Let me start off by stating that I'm a diehard Los Angeles Dodgers fan. It's not a flash-in-pan admiration for the Dodger Blue. I've been cheering them on since the days of Fernandomania. For you younger readers, that would be Fernando Valenzuela, the butterball left-hander who carried the team's pitching staff to a World Series title in 1981 against the hated New York Yankees.
I've been following the Dodgers ever since, through the miracle 1988 World Series run with Kirk Gibson to the woeful early 1990s and those last-place finishes to no playoff series win since beating Oakland in that previously mentioned '88 Series.
But now I reside in Arvada, Co., a suburb of Denver, and I get daily reports on the hometown Colorado Rockies, an NL West rival.
Now, unlike the San Francisco Giants, I harbor no ill-will toward the Rox. Why should I? The team has only been in existence for 15 years, there are no players on the team that I can truly say I dislike. Shoot, there are some I downright love to watch play -- Todd Helton, Matt Holliday and Troy Tulowitzki to name a few.
And I'm sure, like you, I was caught up in all the World Series hoopla that followed the Rockies to their improbable World Series appearance last year. The late-season run, winning 21 out of 22 games, including a playoff game with the San Diego Padres just to make it into the playoffs. The playoff-series sweeps of the Philadelphia Phillies and Arizona Diamondbacks before being stopped cold by the Boston Red Sox in the World Series.
And, yes like you, I thought that this year the Rockies would be a serious contender in the National League, probably even a strong threat, with Arizona, to win the NL West. I considered them more of a threat then my beloved Los Angeles Dodgers, who are starting to see the day of light, like the Rockies did last year, and build up their big-league team with their farm system.
But, sorry Rockies fans, but it's not 2007 anymore.
Yes, we haven't even hit the All-Star break. Yes, the Rockies, as of this writing, have won two in a row over the last-place San Diego Padres. And, yes, I know the Rockies were floundering in fourth place a year ago until they won 13 of 14 in late September to make it to the playoffs last year.
But that was last year and this is now. The Colorado Rockies are back where most people remember them, hanging around the bottom of the NL West.
Now there are a number of reasons for that -- injuries, players not performing up to last year's standards, and so forth. But I don't see the Rockies pulling off another miracle this year.
Don't get me wrong. They could still do it. The National League West isn't nearly as good as it has been in years past. When the team leading the division is hovering around .500, anything can happen and usually does. But that mystique that the Rockies had in late 2007 seems to be gone.
Colorado's owners should take delight in the fact that they'll roll in the money anyway after raising ticket prices after last year's run. But I wouldn't count that money too fast because a second straight playoff appearance doesn't look likely.
And, just so you know, it won't be because of my beloved Dodgers, either. I know that much, too.
Keywords: Colorado Rockies
