2008 Woodie Awards
The Weekly Tail 'Gater: Yankees Fan Can't Admit Truth and Picks the Rockies to Win the World Series
Mike Nanna
Issue date: 10/25/07 Section: Sports
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With the Fall Classic upon us, it is worth taking a look at the two teams who will battle it out for baseball supremacy on the grandest of stages in all of professional sports. The World Series will feature a veteran Red Sox team with ice in its veins and a young and vivacious Rockies team ready to go toe-to-toe for the title. Who has what it takes to accomplish what Ted Williams, Ty Cobb and Ernie Banks never could during their illustrious careers?
The Rockies certainly didn't look the part less than a month ago. So uninspiring was this team that when the Maroon-News published its baseball playoff preview article in September, the Rockies weren't even mentioned as a possibility. Since that time the Rockies have gone on an unprecedented crunch-time hot streak, winning 21 of 22 games and going undefeated thus far in the playoffs. During this recent playoff run they've looked like a man with a new haircut, telling other teams, "Not now chief, I'm in the f***ing zone". If someone had asked you at the start of the season whether Kazuo Matsui, Ubaldo Jimenez and Manny Corpas would be carrying their team into the World Series, you probably would have burst out laughing. This Rockies team did everything they could to unload the face of their franchise, Todd Helton, before the season began. After failing to do so, Helton decided to grow what can only be described as the juggernaut of facial hair and rally a young team around him. Matt Holliday developed into one of the league's best players, Garrett Atkins rebounded from a rough start and Jeff Francis slipped into the ace role armed with only marginal talent and his knowledge of the physics of pitching. In fact, the much-doubted Rockies pitching staff actually had the lowest earned-run average in the National League over the second half. Don't forget that Colorado boasted the highest fielding percentage in history. Coors Field gives the Rockies the most substantial home-field advantage in the league, which is amplified even more in this series since the Red Sox will be forced to bench either David Ortiz or Kevin Youkilis for games three, four and five. The hunger of this team is truly remarkable considering how little hope they've had over the years and how many skeptical experts the team had to prove wrong. The Rockies decided to show their critics how good they are and the rest of the National League has paid for it. The Red Sox could be next.
The Rockies certainly didn't look the part less than a month ago. So uninspiring was this team that when the Maroon-News published its baseball playoff preview article in September, the Rockies weren't even mentioned as a possibility. Since that time the Rockies have gone on an unprecedented crunch-time hot streak, winning 21 of 22 games and going undefeated thus far in the playoffs. During this recent playoff run they've looked like a man with a new haircut, telling other teams, "Not now chief, I'm in the f***ing zone". If someone had asked you at the start of the season whether Kazuo Matsui, Ubaldo Jimenez and Manny Corpas would be carrying their team into the World Series, you probably would have burst out laughing. This Rockies team did everything they could to unload the face of their franchise, Todd Helton, before the season began. After failing to do so, Helton decided to grow what can only be described as the juggernaut of facial hair and rally a young team around him. Matt Holliday developed into one of the league's best players, Garrett Atkins rebounded from a rough start and Jeff Francis slipped into the ace role armed with only marginal talent and his knowledge of the physics of pitching. In fact, the much-doubted Rockies pitching staff actually had the lowest earned-run average in the National League over the second half. Don't forget that Colorado boasted the highest fielding percentage in history. Coors Field gives the Rockies the most substantial home-field advantage in the league, which is amplified even more in this series since the Red Sox will be forced to bench either David Ortiz or Kevin Youkilis for games three, four and five. The hunger of this team is truly remarkable considering how little hope they've had over the years and how many skeptical experts the team had to prove wrong. The Rockies decided to show their critics how good they are and the rest of the National League has paid for it. The Red Sox could be next.
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