Sunday's Action

Some quick hits:

• The Boston Celtics held on this afternoon to eek out a Game 7 victory over the Cavaliers to move to the Eastern Finals. No team has ever begun the playoffs 0-6 on the road and won a title. The C's are eight wins away from doing that. However, I have to believe that Detroit is good enough to win one in Boston so the Celtics must figure this out, or else the 66-16 season goes down in flames, Doc Rivers is probably fired, and KG is cemented as a playoff non-performer.

• The Flyers rolled over and played dead this afternoon, as the Pens crushed them 6-0 to finish the Eastern Finals and move on to their first Stanley Cup Finals since 1992, if memory serves correctly. I believe this was the East's last chance to get the Penguins while they're still young and able to be rattled. They remind me so much of those early '80s Edmonton teams, it's scary. It's also scary to think how good they could get and for how long they might dominate. My Rangers missed their chance this year. (Also, one of my major pet peeves is lazy/stupid headline writing -- and ESPN.com is pissing me off greatly with "Penguins March To Finals." Like the movie, March of the Penguins? Get it? GET IT?? Yes, ESPN, we get it. It's f-cking stupid.)

• For a little local VT flavor, the Twinkies got bounced by the Rockies again this afternoon. Justin Morneau showed up but he wasnt enough to stop the Rockies onslaught led by Clint Barmes.

• I shot a 46-46-92 at my course this afternoon, compiling the best 18 I've had on this course yet.
  

The Red Sox are better than the Rockies

Before I tried to go to work, only to have my car not start, I caught some commentary from Fox's Ken Rosenthal while he was talking to Joe Buck and Tim McCarver. They asked him why the Rockies were struggling so furiously with the Red Sox when they had just swept their way through the Cubs and Diamondbacks. Sure, there is the argument that it's the Rockies layoff, or maybe the playing conditions, but Rosenthal had a pretty solid argument as well.
The Red Sox are a lot better than the Phillies or Diamondbacks. The Rockies too, for that matter. I find it curious that so many didn't think to factor that into their World Series picks. I include my self in that group. Let's break this down. I'll even throw in the Phillies and Diamondbacks to show how clearly superior the Red Sox are. Analysis as needed.

Catcher:
Red Sox: Varitek.
Rockies: Torrealba
Diamondbacks: Snyder
Phillies: Ruiz
Advantage: Red Sox, without any argument, both behind the plate and at bat.

1b:
Red Sox: Youkilis
Rockies: Helton
Diamondbacks: Clark/Jackson
Phillies:Howard
Advantage: In most situations, the Phillies win out here, but in the postseason, Youkilis is hitting .422. .422! Oh, and when they are playing in Colorado, the Red Sox will bat this Ortiz fellow, that I hear is pretty good.

2b:
Red Sox: Pedroia
Rockies: Matsui
Diamondbacks: Ojeda
Phillies: Utley
Advantage: Rockies, in a very close battle. Ojeda had an empty batting average (all singles, no walks) this offseason and Utley hit .182, while Matsui and Pedroia have been veritable monsters for their teams. Matsui has been better in the post season by a slim margin, but Pedroia is going to be the rookie of the year. (Be careful so he doesn't sell his World Series trophy replica).

3b:
Red Sox: Lowell
Rockies: Atkins
Diamondbacks: Reynolds
Phillies: Nunez/Helms/Dobbs
Advantage: Red Sox. Atkins has the second best postseason batting average for third basemen in this comparison at .194. The Phillies started three different 3rd basemen against the Rockies, and none got a hit. In the regular season, Atkins splits away from Coors are dreadful, and I couldn't pick any of the four from Arizona or Philly out of a lineup.

