Rocktober Continues

I have to give dap to the Colorado Rockies who's mind bending play has catapulted them from on the fringe of the playoff hunt to the World Series. I know of some baseball purists who are gnashing their teeth about the fall classic in Denver, but to them I say "Get Over it!!!" The Rockies are playing boffo baseball, they are sound fundementally (Leading MLB in fielding) and have timely hitting and enough of a power punch to be dangerous. Many people see the baseball season as a marathon, but it does help to get hot at the right time and the Rox have done just that. 21-1 in their last 22. They are only the fifth team in the last 70 years to put a streak together like that at any point in the season. Nice to have it have it happen in September-October. But to fully appreciate how far they have come, consider this: The Rockies were 9 games under .500 at one time. And in last place in the NL West, the Yankees with all their pub were never that far down, they may have been further back but their record wasn't as bad. The Rockies were 4.5 games out of the wild card spot with 9 to play The Rockies needed to win a 163rd game to earn that wild card berth and to even win that rallied from two runs down in the 13th against one of MLB's all-time best closers. If your head is spinning, don't feel bad many a sports writer is still trying to figure where these guys came from. I feel good for Todd Helton, the long suffering first baseman and captain of the Rockies. He's making sure that his first foray into the playoffs is a long and memorable one. The problem that Helton and his Rockies face is an extra long layoff. I will always have a soft spot for the Rockies, I followed them for a while when they were first created and when they would come to Cincinnati would go down to old Riverfront and watch the Reds kick the crap out of them. I do have fond memories of Dante Bichette hitting a mammoth shot into the upper deck of Riverfront, those seats were the only Red ones in the stadium at the time and fairly unreachable except by the biggest of hitters. I also remember meeting the Rockies first manager Don Baylor. It was in 1996 I was working at a bank and the bank was in a building that was connected to a hotel, the same one the Rockies were staying in. On this particular day it was raining and I was heading to lunch. I saw Baylor standing in front of a window watching it rain. It had been raining in the area for a couple of days and the Reds and Rockies had been rained out the day previous. I approached him and told him that I was a Rockies fan and a big fan of his when he played. We chatted about baseball and the book he wrote. I found him to be very engaging. He then asked me "Don't it ever stop raining here?" They never did play that day. Ironically I went to the game they ended up making up in August as a doubleheader, The Rockies as were their wont lost both games. The first game of the World Series isn't until next Wednesday. Now the way the ALCS is shaping up they could go 7 games. Are the Sox in trouble??? Suddenly the Sox have forgotten how to hit and Indians look like a team that wont be scared off by the rep of Papi and ManRam. I wont sound a general alarm just yet,