What happened to those Rockies?

I can’t protest to be the most knowledgeable baseball fan or can’t even say that I can keep myself awake during baseball games, but we’ve finally reached the playoffs and it leaves me asking one question, “Where are the Rockies?”

I’m usually the guy who only goes to games when I get free tickets. I usually show up in the third inning and leave in the sixth unless there is some reason for fans to stay to the end, such as fireworks after the game.

But there is something exciting about the playoffs. Every play, every out counts for a little more as players strive to win baseball’s ultimate prize. I was living in Toronto when the Blue Jays won back-to-back World Series’ and believe me when I say a special aura fills the city. Denver had that aura when the Avalanche won the Stanley Cup and when the Broncos won the Super Bowl. Maybe one day the Rockies will be in that position.

This year features the Atlanta Braves, who have only won a single World Series despite making the playoffs for the past 12 years, against the Chicago Cubs, a team that hasn’t won a World Series for the last 98 years. The Marlins will take on the Giants in the other National League divisional series while it is Twins-Yankees and Red Sox-A’s in the American League. Will this be the year for the Cubs or will the Red Sox get rid of that curse that was put on them the year they traded Babe Ruth to the Yankees? The Sox haven’t won the Series since. Talk about a bad trade.

On the other side of the winning spectrum is our home team, the Colorado Rockies, blessed with the advantage of altitude that allows them to have a decent home record. The problem is that the Rockies can’t seem to win on the road. The Rockies finished the season with .457, 26.5 games behind the West division leader. But there is no feeling sorry for the Rockies. The Detroit Tigers finished 47 games behind the Twins, winning only 43 games in the entire 162-game season.

One thing the Rockies have is first baseman Todd Helton, who finished a close second with a batting average of .358 to Albert Pujols, who won the NL batting title. Helton came to bat at the end of the season’s final game needing a hit, but was unfortunately walked, allowing Pujols to win the title by .0022.

And so the sun has set on another Rockies season. Time to look to next season when the Rockies will shoot for a World Series title once again. For Denver fans, there’s the Avs and, of course, the Broncos to cheer on to victory.