SS
Red Sox: Lugo
Rockies: Tulowitzki
Diamondbacks: Drew
Phillies: Rollins
Advantage: Of a good group of short stops, Stephen Drew has had the best postseason by far, and Jimmy Rollins is one of the most effective shortstops in the game, but hit .182 this post season. As I'm sure you've heard, the best hitting shortstop in the World Series is Troy Tulo-- Wait. Julio Lugo. Higher batting average, but lower slugging percentage, which is ok, because he can still score in front of the bigger bats in Boston's line up (Tulowitzki is batting .226, if you were wondering, while Lugo is at .282).

LF
Red Sox: Ramirez
Rockies: Holliday
Diamondbacks: Byrnes
Phillies: Burrell
Advantage: Red Sox. And don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Manny is batting .447 in the postseason, and he still finds time to befriend soup.

CF
Red Sox: Crisp
Rockies: Taveres/Spilborghs
Diamondbacks: Young
Phillies: Rowand
Advantage: Diamondbacks? Chris Young is the only player here that has done anything this postseason, and really, he had the best regular season as well. I guess he is why they made the playoffs, huh? And of the World Series teams, I have to give the Colorado platoon the nod. To say Coco Crisp has underperformed falls wildly short of the truth.

RF
Red Sox: Drew
Rockies: Hawpe
Diamondbacks: Upton/Salazar
Phillies: Victorino
Advantage: If Justin Upton could have played all the games instead of platooning with Jeff Salazar, theirs would have been the best Right Field of this group, but they didn't and the position batted .250, lower than Brad Hawpe. By the way, guess how many extra base hits Hawpe has this postseason? The same as me! So, in the end, J.D. Drew is the best of the right fielders here.

SP:
Red Sox: Beckett, Schilling, Matsuzaka
Rockies: Francis, Fogg, Jiminez
Diamondbacks: Webb, Hernandez, Davis
Phillies: Hamels, Kendrick, Moyer
Advantage: Red Sox again. Beckett has been lights out all year, Schilling pitches his best in the post season, an frankly, even if they aren't getting what they paid for yet, the Red Sox have a better pitcher with Dice-K than all of the others listed, aside from Webb, Hernandez and Hamels.

Bullpen:
Advantage: Ok. Name someone from the Diamondbacks or Phillies bullpen. Go.


Kyle Lohse? Is that it? I thought so. And the Rockies have LaTroy Hawkins and Ramon Ortiz. Generally speaking, that many former Twins in a bullpen isn't the greatest idea, especially when they are rejects from Minnesota. Jonathan Papelbon is very good in the bullpen. End of story.

So, broken down, I don't really see any way that the Rockies pull this series out. The Red Sox, out of 10 categories were the best in 7 of them. The Diamondbacks had the top shortstop and centerfielder, while the Rockies have an advantage at 2nd. Because of Kaz Matsui. The Rockies can only hope it snows in Colorado this weekend.

The Red Sox clinch and the Rockies await

So, the Cleveland/Denver rivalry wasn't stoked as I had hoped. There will still be a World Series, believe it or not, even though the Red Sox came back after being down 3-1 in the ALCS. Nobody makes note of how rare a feat this is, probably because they came back from down 3-0 last time they were in the World Series. I don't have the stomach to analyze this World Series, and I would rather hear what the players themselves had to say in an informal internet setting, although I am inclined to note that while people say the Red Sox won't be cooling off before the World Series starts, the Rockies are now well rested. Additionally, I think it would be another knife in the Cleveland area's heart if Denver won comfortably in 4. And for whatever reason, it seems as though God has it out for Cleveland. Mr official prediction? Rockies in 5.

The Cleveland-Denver rivalry lives!

