two wins up on my bet. Best of all, the Rockies took down the Giants best pitcher so all is good in my world right now.

Ubaldo now 12-12, had a rough second inning giving up three runs. He pitched for six innings and allowed four walks, four hits, and four strikeouts.

Lincecum threw me for a loop tonight. He pitched for a little over five innings and managed to strike out nine, but he gave up six runs, six hits and five walks. Didn't expect that, but I'm ok with it.

Tulowitzki seems like he's back to the Tulo we know. He got a homer and went 4 for 5. He'd fully aware he needs to justify that 31 million dollar paycheck and has been hitting well since his return from the disabled list. Tulo has been hitting .297 for the month of September.

Really the dude is just having growing pains. As long as he can stay healthy he is going to be a producer and a good leader.

Seth Smith, props to the way this guy takes advantage of his opportunities.  After striking out in the first, Smith hit a bomb to deep left field in the third. He also produced a double and an RBI single. Good job Seth, way to plug yourself for next year buddy. 

Hernandez (12-11), is on the mound for the Rockies tonight and Sanchez (9-11), for the Giants.

I respect Hernandez, but I don't know him as well as the other Rockies pitchers. I need this win tonight and knowing he is on the mound doesn't reassure me.

Game 2 vs the Giants starts at 8:15 MST, another late one....yawn.

                                                         Go Rockies...D

I made a bet about a week ago with a guy I work with. He's a Giants fan. The bet was on whichever one of our teams wins more games from that point forward till the end of the season.  The loser would have to wear the winners jersey one full day at work.

Today is the start of a three game set with the Giants. As of pre-game today, I'm one game up...I'll keep you posted.

 

I see that Matt Holliday is in contention for the MLB Hank Aaron Award for offensive excellence.

He deserves it. He has always been among the elite in the NL as far as batting average, home runs and RBI are concerned.

So far this season Matt is 27-29 for bases stolen. Matt is also the first Rockies player to get more than twenty steals and twenty home runs in a season since this guy...

Larry Walker.

Larry did it in 1997. He had 49  home runs and 33 steals. That was good enough to win him the NL League MVP award.

 

  On the mound today vs the Giants is Ubaldo Jimenez (11-12) with a 4.12 ERA.

Tim Lincecum (17-4) who has a 2.46 ERA will be pitching for the Giants. Thats scary. The kid is straight up smokin now and only going to get better as he matures.

I have faith that the Rockies still have something to prove and are not quitters. Everyone at work knows how much I support the Rockies and I DON'T want to have to wear that Giants jersey.

                                                        Go Rockies...D

9/21/08..Last one.

This was a hard entry for me to write. When I started blogging after my Spring Training trip to Tucson this year it was it was in anticipation of the upcoming season.

This evening, I'm blogging about the Rockies last home game of the season.

After today, the Rock Pile gate is closed for good until next year.

For me, I prefer to blog about is something that I've actually done.

Blogging about something you've personally experienced is heads above trying to write about something you had to read about first. My point being, I love going to batting practice and watching the Rockies play live, then rushing home and eating a late dinner by my computer, showing the wife and kids all pictures I took, jotting down everything that happened during the game, then laying out my blog, all before I go to bed. The experience is always freshest that night and remembering the finer details is easier. 

So, when I say this is difficult to write, I mean it. I won't be able to blog about seeing another live baseball game for over five months. 

 

There was NO WAY we were going to be second in line today. We knew there was a 50/50 chance of batting practice, but we didn't care.

 

While we're on the subject of the front gate, I wanted to give props to the loyal group of Ushers that work the RockpIile gate. They are awesome and always took time to give Hunter a little attention.

Maybe that's because 95% of the games we attended this season he and I were the first two in line?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hunter was first into the Pavilion and close behind him was another kid that we see at a lot of games with his father 

They ran down to the field but there were no players to be found. 

 

 

 

Ahh the Pavilion,

Finding the bleachers empty is a beautiful sight.

 What's an even better sight is having a few players on the field crushing baseballs into those empty bleachers.

I was told that a few of the  Rockies had been out warming up before we arrived.

But they were long gone.

No worries.

 

 

The cages were up and we figured the D-Backs would be out in a bit to put them to use.

 This is Barb.

Barb is my favorite Usher and it was an honor to protect her from stray batting practice balls this season.She is a retired teacher and has my dream retirement job.

