I feel sorry for any of those who believe in the "due" theory. They would be getting buried.
I think I have been on 3 of those unders. I need to pay more attention to the Rockies games. I am about to start fading them real soon on the road. I don't think this team is nearly as good as their record indicates. I still see them finishing in last place in the West.
I think I have been on 3 of those unders. I need to pay more attention to the Rockies games. I am about to start fading them real soon on the road. I don't think this team is nearly as good as their record indicates. I still see them finishing in last place in the West.
Personally, I think it's the pitching....and I'm off the "due" ship......taken on enough water & I'm overboard (but today is a primo day for an over to land.....90 & BONE dry).
http://www.denverpost.com/rockies/ci_3845317
Cloud of humidor cleared up
Darryl Kile sandwiched 19- and 20-win seasons with the Astros and Cardinals, respectively, around his two seasons with the Rockies, for whom he went 21-30. (Post / John Leyba)
There's a misconception that needs to be cleared up. The Post's coverage of the humidor is not an attempt to discredit current Rockies pitchers.
It's about protecting their predecessors.
When Jason Jennings works 6 2/3 innings and allows three earned runs, as he did Wednesday, no apology is necessary. That's a solid outing, worthy of praise. There's no qualifying asterisk, not when Coors Field still features an outfield, as MLB executive Joe Garagiola Jr. put it, "slightly bigger than Rhode Island."
Coors Field remains a hitter's park because bloops find refuge in the vast pasture. But it's not a home run hitter's park anymore. That's why the humidor's impact can't be ignored.
There's no debating Jennings, Aaron Cook and Jeff Francis are decent pitchers. It's unfair, however, to draw the conclusion from their statistics that they are better than Darryl Kile, Pedro Astacio, Mike Hampton and Billy Swift.
It's apples and oranges. Or in this case, Titleists and real baseballs. Let's use Kile as the focal point.
Everybody remembers the right-hander as a failure, citing his 21-30 record and 5.84 ERA with the Rockies. As former general manager Bob Gebhard explained to me the other day, Kile could throw his devastating curveball at Coors Field, but it was only perfect about three times out of 10, compared with seven or eight on the road. That left him naked, forced to throw 93 mph four-seam fastballs. Those mistakes routinely left the park.
In Kile's two seasons - 1998 and 1999 - Coors averaged 13.76 runs and 3.20 home runs. Compare that with the statistics compiled since the introduction of the humidor in 2002 to the present - 11.78 runs and 2.57 home runs. It's reasonable to assume Kile would have succeeded at the new Coors. After all, he won 19 games the season before he joined the Rockies and 20 the year after he left.
That's the point of discussing the humidor. It provides perspective - not by making less of current Rockies pitchers, but by making more sense of how to regard pitchers of the past.
Good kids, short deals
Owner Charlie Monfort, when he wasn't predicting his team could win the division title this season, offered insight into the Rockies' future business strategy.
Not unlike those Cleveland teams of the 1990s - "Dan O'Dowd was there and did a great job of helping keep that core group together," said Sandy Alomar Jr., a former Indians star - the Rockies will continue looking to lock up their young players with multiyear deals. Francis and Brad Hawpe stick out as potential candidates to follow the path established by Jennings, Cook and Brian Fuentes.
"It's been written that we've been scared away from long-term contracts because of our past history. Of course, we don't really look at two-year deals as long-term contracts," Monfort said recently. "Two-year deals are very successful and we feel very comfortable with them. ... I think you will see a lot more two-year deals."
Two-year deals provide a player with security and give the team financial certainty when unshackled from the arbitration process. It also can aid performance, as Cook and Fuentes have admitted. It helped narrow their focus without off-field issues hanging over their heads.
The Rockies attempted to work out a long-term deal with Matt Holliday this past winter, but talks stopped when he switched to
agent Scott Boras. There have been no new discussions.