Here's what I'm hoping happens tonight. I hope that Cleveland wins convincingly over Boston, and the media continues to talk about Joe Torre's departure from the Yankees and how Boston should have beaten the Indians if they just hadn't used Tim Wakefield in game 4. Then, the series itself would be a mishmash of stories involving Todd Helton, Colorado's magical run, and the Rockies team faith. If I were a Clevelander, I would be licking my chops.
It may come as a surprise, but Cleveland and Denver have one of the most heated, quiet sports rivalries out there. Just looking at the cities, you can see the dichotomy, and the almost movielike difference between the cities. You have Cleveland, the gritty industrial town, full of down on their luck, hard working blue collar citizens, and then you have Denver, picturesque, thriving as a commercial center, full of affluent white collar citizens. And time and time again, Denver kicks Cleveland in the stomach.
Look no further than the NFL, and the late 1980's. In 1987, the Browns and Broncos met in the AFC championship. The Browns were up 20-13 with 5 and a half minutes remaining. They had the Broncos right where they wanted them. And then this happened:

Certainly one of the most epic possessions in football history. The first kick to the city of Cleveland's collective gut. Fortunately, next year, they made it to the AFC Championship game again, facing their nemesis, the Broncos again. Running back Earnest Byner was running all over the Broncos, but Denver was ahead 38-31 with time winding down. Cleveland was driving, looking to make up for the previous season, and they had the ball at the Denver 8. They gave it to Byner again, he made it to the three, until:

The Fumble. I really think these two games crippled the entire Cleveland psyche. Sure, the Indians came around, becoming the dominant team in the AL Central, even making the World Series twice. How much of the losing mentality learned in those years against Denver still lingered with the crowd, though, as in the same year Denver won the first of their two Super Bowls, the Indians lost their second World Series, this to the Marlins, a 4 year old team from Florida. their first loss was to the Atlanta Braves, who had a pattern of losing when it really mattered. Until, of course, they played Cleveland.
Around the turn of the century, both cities stopped being relative in most competitions, until the 2003 NBA draft, when the Cleveland Cavaliers had the first pick, with a hometown hero, Lebron James, the top player available. But this draft was stacked. There were two players of particular note in this draft, James, and Syracuse freshman Carmelo Anthony. And of course, where do you think Anthony went? The Denver Nuggets picked him third. Now, while both the Cavs and the Nuggets are successful, Anthony hasn't shown up to any Rockies games wearing paraphernalia of the opponents.
So yeah, I think a Cleveland-Colorado World Series would be delightful. The Rockies are getting all the headlines, and they certainly seem like the team of destiny, sweeping their way to the World Series. They'll be more than happy to tell you that they are blessed, although I find it hard to believe that God is really all that interested in baseball (or football for that matter, Jon Kitna) when there are seemingly bigger things to worry about. The Indians would come in much more quietly, with their opponents having received all the headlines. The Yankees, out of the playoffs, have been making headlines all week, and the news out of the ALCS is all Red Sox oriented. It seems that people have already tacitly ordained the Rockies as the World Champions. How sweet would it be if Cleveland could finally stick it to Denver?

A Recipe For Success?

The NLCS has just begun, and I noticed some strange parallels....

Florida Marlins
- Founded in 1993
- Because of the 1994 strike, won the World Series in their 4th full season, 1997, over the Cleveland Indians
- The 1997 team was mostly high paid veterans with a first year manager and had Livan Hernandez
- Reduced the use of their feminine teal in 2003 in favor of black
- Won their 2nd World Series 6 years after their first in 2003 over the New York Yankees
- The 2003 team had younger, career Marlins and a couple of key veterans

Arizona Diamondbacks
- Founded in 1998
- Won the World Series in their 4th full season, 2001, over the New York Yankees
- The 2001 team was mostly high paid veterans with a first year manager
- Dropped the use of their feminine purple in 2007 in favor of red and black
- Has a chance to win their 2nd World Series 6 years after their first in 2007 over the Marlins' first victim, the Cleveland Indians
- The 2007 team has younger, career D-Backs and a couple of key veterans, one of which is Livan Hernandez

So that's the blueprint for success. If an expansion team were to join the league next year, they should have pink uniforms and pay a bunch of veterans (including Livan Hernandez) and a new manager a lot of money in 2011 to win the World Series, then in 2017, change their colors to black and red and have a bunch of younger players. It won't start a dynasty, but it will give you as many world titles as the Cubs....

