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It gets more painful every time...
So I don't live in Colorado anymore, but I've been a huge Rockies fan ever since I was 8 yrs old when the team started. Every year I've followed them through just about every single game...and after watching them from 96-06 you get a little numbed to the effect of them blowing a game late.
I have to admit this year it is a lot harder to watch. For awhile in the late 90s and earlier this decade I started to expect it to happen, but after all the magic last year, and with the team's obvoius potential it's really really painful to watch them blow three games in a row after leading most of each game.
Clint Hurdle's unorthodox managing may have had some lucky breaks last year, but it seems like he just makes some of the dumbest moves ever...hoping that it will work and then people will say "I don't know what he was thinking, but it worked!". Thats not whats happening, people are saying "WHAT THE HELL WAS HE THINKING?". I like the guy for the most part, but some of his late-in-game stupid moves make me start grinding my teeth. He's like a poker player with all his money in the pot hoping he will hit his flush on the river...well the game shouldn't be made into that much of a gamble, go with what has been proven to work for once!
Just a few examples:
4/22 - Bottom of the eigth and rockies are up 6-5, Torreallba rips a base hit into center to lead off the inning, barmes is up with a 2-2 count and the pitcher is having a hard time finding the strike zone. Hurlde has Torreallba STEAL, yeah thats right yorvit the catcher! The next pitch is really high and barmes takes it, but yorvit gets thrown out. That could have been a huge insurance run and yorvit can't run. I'm sure he wanted him in scoring position since barmes is swinging well, but I'd rather have a runner on first with no outs and a good hitter up with a 3-2 count compared to him batting with one out and nobody on base!
4/22 - Top of the ninth.......uggghhhhh! Corpas comes in and I'm scared as hell...Corpas has been really really unimpressive this year already blowing two saves and had been close to blowing four. I like Manny but hurdle really needs to put him in a regular relief role until he can get his magic back, we rely way too much on these young arms and it seems so far this year each day is a hit or miss...but what can you expect from them being so young? So there is one out and runners on second and third, Rockies are up 6-5 still. Hurdle has Ryan Howard intentionally walked to bring up PAT BURRELL with the bases loaded and only one out!! I know he wanted to set up the double play ball, but use some f*****g logic man! Howard is batting a scratch below .200, is in a slump, strikes out a ton and Corpas has dominated him in the past (look back to the NLDS last year, Corpas owned Howard). Then there is Burrell, not only is he batting close to .400 but is second in the major leauges in homers, and is leading the majors in RBIs. Also, Burrell has a bit of a golf swing because he has so much upper body strength he knows if he swings a bit under the ball, but swings hard hes still going to get the ball out of the park...so bases loaded with one out was a perfect opportunity for him to just try and make contact and work for a sac fly or at least keep from hitting the ball on the ground. If Corpas strikes out Howard (Or he gets him to fly out shallow so no runs score), and burrell comes up with 2 outs and runners on second and third the situation is completely different. You could walk burrell since there is two outs and face Feliz (Who corpas got out), since Pat is hitting like a God...or you can pitch to him! With two outs and the game on the line burrell's attitute and game plan will be way different, he knows that he has to hit it solid somewhere to get on base to tie and/or take the lead so not only does he have to try to make contact, but hes gotta get his timing right. Basically he has to try a lot harder and has a much higher probability of striking out or popping up to the infield. Instead Burrell gets a 2-2 fastball and golfs it out into left center bringing home three runs....Rockies lose again.
4/21 - Top of the eigth Rockies up a run again. Buccholz has the bases loaded and two outs with a right hander comming to the plate. Holz was pitching really well but gave up two seeing-eye singles and a walk with two outs. So Ryan Spier comes out of the bullpen and my heart is racing but I like our chances with spier...but hurdle sends Spier back to the bullben and brings in Fuentes the lefty to pitch to a righty with the bases loaded and two outs. Just like the situation with Kaz on Sunday, a double was given up and if it were not for Helton's diving stop down the line from the next batter, four runs would have been given up. I know that Fuentes is the 8th inning guy and had been flawless up until the Matsui hit, but he is only effective if he can come in and end the inning in 3-4 at bats. Whenever he gives up walks or has runners on base he just chokes. I don't care what your routine is...with the game on the line like that go with some logical reasoning, bring in a righty to make the last out...If you want to bring in Fuentes bring him in in the 9th with a fresh stat and nobody on base since Corpas is struggling.
