Go to the mobile version of this Web site.

Login | Contact Us | Site Map | Paid archives | Electronic edition | Subscription Questions | Extras

LINCICOME: Rockies lack the urgency to change

By Bernie Lincicome, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published September 28, 2008 at 9:52 p.m.

Text size  
The Rockies' Clint Barmes is unable to field a ball hit by the Diamondbacks' Chris Young for a single in the third inning Sunday. Colorado lost 2-1, drawing the curtain on another lost season.

Photo by Ross D. Franklin / Associated Press

The Rockies' Clint Barmes is unable to field a ball hit by the Diamondbacks' Chris Young for a single in the third inning Sunday. Colorado lost 2-1, drawing the curtain on another lost season.

More Sports Columns & Blogs

More stories »

This is the way the season ends, not with a bang but with a bases-loaded walk.

It was not just the last game of the season, but the end of Generation R, the final whiff of Rocktober, the end of the Kid Rocks.

From here it will be different, and yet the same. Some names will change, some will remain, some will return on the backs of other uniforms. The Rockies now go back to the pile from which they rose so briefly and dramatically.

The year after The Year is over, disappointing but not surprising, confirming all the doubts and proving every suspicion.

The Rockies were a hiccup, a passing glitch in baseball's routine, a bit of silk among the burlap.

For the 11th time in 16 seasons, the Rockies finished a baseball season with a losing record, so failure is not as out of place for the Rox as it is typical. We shall see if the cheers of Rocktober have enough echo to warm another long winter.

The slogan-heavy Rockies have yet to officially adopt the motto, "This Was The Real Us," or more to the point of this season, "Wait Till Last Year."

More was expected, little was accomplished. Few bothered to be bothered. Tomorrow is as unpromising as today.

Other than brief spurts of false promise, the Rox had a season of simply showing up, not counting Todd Helton, the franchise first baseman and summer outpatient. Helton rather embodies where the Rockies are, somewhere past what they were and unlikely to ever again be the same.

Now, changes can be not only anticipated but demanded, breaking up that old gang of theirs, most notably closer Brian Fuentes, probably Garrett Atkins and, most regrettably, Matt Holliday, depending on what the market will offer in return.

Baseball stretches itself beyond its schedule to sort out the playoff teams, and the Rockies scatter from the last game in Arizona, almost like a graduating class or a basic training platoon, a bunch of shared memories not to be ever together again like this.

The clubhouse will be different, maybe the manager will be as well, and what was familiar will be strange.

What may stay the same is the lack of urgency to do anything about it.

The Rockies have provided themselves with a clever insulation, protection against concern. While loud voices demand to know what went wrong with other teams, the Rox enjoy relative peace.

Rather than having a goal, the Rox had excuses, some injuries, some mysteries, some faith, but it seemed from the beginning that the Rockies were so often told that they were flukes, that they just stopped denying it.

And there was their own history to distort the truth, the late miracle of last season, hanging out there like an ornament. That's the trouble with miracles, impossible to lean on and never around when you really need one.

What the Rox promised was not a repeat miracle but merely a bunch of young players seasoned by surprise who now thought they knew what it took to win. Tradition takes more than a single September.

What they really should have remembered was how to hit with runners in scoring position.

The Rockies can't even be second-guessed for keeping together the same team that surprised the world by being in the Series against the famed Red Sox, because it was the only thing to do.

But maybe they can be faulted for losing their special mojo, the thing that separated the Rockies from other teams. They are no longer baseball's freak show with their thin air and wide alleys, but just another bunch of dull underachievers, as indistinctive as, oh, the Rangers are from the Orioles.

An identity has been lost, replaced by nothing out of the ordinary, just another slice in the same loaf.

The Rox have become removed from any insistent curiosity, even the humidor, not the dishonest novelty it actually is but a respectable contrivance.

Still, when the Rockies win again, it will be a surprise, and when they are not winning they are of no particular concern, too short in tradition, too absent of history.