The Rockies Make Baseball More Fun

Since they hit the scene playing baseball at the football-famous Mile High Stadium back in 1993, the Rockies haven't been your average expansion team. Sure, they haven't won a World Series (or even 2 like their 1993 brothers, the Marlins) and this year is only their 2nd ever playoff appearance. In all reality, they've been pretty mediocre in their 15 year existence, but the way they have been mediocre has been great for the game of baseball....

It's a known fact that the air is thinner in Colorado, and the thought is it will cause a baseball to travel much farther when hit. The Rockies had three 20-home run guys on their expansion roster, including the immortal Charlie Hayes, and it just expanded from there. Two of their earliest stars, Andres Galarraga and Dante Bichette, saw their power numbers absolutely explode in the following years. In 1994, Galarraga and Bichette combined to hit 58 home runs even though they combined to miss 105 games due to injury. With the thin air theory being proven, Coors Field was opened in 1995 with larger than average dimensions featuring a 390 ft power alley and 415 ft to straight away center field.....but the homers kept coming. The Rockies had 4 30-homer guys in 1995 and 3 40-homer guys in 1996. As the old commercial said, chicks dig the long ball, and Coors Field quickly gained the reputation as a place where you were guaranteed to see a ton of offense, but it wasn't all from home runs....

The large dimensions in Coors Field to combat homers also pose another problem for pitchers (or benefit to the fans). There is a lot of room for line drives and fly balls that actually do not clear the fence to fall in for hits, or roll to the 415 sign for a triple or inside the park homer. Its a known fact that overall batting stats, including batting average, explode when a player goes to the Rockies. Rockies players have won 6 NL batting titles since they came into the league in 1993, and they had Tony Gwynn to compete with for most of the 90s. If you look up almost any mediocre player that played at least one full season for the Rockies over the past 15 years, their numbers stand out. Here are some quick examples:

Ellis Burks - 1996 - .344, 40 HR, 128 RBI
Jeff Cirillo - 2000 - .326, 11 HR, 115 RBI
Jeffrey Hammonds - 2000 - .335, 20 HR, 106 RBI
Jay Payton - 2003 - .302, 28 HR, 89 RBI

Another fun example in Vinny Castilla, who had 2 runs with the Rockies. As a full time player from 1995-1999, he averaged .302 with 38 HR and 112 RBI each season. He then bounced around the league the next few years averaging .250, 13 HR and 67 RBI. He then made a glorious 1 year return to Colorado in 2004 where he hit .271 with 35 HR and 131 RBI...like nothing ever changed. It will be interesting to see when guys like Brad Hawpe and Garrett Atkins play elsewhere.

Besides the great entertainment value of watching all of this offense coming from one team, the Rockies have enhanced a baseball fan's experience in many other ways. A lot of great pitchers are afraid to go there, because they know their ERA will explode. Mike Hampton went there as a pretty decent pitcher, but all he was remembered for was almost breaking the single season home run record for a pitcher (as a hitter) while ruining his confidence on the mound. Another fun fact is the lore of the humidor. The Rockies have been putting balls in there before games in order to try to counteract the home runs, and it has actually worked to some extent. However, as I mentioned before, that doesn't prevent those balls that fall short from becoming doubles and triples. Also, we can never forget the fact that a freak June blizzard can knock out all baseball there for a week.

This year's Rockies have all of the fun features I mentioned above, but they are also by far the hottest team in baseball entering the playoffs and lead the NL East champ Phillies 2-0 in their divisional series. Just think, on September 15, they were 76-72 before they went on a 13-1 run to end the season and winning the most exciting 1 game playoff imaginable....in true Rockies fashion, 9-8. This great young offensive team brings a lot of excitement to the playoffs, and I'm hoping they have a long run.