Take Care Barb...See you next season or Spring Training maybe?

 

 

Dan,

Thanks for being cool to a stranger.

Your random acts of kindness enabled us to do things we wouldn't have been able to do this season. It was nice to get to know you and Emily. 

You sir are a TRUE baseball fan. I no longer feel like a stranger.

       Stay in touch brotha !!  

  We arrived at 11am and waited for the D-Backs to start batting practice.

They finally started hitting at 11:21 and that gave us eight minutes before we had break off and go get in line for autographs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were four players signing as autographs as usual.

First was Jeff Francis.

Jeff had the longest line but no matter. We had his autograph already.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next was Taylor Buchholz, seen here signing  Hunter's baseball.

Thank's Taylor !!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's Glendon Rusch signing Hunter's baseball.

Thank's Glendon ! 

 

 

 

 

 

 And lastly, Rockie newbie.Dexter Fowler.

 

 

 I scored the same autographs that Hunter did. I used the two balls that I snagged back to back the day before at batting practice.

We hurried back to the Pavilion to catch the rest of the D-Backs batting practice.

 

 

Good thing we did.

 I headed back to my "spot" and was there maybe two minutes.  I happened to be looking off to my left and heard a crack. Right handed batter, uh oh.

It took me a second to locate the ball. I finally spotted  It heading a little to my right but reachable.

It was starting to decend quickly. 

I moved to my right, ran down six steps, reached up as high and forward as I possibly could, and the ball landed perfectly in my glove.

 

 

That ball needed to be caught and I needed to catch it. Freggin poetic ain't it?

My last ball of the season and worthy of its own picture.I didn't expect to snag one on the fly today.

That just made it sweeter.

 

 

Hunter got shutout today.

Eating lunch and ice cream fixed that

After we chowed, we wandered over to the Rockies dugout to watch the players warming up and see who else might be signing.

 

 

 

                                              First one out was Clint Hurdle.                                                               Seth Smith                                                         Troy Tulowitzki       Garrett Atkins hit a three run homer today. Number twenty of the season and the third year in a row he has hit at least twenty home runs....Good job Garrett !!                                                           Alana from FSN                                                             Here's another                                Ian Stewart looking at me like I owe him money.                                          Smith and Stewart tossing the ball.                                                   Another one of Smith                                                         Tulo and Barmes                                                      Hawpe and Barmes             It was Military appreciation day and I was in a good spot to take a picture.                                                     Standing in formation,      Here is a video of American the Beautiful..Army Veteran here and it was touching. That song always chokes me up.

                           The Blackhawk doing a fly over  (I was a little late)                                                            Best Dressed Fan                                                             Best Dress on a fan                                                        A shot of the dugout                                        Spilborghs at bat, that was a strike Reynolds didn't have a good day. He pitched a little over one inning and allowed six runs on seven hits. Reynolds, that's a wrap.                                                 Matt Herges took his place                                                A cool shot of Matt pitching                                                        Another dugout shot.                                  Garrett Atkins pulling back to avoid getting hit                              Ian Stewart waiting for someone to bring him his hat.                                            A different view of Herges pitching I was hoping to get the win today and steal this series from the D-backs. Unfortunately the Diamondbacks showed us today why they are 78-77 and we are 71-85.

The D-backs just outplayed us. I'm not sure what the future holds for Reynolds, this could be a wrap for him..get it? Sorry. If he was hoping to save his job, this probably wasn't the performance that's going to do it for him.

Diamondbacks take a bit out of the Rockies in the final home game of 2008, 13-4.

It's hard to believe I can't see another game until Spring Training. I can't tell you how much I want to get my butt down to Phoenix and catch the last couple of Rockies games.

 

Whats next?...

I would love to go to Rockies Fantasy Camp in January. Not too likely though, It costs over four thousand bucks. I could get the time off but.....$$$

Rockies Spring Training coverage from the Mobile Blog Unit in early March. Done deal...March 2-8, 2009 (subject to change) .

A special thanks to the Colorado Rockies for giving me the opportunity to feel and act like a kid, with my kids.

   

                                  Thanks everyone...Bring on the post season...D

9/21/08     8:54 AM

Brian Fuentes.

I guess if I had to see the Super Southpaw aka Tito totally fall apart, it's best that it was a game that didn't mean anything.

Rockies fought hard to tie things up.

But then....

Fuentes gave up a two run homer to to Stephen Drew with two out in the ninth.