For the rockies to be effective this year they need to work on some things, here are a few pet peeves of mine I'd like to see dissapear:
1) Walks, in any situation but especially with two outs and nobody on...when you are dominating the other teams batters don't give them a free pass to a rally session...cut the head off the snake when you have the chance! Walks really make me angry. I can think of three games this year where walks single handedly made the difference between a win and a loss.
2) Called third strikes...especially in very important situations. I really hate seeing this more than anything, when it happens with two outs Circuit City jumps for joy because I have to go buy another new TV after throwing a rock through my other one. If you have two strikes you have to swing at anything if it's close, I don't care if the ball was an inch off the plate and the umpire made a bad call, it's still your fault for not protecting the plate. If your team is down and there are RISP it's your chance to shine...if you don't like the pitch just try to foul it off till you get one you want. If you strike out swinging, you should still be proud of yourself for at least trying.
3) Pitching Under Pressure...Fuentes and Corpas really need to crank it up a notch when pressure is applied because they have really looked bad recently. Everything is fine until a walk is allowed or anybody gets on base. Herges and Wells have actually been pretty good under pressure and Fuentes was lights-out until Sunday, Corpas is only effective this year if he has a 1-2-3 inning. If one runner gets on base he just seems to lose his confidence and it's a downward slope. Don't worry about Ubaldo, his past two starts in the early innings I saw a preview of a future Cy Young winner. The problem is that halfway through the game he starts to loose control and give up a lot of walks and then gets shaky and throws up meatballs. If they can work with him and teach him to maintain his composure and swallow his nerves, he could be one of the best pitchers in baseball. If you saw the first three innings of his outing in Huston and his first 4 innings in SD, you know that when his control is there nobody can hit what he dishes out!
There is a lot of of other things that need to happen, but im getting tired of typing
I still love the Rockies and will root for them always, but I just had to vent after these last three games! Let's hope that tonight we can show the Cubs that we aren't choke artists!
I have to admit this year it is a lot harder to watch. For awhile in the late 90s and earlier this decade I started to expect it to happen, but after all the magic last year, and with the team's obvoius potential it's really really painful to watch them blow three games in a row after leading most of each game.
Clint Hurdle's unorthodox managing may have had some lucky breaks last year, but it seems like he just makes some of the dumbest moves ever...hoping that it will work and then people will say "I don't know what he was thinking, but it worked!". Thats not whats happening, people are saying "WHAT THE HELL WAS HE THINKING?". I like the guy for the most part, but some of his late-in-game stupid moves make me start grinding my teeth. He's like a poker player with all his money in the pot hoping he will hit his flush on the river...well the game shouldn't be made into that much of a gamble, go with what has been proven to work for once!
Just a few examples:
4/22 - Bottom of the eigth and rockies are up 6-5, Torreallba rips a base hit into center to lead off the inning, barmes is up with a 2-2 count and the pitcher is having a hard time finding the strike zone. Hurlde has Torreallba STEAL, yeah thats right yorvit the catcher! The next pitch is really high and barmes takes it, but yorvit gets thrown out. That could have been a huge insurance run and yorvit can't run. I'm sure he wanted him in scoring position since barmes is swinging well, but I'd rather have a runner on first with no outs and a good hitter up with a 3-2 count compared to him batting with one out and nobody on base!