What seems to be the case is the Rox have found serenity in mediocrity, not afflicted by excessive ambition and under no real pressure to change.

Comments

  • September 29, 2008

    2:35 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    TheSlinger writes:

    bernie. i want to sit by the window and cry all day after reading that. it's true though, if Colorado ever hopes to have a competitive team it needs an ownership overhaul.

  • September 29, 2008

    6:51 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    1somelikeithot writes:

    Ah geeze, you are so depressing. Why do I put myself through this, I'm a glutton for misery. You speak truth, but darn, it just stings so bad. I'm going to throw myself on my bed right now so I can begin the sobbing.

  • September 29, 2008

    9:30 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    primafacie writes:

    This turn of events for the Rockies shouldn't be a surprise. They caught lightning in a bottle for a few weeks in 2007, masking the true state of affairs: unreliable pitching, especially short relief; weak offense at the top of the batting order; no depth at the corners; and no upgrade coming in to 2008.

    No one could seriously watch Manny Corpas and Brian Fuentes last year and see Bruce Sutter or Dennis Eckersley. They both pitched on the edge, and we saw this year they can't get by with a "B" game. The rotation last year deluded the Rockies into thinking they had plenty, when in reality they very little behind Jeff Francis. Aaron Cook was a nice surprise, but that was overshadowed by Francis' bad year exposing the weakness. Willie Taveras can steal a few bases, but he's not a disciplined leadoff hitter (ever wonder why the Rockies got him for virtually nothing?). That was magnified with the subtraction of Kaz Matsui, who wasn't going to be replaced by a cast of journeymen and never-weres. Fans wondering what happens when Todd Helton is done got an answer. And while the Dodgers and Diamondbacks added pieces over the winter, the Rockies did not.

    Standing still is the same as stepping backward in professional sports.

  • September 29, 2008

    10:09 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    RockiesWin writes:

    The facts are what they are:

    Year.....Wins.....Place in Division
    2008.....74.......3
    2007.....90.......2
    2006.....76.......5
    2005.....67.......5
    2004.....68.......5
    2003.....74.......4
    2002.....73.......4
    2001.....73.......5

    Ave......74.......4

    This is completely unacceptable! O'Dowd and Hurdle have had more than enough time to establish a consistent winner/competitive team. They have not!!! An average of 74 wins per season (just like this year) is the norm rather than the exception as they would have you believe. We fans waited for the "youth" to mature into a juggernaut, they haven't. Hitters, particularly in the outfield, should be a dime a dozen for this franchise. PITCHING, PITCHING, PITCHING!!! That is what wins games!!! They don't get it, and never will.

    These owners are as stubborn as the Detroit Lions owner, Mr. Ford. It's time for the Matt Millen of the Rockies to be fired! Eat his contract, along with Hurdle and move on!!! You will actually save money. It's time to get new management in place in the entire organization. We the fans have had ENOUGH!!!

  • September 29, 2008

    1:11 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    SDcat writes:

    I guess I'm the oddperson out here. Why have a firesale? This same team has had flashes of the same brilliance as last year, but not consistently. (Sort of like Lincicome's writing...but I digress). How many NL teams have repeated as champs in the past 5 years? Blowing up the team is not going to solve O'Dowd's lack of judgment when finding pitching or the Monforts cheapness. These are still the youth...average age on the team is what 28? These next 2 years are the key years. Keep the team intact mostly, get Josh Fogg back...and make another run for it...

  • September 29, 2008

    3:20 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    P_Denver writes:

    Money doesn't guarantee winning every year: see - NY Yankees.

    But - it sure gives you a better chance! If you put the Yankees record in RockiesWin's chart, you would see a really different story.

    Considering, however, that the "Luxury Tax" the Yankee team pays for going over the league's salary cap is MORE than the Rockies total salary gives you some perspective as to how much of a role cash plays.

    Good luck in 2009, Rocks! You're going to need it.