That was it. Rockies lost 5-3. Great crowd last night.

.

Mylee was the only one of the three of us to snag a ball. 

In fact, she snagged two. First time she outsnagged Hunter this year.

Here she is with the ball that Ubaldo Jimenez tossed her.

Thank you Ubaldo !

Here is a video of the Rockies tribute to the fans ---->Tribute video

I'll have a super size blog about the previous two games  Up by this evening.   

Right now Hunter and I are heading out to the last Rockies home game. It's starting to hit me.

                                                         Go Rockies...D

                                              

9/19/08                    FIREWORKS GAME              ROCKIES VS DIAMONDBACKS

What a day. My face actually hurts from smiling so much. Hope it didn't crack.

Today was only the second time this whole season that we were late for batting practice. Denver traffic on a Friday around 4pm can be hellish, and used took every short cut I knew,  but we still arrived about fifteen minutes late.

We met Berned in the parking lot and we all headed in. This was our first fireworks game this year and I had no idea if people showed up early or waited till later on in the evening to arrive.

 

 When we reached the Pavilion there was hardly anyone there at all.

 Either the Rockies didn't taking batting practice or they were finished by the time we had arrived.

The D-backs were on the field and we assumed our positions.

 

 

 

 

 Hunter slid down to the railing in row two.

 

 

And me, I took my usual spot about half way up, not quite center field.

From a snaggers point of view,  it's fun to watch the D-backs.

They were hitting well and I was getting some serious "play" in the Pavilion.

 

Here's my analogy of snagging.

Snagging to me is like going to a casino.

I don't mind going home with nothing, as long as I get some "play".

If your start your day at the Casino with a hundred bucks and you lose it in the first thirty minutes, that sucks.

But, if you get to play all day on the hundred bucks and then go home broke.

Then it was a day of entertainment.

Feel me?? 

 

 Ok, so it has been a long while since I have caught a ball on the fly at BP. 

Today, all of that would change.

About twenty minutes after we arrived at BP,  I saw a ball launched and headed for me.

 At first it looked like it was going over my head, but then it started to break. I ran back down about fifteen steps, reached as high as I could and poof.

Right into my glove.

My only goal for the last few games of the season was to catch one more ball on the fly.

Mission accomplished. Oh hell yea ! 

I didn't even have time to revel in the moment. As soon as I put that ball in my pocket I saw another ball heading my general direction.

 I was tracking this ball perfectly and  moved quickly down about five stairs, put my glove up high, and snagged ball number two.

 That was a first for me.

 Two balls caught on the fly within seconds.

 To make it even better, it was two balls hit from the same player during the same at bat.

I couldn't tell you who the batter was. He was too far away to see.

But hey, mystery D-backs batter, thanks.

I really needed that.

 

 Several times I looked over and saw Dan catch a ball in the fly. Looked like he was having a good day.

 I asked Dan how he did after BP and he said he snagged five balls. I asked him if he had ever caught two in a row from the same player in one time at bat.

He responded,  "I've caught three". Thats awesome Dan!  Zack eat your heart out. 

Congrats Dan..Will we see a blog from you next season?? Do it man...DO IT !

I know you hold some snaggin records.

Also, with out giving out details, Thanks Dan for getting the three us onto field for the show...D

After BP we went over behind the Rockies dugout to take some pictures and see if Hunter could maybe snag an autograph.  While were were there Robert Harmon came up and said hi.

Robert and I have been talking recently about a little trade. Robert has been tossing around the idea of starting a blog. He also drives a VW bus. I have a VW bus and I'm a blogger.

So we may swap, he helps me work on the bus, I help him start a blog.

Sounds good to me. 

 

(A shot of Robert and Ryan Spilborghs dad a few games back).

 

I think Robert would have a cool blog.

I bet he has some serious snaggin stories.

It would be interesteing to see and read about his baseball collection.

 

 

                                        Here are a few random pictures I took.

First is Berned after BP. He said it was tough watching me chase baseballs and he felt he needed some ice cream                                           He got Hunter one too..Thx..B                                               Best haircut of the game.

Clint out socializing with the fans and signing autographs..He does that a lot.         Ian Stewart doing some yoga. Kind of hard to reach "Zen" when your on display.                                                  Few players stretching. 

                                              Willy "Speedy" Taveras

                                            Tulowitzki, Barmes and Atkins                                            Hawpe and Stewart playing catch.