4/22 - Top of the ninth.......uggghhhhh! Corpas comes in and I'm scared as hell...Corpas has been really really unimpressive this year already blowing two saves and had been close to blowing four. I like Manny but hurdle really needs to put him in a regular relief role until he can get his magic back, we rely way too much on these young arms and it seems so far this year each day is a hit or miss...but what can you expect from them being so young? So there is one out and runners on second and third, Rockies are up 6-5 still. Hurdle has Ryan Howard intentionally walked to bring up PAT BURRELL with the bases loaded and only one out!! I know he wanted to set up the double play ball, but use some f*****g logic man! Howard is batting a scratch below .200, is in a slump, strikes out a ton and Corpas has dominated him in the past (look back to the NLDS last year, Corpas owned Howard). Then there is Burrell, not only is he batting close to .400 but is second in the major leauges in homers, and is leading the majors in RBIs. Also, Burrell has a bit of a golf swing because he has so much upper body strength he knows if he swings a bit under the ball, but swings hard hes still going to get the ball out of the park...so bases loaded with one out was a perfect opportunity for him to just try and make contact and work for a sac fly or at least keep from hitting the ball on the ground. If Corpas strikes out Howard (Or he gets him to fly out shallow so no runs score), and burrell comes up with 2 outs and runners on second and third the situation is completely different. You could walk burrell since there is two outs and face Feliz (Who corpas got out), since Pat is hitting like a God...or you can pitch to him! With two outs and the game on the line burrell's attitute and game plan will be way different, he knows that he has to hit it solid somewhere to get on base to tie and/or take the lead so not only does he have to try to make contact, but hes gotta get his timing right. Basically he has to try a lot harder and has a much higher probability of striking out or popping up to the infield. Instead Burrell gets a 2-2 fastball and golfs it out into left center bringing home three runs....Rockies lose again.
4/21 - Top of the eigth Rockies up a run again. Buccholz has the bases loaded and two outs with a right hander comming to the plate. Holz was pitching really well but gave up two seeing-eye singles and a walk with two outs. So Ryan Spier comes out of the bullpen and my heart is racing but I like our chances with spier...but hurdle sends Spier back to the bullben and brings in Fuentes the lefty to pitch to a righty with the bases loaded and two outs. Just like the situation with Kaz on Sunday, a double was given up and if it were not for Helton's diving stop down the line from the next batter, four runs would have been given up. I know that Fuentes is the 8th inning guy and had been flawless up until the Matsui hit, but he is only effective if he can come in and end the inning in 3-4 at bats. Whenever he gives up walks or has runners on base he just chokes. I don't care what your routine is...with the game on the line like that go with some logical reasoning, bring in a righty to make the last out...If you want to bring in Fuentes bring him in in the 9th with a fresh stat and nobody on base since Corpas is struggling.
For the rockies to be effective this year they need to work on some things, here are a few pet peeves of mine I'd like to see dissapear:
1) Walks, in any situation but especially with two outs and nobody on...when you are dominating the other teams batters don't give them a free pass to a rally session...cut the head off the snake when you have the chance! Walks really make me angry. I can think of three games this year where walks single handedly made the difference between a win and a loss.
2) Called third strikes...especially in very important situations. I really hate seeing this more than anything, when it happens with two outs Circuit City jumps for joy because I have to go buy another new TV after throwing a rock through my other one. If you have two strikes you have to swing at anything if it's close, I don't care if the ball was an inch off the plate and the umpire made a bad call, it's still your fault for not protecting the plate. If your team is down and there are RISP it's your chance to shine...if you don't like the pitch just try to foul it off till you get one you want. If you strike out swinging, you should still be proud of yourself for at least trying.
3) Pitching Under Pressure...Fuentes and Corpas really need to crank it up a notch when pressure is applied because they have really looked bad recently. Everything is fine until a walk is allowed or anybody gets on base. Herges and Wells have actually been pretty good under pressure and Fuentes was lights-out until Sunday, Corpas is only effective this year if he has a 1-2-3 inning. If one runner gets on base he just seems to lose his confidence and it's a downward slope. Don't worry about Ubaldo, his past two starts in the early innings I saw a preview of a future Cy Young winner. The problem is that halfway through the game he starts to loose control and give up a lot of walks and then gets shaky and throws up meatballs. If they can work with him and teach him to maintain his composure and swallow his nerves, he could be one of the best pitchers in baseball. If you saw the first three innings of his outing in Huston and his first 4 innings in SD, you know that when his control is there nobody can hit what he dishes out!
There is a lot of of other things that need to happen, but im getting tired of typing
I still love the Rockies and will root for them always, but I just had to vent after these last three games! Let's hope that tonight we can show the Cubs that we aren't choke artists!
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