Short story, great ending
Omar Vizquel of the Giants is to shortstops what David Copperfield is to magicians. Last month, Vizquel performed an astonishing trick. With Dodgers runners at first and second with one out and Kenny Lofton at the plate, Vizquel hatched a devious plan.
During a mound visit by pitching coach Dave Righetti, Vizquel wandered over to Pedro Feliz and told him something that nearly made the third baseman's eyes pop out of his head. Vizquel said if Lofton grounded to second base, he would relay to third - not first - for the double play. Sure enough, Lofton smoked a ball to Ray Durham who flipped to Vizquel who gracefully turned a 4-6-5 double play as rookie Cody Ross got caught napping as he rounded third.
"The key was telling Feliz to expect a throw," Vizquel said.
Footnotes
Like I needed another reason to feel old. Former Bronx Little League star Danny Almonte recently got married. Seems like just yesterday he was 12. Or was that 14? Or 15? ... Much has been made of the Giants' Centrum Silver lineup, but 41-year-old Steve Finley is aging gracefully. No player pays as close attention to his diet and conditioning. Finley is playing a brilliant center field - on many nights covering for the statue that is Barry Bonds - and running well. He has a league-best seven triples. That's good news because he has never hit a home run at the Giants' AT&T Park in 200 career at-bats. "Oh, I have hit home runs there," Finley said, hinting at the wind. "Just none of them have left the park." ... Because Eric Gagne will not be required to pitch back-to-back days during his Triple-A assignment, he should return around June 1. "We will just ease him in here," said Dodgers manager Grady Little, who made it clear Gagne would return as the closer. Look for a different Gagne when he comes back, as he relies more on his changeup, stealing from Trevor Hoffman's script. ... Aaron Rowand's air bag-deploying catch last week, which resulted in a broken nose, has become the stuff of legend in Philadelphia. After fans turned on athletes such as Ricky Watters for selfish acts, Rowand established himself as the ultimate gamer. ... Russell Martin has quietly won the Dodgers' catching job. To make room for Dioner Navarro, Sandy Alomar Jr. likely will go on the disabled list. ... If Rafael Furcal shifts to third base when Cesar Izturis returns, it would give the Dodgers the perfect venue to showcase Izturis for a trade, possibly to the Red Sox. ... It will be a shock if Carl Pavano throws another pitch for the Yankees.
http://www.denverpost.com/rockies/ci_3845317
Cloud of humidor cleared up
Darryl Kile sandwiched 19- and 20-win seasons with the Astros and Cardinals, respectively, around his two seasons with the Rockies, for whom he went 21-30. (Post / John Leyba)
There's a misconception that needs to be cleared up. The Post's coverage of the humidor is not an attempt to discredit current Rockies pitchers.
It's about protecting their predecessors.
When Jason Jennings works 6 2/3 innings and allows three earned runs, as he did Wednesday, no apology is necessary. That's a solid outing, worthy of praise. There's no qualifying asterisk, not when Coors Field still features an outfield, as MLB executive Joe Garagiola Jr. put it, "slightly bigger than Rhode Island."
Coors Field remains a hitter's park because bloops find refuge in the vast pasture. But it's not a home run hitter's park anymore. That's why the humidor's impact can't be ignored.
There's no debating Jennings, Aaron Cook and Jeff Francis are decent pitchers. It's unfair, however, to draw the conclusion from their statistics that they are better than Darryl Kile, Pedro Astacio, Mike Hampton and Billy Swift.
It's apples and oranges. Or in this case, Titleists and real baseballs. Let's use Kile as the focal point.
Everybody remembers the right-hander as a failure, citing his 21-30 record and 5.84 ERA with the Rockies. As former general manager Bob Gebhard explained to me the other day, Kile could throw his devastating curveball at Coors Field, but it was only perfect about three times out of 10, compared with seven or eight on the road. That left him naked, forced to throw 93 mph four-seam fastballs. Those mistakes routinely left the park.