  • September 30, 2008

    10:32 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    arvada_mark writes:

    No, money doesn't guarantee winning, but this is the 1st time in 15 years the Yankees won't be in the playoffs. That team from Boston & the Angels spend quite a bit of money...oh, so do the Cubs. Oh, so do the Dodgers. Oh, so do the Phils. So no, it's not a guarantee, but it does place you in the 95th percentile.

    Either way, thanks for calling out the ownership, Bernie. There's not much we as fans can do. Yeah, we can stop going to games, but I'm not for that. I waited too long to get a big league club here to not go out of protest to a pair of trailer park cowboys who continue to store their money in a shoebox burried in the back yard.

    I do have issue with one thing you wrote, however..."The Rockies can't even be second-guessed for keeping together the same team that surprised the world by being in the Series against the famed Red Sox, because it was the only thing to do." Actually, they let Kaz & Fogg go. Kaz would have been the answer to Willy T's leadoff malfunctions. And Fogg, well, where do we start. He was the clubhouse leader. He kept things loose in there. And how much did we spend on Livan for the last couple of months? $1.75mil? I'm pretty sure we could have retained Fogg's services for the ENTIRE YEAR for real close to that dollar amount. Add those 2 to the mix, maybe we are 6-7 games better.

  • October 1, 2008

    3:17 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    rockiesmagicnumber writes:

    Hey, Bernie - You don't like them, quit watching them. You are such a downer. Yeah, we get it, we lost. You writing these awful articles over and over about how the team is awful and will never get better aren't helping the situation. You're not influential enough to get a movement against the Monforts started. So go complain about the Broncos or something and let those of us with hope keep following the Rockies.

    Arvada Mike - what are you talking about?

    Kaz Matsui isn't really better than Clint Barmes. He takes a few more walks, but not $15M's worth more walks. I'll admit he had a good 2nd half, but he really isn't like head and shoulders above what we have.

    Josh Fogg WAS given an offer by the Rockies, something like 2 years with an option. HE (meaning Josh Fogg) TURNED IT DOWN because he wanted to go explore the FA market. Fogg had an ERA of 7.58 in 22 games, 14 starts. I can hire a clubhouse motivator for far less than $1.75M. O'Dowd was hoping he could get Hernandez to be the league-average pitcher he was last season with Arizona.

    Let's recap. There weren't a lot of pitchers available this past offseason, so rather than spend zillions of dollars on a pitcher who might never make it in Coors (SEE: MIKE HAMPTON, DENNY NEAGLE), they decided to spend a small amount on a few journeymen, hoping to have the same strange rehabilitating effect the Rockies seem to have on veteran pitchers, and in the meantime build from within.

    1. Aaron Cook stepped it up and showed himself to be a very, very solid pitcher.
    2. Ubaldo Jimenez showed a lot of the Ace Potential we've heard so much about

    those are the upsides.

    3. Jeff Francis' shoulder had been bothering him and he was adjusting his arm slot to compensate. He's been shut down, hopefully he'll be looking better next season

    4. There is no way anyone could've forecasted Morales to collapse like he did.

    5. Same with Hirsh

    6. DLR showed a lot of good during the 2nd half, he could get better still.

    So we're left with 2 good pitchers and a bunch of ragtag veterans and prospects and projects that may or may not ever be real MLB pitchers.

    Who were we supposed to get? Who exactly were we supposed to sign or trade for? Dan Haren was available, but Beane wanted our best prospects for him, including Ubaldo Jimenez. And it's not as if Arizona really went anywhere with him in tow.

    This offseason has a lot more FA's on the market, we'll have to see what O'Dowd chooses to do internally and externally. More pitching is priority, but it's not as if there's a big bucket of pitching that O'Dowd just can't see or something.

    So to summarize, Bernie, shut up. About everything. Like quit writing.

    Commenters: Our old fan favorites are actually kind of awful and shouldn't be back.

    Yeah, it burns to see us lose, but if you can't see a difference between this season and the 2003 season, you're not smart, you shouldn't be attempting to evaluate a baseball team.