Rocky Mountain High! The Colorado Rockies are headed to the World Series, after completing a four game sweep last night in the National League Championship series with a 6-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks. With all the fireworks, it certainly was “rainin’ fire in the sky” last night. And since John Denver also mentions that “You can talk to God,” you may be interested to read my previous post about the Colorado Rockies’ famous Christian faith – there are some rock solid believers among these Rockies.
And the Colorado rocky mountain high
I’ve seen it rainin’ fire in the sky
You can talk to God and listen to the casual reply
Rocky mountain high
from John Denver’s Rocky Mountain High
As breathtaking as the Rocky Mountains themselves, this Colorado Rockies team has done what no one would have thought possible. 21 wins in 22 games, and the first of firsts – the World Series. And weren’t they just in last place? I loved Jayson Stark’s story at ESPN.com, where he lays out the impossibilities:
Don’t ask how a team that was a mere four games over .500 on Sept. 15 could make it here from where this team came from.
From nine games under .500 (18-27) in May.
From six games out in the wild-card race in September.
From 4½ games back in that wild-card race with only nine games to play.
From two games behind with two games to play, and having to watch that Padres team they were trying to catch get within one strike of clinching.
From two runs behind in the 13th inning of the 163rd game of the year, a game they never should have had a chance to play in the first place.
Has any team ever overcome all of that to play in a World Series? Not a chance.
Since this Colorado Rockies team clearly measures up, I’m giving away this Rockies tape measure! My rules are very simple. You must have a blog or website and write a piece about the Colorado Rockies. Anything – you may love them or hate them, just write about it. Be sure to include a link to this blog post, as well as a link to the Colorado Rockies tape measure at TeamMASCOT.com. Leave me a comment here as well so I don’t miss your post, and so I can reply to you when you win. I’ll keep this contest open until October 23, just before the start of the World Series. I will do a random drawing for the winner on that date.
GO ROCKIES!!!! Gotta love this ESPN Radio interview with Todd Helton. The reporter asks Todd if there was ever a time when he said to himself, “Maybe it’s not meant to be for me to play in the World Series?” – especially after 11 losing seasons with the Rockies. Todd Helton responds with incredible optimism and hope:
No, I just always had hope and I always thought it would happen.
7 Comments
October 16, 2007 at 10:31 pm
Hey, good post! Here in the Eastern time zone, I unfortunately had to go to bed and missed the game. There was no way I could watch a game that started at 10:00 last night and get up by 6:15 this morning! But I was very surprised when I checked the scores on my cell phone this morning and saw that the Rockies won. I was almost hoping that they’d wait til tomorrow night in an earlier game to do it so that I could watch. Oh well. I’m glad that they won. It made me think of the praise song “Can you feel the mountains tremble…”, which I’m sure you probably could have in Colorado last night!
I listened to the radio interview with Helton that you linked to, thanks. Also there was an interview with Matt Holliday there too. Near the end he said, “I just want to thank God for the opportunity to play with these guys”, or something like that. I’ll have to read the Jayson Stark story too. They have been on a pretty improbable roll. And it’s cool that it’s happened not only with the Rockies, but also the Colts — two fairly Christian teams. Now we’ll have to see who wins the ALCS.
October 16, 2007 at 11:42 pm
Rena, Yeah, that would be a late night! I wouldn’t be surprised if the mountains did tremble over there! I’ll have to put a link to the Matt Holliday interview in there, too. What a team – it’s been a group effort all the way.
As far as the ALCS – for some reason I’m thinking the Indians will take it.
October 26, 2007 at 6:20 pm
What?! Nobody wants a free tape measure??
Don’t lose hope – I know, the Rockies have blown the first two games of the World Series, but back home on Coors Field it will be another story.
October 29, 2007 at 10:00 pm
I haven’t read this article yet, but I thought you would be interested in reading it too. I’ll go ahead and shart it before I read and post it. It’s called “Does Jesus Where Purple Pinstripes?” from TIME Magazine yesterday: .
Rena
October 29, 2007 at 10:01 pm
Sorry, the link didn’t come up on the post. It’s http://www.time.com/time/arts/article/0,8599,1677120,00.html?imw=Y
Rena
October 30, 2007 at 4:25 pm
Rena, thanks. Yes, Jesus does wear purple pinstripes, among many other colors.
It’s too bad the article you referenced has to insinuate that the Rockies are engaging in discrimination. I hate media bias. The Rockies clearly do NOT discriminate against non-Christians – there are Jews, atheists, and other faiths in the organization. The fact that the leaders of the Rockies franchise are Christians and promote faith and morality is such a refreshing thing. But certain people would be more comfortable with a clubhouse full of profanity or porn – while a bunch of guys trying to live an honarable, moral life marked by purity – they get discredited in the headlines.
October 31, 2007 at 11:13 pm
Last night before I went to bed I was reading my devotional and it was about Matthew 10:26 — “What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?” (Jesus speaking). I think that the verse could be applied to a team too. If a team has several players who are always getting into trouble on and off the field, what kind of an example are they being, even if they are successful?
Also, here’s a quote from an article that I didn’t post about J.D. Drew after he hit the grand slam in Game 6 of the ALCS:
J.D. Drew is more popular than the Honey Bee Festival in his boyhood home of Hahira, Ga. But his along-for-the-ride demeanor hasn’t always resonated with fans in 10 major league seasons.
When you make $14 million and hit 11 homers in 466 at-bats, as Drew did for the Red Sox this season, the line between “easygoing” and “invisible” tends to blur. And the die-hard fans in Boston, who like their players sweaty and dirty in the Kevin Youkilis mold, don’t much care that you’re a regular presence at Baseball Chapel. (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/playoffs2007/columns/story?columnist=crasnick_jerry&id=3072482)
Unfortunately, that’s true with most fans too. They don’t care what kind of person an athlete is, just as long as they are successful. Ironically, the guy that Drew replaced in rightfield for the Red Sox, Trot Nixon, is a player that does both — gets dirty and goes to Baseball Chapel regularly.
I think that the only time that fans really care about the kind of person an athlete is is when it effects the team, like when the athletes has to miss games/practices to tend to their legal problems (hearings/jail time). Then the fans get mad, but only because it effects the team. Otherwise the athletes actions are okay. It just doesn’t make much sense to me.