In Kile's two seasons - 1998 and 1999 - Coors averaged 13.76 runs and 3.20 home runs. Compare that with the statistics compiled since the introduction of the humidor in 2002 to the present - 11.78 runs and 2.57 home runs. It's reasonable to assume Kile would have succeeded at the new Coors. After all, he won 19 games the season before he joined the Rockies and 20 the year after he left.
That's the point of discussing the humidor. It provides perspective - not by making less of current Rockies pitchers, but by making more sense of how to regard pitchers of the past.
Good kids, short deals
Owner Charlie Monfort, when he wasn't predicting his team could win the division title this season, offered insight into the Rockies' future business strategy.
Not unlike those Cleveland teams of the 1990s - "Dan O'Dowd was there and did a great job of helping keep that core group together," said Sandy Alomar Jr., a former Indians star - the Rockies will continue looking to lock up their young players with multiyear deals. Francis and Brad Hawpe stick out as potential candidates to follow the path established by Jennings, Cook and Brian Fuentes.
"It's been written that we've been scared away from long-term contracts because of our past history. Of course, we don't really look at two-year deals as long-term contracts," Monfort said recently. "Two-year deals are very successful and we feel very comfortable with them. ... I think you will see a lot more two-year deals."
Two-year deals provide a player with security and give the team financial certainty when unshackled from the arbitration process. It also can aid performance, as Cook and Fuentes have admitted. It helped narrow their focus without off-field issues hanging over their heads.
The Rockies attempted to work out a long-term deal with Matt Holliday this past winter, but talks stopped when he switched to
agent Scott Boras. There have been no new discussions.
Short story, great ending
Omar Vizquel of the Giants is to shortstops what David Copperfield is to magicians. Last month, Vizquel performed an astonishing trick. With Dodgers runners at first and second with one out and Kenny Lofton at the plate, Vizquel hatched a devious plan.
During a mound visit by pitching coach Dave Righetti, Vizquel wandered over to Pedro Feliz and told him something that nearly made the third baseman's eyes pop out of his head. Vizquel said if Lofton grounded to second base, he would relay to third - not first - for the double play. Sure enough, Lofton smoked a ball to Ray Durham who flipped to Vizquel who gracefully turned a 4-6-5 double play as rookie Cody Ross got caught napping as he rounded third.
"The key was telling Feliz to expect a throw," Vizquel said.
Footnotes
Like I needed another reason to feel old. Former Bronx Little League star Danny Almonte recently got married. Seems like just yesterday he was 12. Or was that 14? Or 15? ... Much has been made of the Giants' Centrum Silver lineup, but 41-year-old Steve Finley is aging gracefully. No player pays as close attention to his diet and conditioning. Finley is playing a brilliant center field - on many nights covering for the statue that is Barry Bonds - and running well. He has a league-best seven triples. That's good news because he has never hit a home run at the Giants' AT&T Park in 200 career at-bats. "Oh, I have hit home runs there," Finley said, hinting at the wind. "Just none of them have left the park." ... Because Eric Gagne will not be required to pitch back-to-back days during his Triple-A assignment, he should return around June 1. "We will just ease him in here," said Dodgers manager Grady Little, who made it clear Gagne would return as the closer. Look for a different Gagne when he comes back, as he relies more on his changeup, stealing from Trevor Hoffman's script. ... Aaron Rowand's air bag-deploying catch last week, which resulted in a broken nose, has become the stuff of legend in Philadelphia. After fans turned on athletes such as Ricky Watters for selfish acts, Rowand established himself as the ultimate gamer. ... Russell Martin has quietly won the Dodgers' catching job. To make room for Dioner Navarro, Sandy Alomar Jr. likely will go on the disabled list. ... If Rafael Furcal shifts to third base when Cesar Izturis returns, it would give the Dodgers the perfect venue to showcase Izturis for a trade, possibly to the Red Sox. ... It will be a shock if Carl Pavano throws another pitch for the Yankees.