                                                           Me and B

                                                   A shot of the City

 

                          

The Rockies had the lead the entire game.   

Atkins got an RBI in the first inning to start things off. Then Chris Iannetta homered in the second to get his 18th of the year and put the Rockies up 2-0.

Bottom of the fourth with two out, Clint Barmes homered and and that put the Rockies up 3-0.

Nothing really exciting happened untill the ninth inning.

Brian Fuentes was pitching and let the D-Backs Mark Reynolds homer and then managed to load up the bases. With two out,  Fuentes struck out Chris Young in an awesome finish to a perfect evening. Rockies beat the D-Backs 3-1.

Oh wait, this evening isn't close to being finished yet.

After the game, all fans with seats in the Pavilion and Rock Pile were allowed onto the field to lay down and watch the fireworks display. 

The way the Stadium is designed, the fans in those seats have their backs to the scoreboard (which is where they shoot off the fireworks).

                                    Fans starting to fill up the playing field.

                                      

                        Here is a shot going through the tunnel to get onto the field.                                           On the grass before the fireworks.

 

                                                   B chillin on the grass

                                              The countdown to launch.

I had a serious rush of emotions as I lay on the grass inside Coors Field watching a spectacular fireworks show.

Click here to see the fireworks finale---->Fireworks finale 9-19-08 

I flashed back to the first time I ever attended a Professional baseball game.

 It was 1975 and I got to walk on the field inside Yankee Stadium. It was a day game and all the fans were cheering for us. I'll never forget that.

I thought back to playing baseball as a kid in New Jersey just before we moved to Canada. Seeing my the look on my mom and pops face when I made a good play or catch.

Then I thought about my own son.

Watching him play baseball this year. Seeing his love for this sport grow.

 I love being a father.

Baseball is how we bond.

I though about all the Rockies batting practices and games we have attended this season.

 

 

 Seeing the rush of excitement on Hunter's face when were first into the Stadium for BP. 

Watching him play catch with Chan Ho Park.  

Mylee's first baseball at BP this season. Snaggin from the first row. My double snag today. 

We are fortunate to have blogging as a media . Blogging is a great way of storing and sharing an experience, memory or thought that no one can take away from you....Usually.

Maybe not everyone feels this way but Baseball is as "pure"  for me today as it was thirty  years ago.

I had straight up had goosepimples as I lay on the grass in my favorite Stadium.

I'm a kid again as soon as I enter the gates. 

Forget the world right now, I'm here to play and have fun.

  

I'll check back into reality in a few hours.

 Nothing else gives me that feeling my youth.

Thank you MLB, the Colorado Rockies and Mlblogs.com.

 I'll never forget this season thanks to all of you.

Sincerely,

   Don

The Rock Pile Ranter

 

 

9/18/08

Joe Koshansky, this guy is awesome.

Joe hit the only home run in yesterdays game against the Padres.

Rockies get the win 1-0 and take the series.

Joe was selected by the Colorado Rockies in the 6th round (170th overall) in the 2004 Major League baseball draft.

In 2006, while playing for the Double A Drillers, he was chosen as the Rockies Minor League Player of the Year because he  hit .284 with 31 home runs in 132 games.

 Joe had 109 RBI, which set a franchise record for the Drillers.

He also won the title of best power hitter in the Rockies minor league organization for that same year.

 A few more facts about Joe:

-On May 24 and August 13 this year while playing for the AAA Colorado Springs Sky Sox, Joe hit for the cycle which made him the first player in Sky Sox history to hit for the cycle twice in one season.

- Joe started his first MLB game on July 5, 2008(my brothers birthday), playing first base for the injured Todd Helton. During that game against the Marlins, Koshansky hit his first career home run. It was a solo shot in the bottom of the second inning off  of Ryan Tucker in a 12-6 win over the Marlins at Coors Field. 

I expect to see a lot more of Joe next season. I just hope he can be versitile.

Versitility is a must if you want to play for the Rockies.

On a good pitching note, Livan Hernandez pitched five shutout innings. He allowed only three hits and was able to get win number two this season.

                                                                  

 Sad news we Rockies fans knew was coming:

As of today it's official.

It is now impossible for the Rockies to make the Playoffs.

 

 

 

                      Man, that just stinks. 

 

 

But hey, the 2009 MLB schedule is up. Rockies firs