When your local teams are out of the playoffs and kick-off is still months away, the mind starts to wander.  Mine wandered to a routine afternoon game between the Colorado Rockies and the Chicago Cubs in which Nolan Arenado had his 15-game hitting streak snapped, despite the 3-1 Colorado victory. Arenado is having another sensational year hitting .332 with 16 HRs and 54 RBIs.  With six straight Gold Gloves and over 200 career homers, I thought to myself, is Nolan Arenado the greatest Rockie of all- time? To find out the answer I put it to my research department, meaning my laptop and the Starbucks... Read More

Baseball is a team sport.  A 40-man roster in which clutch hitting meets quality pitching, spin rotations and exit velocities are scrutinized to maximize player performance, and managers are asked to adjust strategy and personnel on an ongoing basis in order to win games. Baseball is a choregraphed dance of many.  Defensively, the entire team shifts in unison as a pull-hitter comes to the plate.  The catcher surgically frames the pitch asking for something low and inside, the shortstop signals to the second baseman that he’ll cover the open base if needed, and the right-hander continues to... Read More

The story became obvious as I sat down to write.  The Colorado Avalanche would eliminate the top-seeded Calgary flames in five games, and my fingers began to type.  Thoughts of Mikko Rantanen, Nathan MacKinnon, and Philipp Grubauer raced through my head.  Memories past were of Stanley Cups, Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, and Ray Bourque.  I would be sure to throw in Patrick Roy’s legendary playoff quote once said in response to an opponent’s trash talk. “I didn’t hear him because my two Stanley Cup rings were stuffed in my ears.” It was undoubtedly the story, the headline, the news of... Read More

The formula has been working for the Colorado Rockies over the past few years.  Hit a few homers, drink some microbrews, sprinkle in some pitching, and make the playoffs.  With Nolan Arenado sporting a bigtime contract, Kyle Freeland pitching gems, and the usual cast of characters mostly returning, 2019 should be a good one. But like Ian Desmond at the plate, I’m still not comfortable. DJ LeMahieu and Adam Ottavino are now New York Yankees, Wade Davis and Mark Reynolds are practically eligible for AARP, and our issues at first base . . . still have issues. Here are eight major factors that... Read More

When the San Diego Padres signed Manny Machado to a 10-year/$300 million contract last week, Joel Wolfe, the agent of Colorado Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado, must have been smiling.  The contract was the most lucrative in major league baseball history as the Padres set the price it takes to secure a young, talented, gold-gloved superstar. The only problem is that Colorado has one that is even better.  And now it’s time to pay. In the last four years, Nolan Arenado has averaged 40 HRs, 40 2Bs, 125 RBIs, grabbed 4 gold gloves (6 total), and played in 4 all-star games, all while leading... Read More

One of the difficulties of trying to write a weekly Colorado sports article is focusing on the biggest story of the week, and timing it within the deadline provided.  Follow that up with the challenge of informing and entertaining the reader in 600 words or less, and the problem becomes compounded.  Within the last ten days the Colorado Rockies had a playoff series, the Denver Broncos played twice, the CU Buffs traveled to USC, the Colorado Avalanche were five games into the start of the hockey season, while the Denver Nuggets were just hours from their NBA opener. And that’s just Colorado! ... Read More

What a difference a week makes.  Well, ten games to be exact.  After getting swept by the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Colorado Rockies were sitting at 82-70 and 2 ½ games out of first place.  Trevor Story had injured his arm, Nolan Arenado was in a major slump, the Rockies were fading from playoff contention, and I was writing their obituary. But the Rockies ended up winning nine out of their last ten games in what could only be described as the perfect storm, and for the first time in Rockies history, Colorado has made the playoffs in back-to-back seasons.  I tried to find the one single catalyst... Read More

I sat down at my computer and thought about what to write.  It had been a few weeks since my last article and I was happy to get back to work after my editor approved a couple weeks off.  Last weekend I flew to Minnesota to watch my sixteen-year-old daughter swim at a major meet, as well as visiting a longtime friend from my childhood. The week before I attended my mother’s memorial.  She had passed away after a short battle with cancer at the age of 74. Staring at the screen, I thought about the Rockies big weekend series against the Dodgers, and the Broncos opening act on Saturday versus... Read More

With the MLB trade deadline approaching and the Colorado Rockies soundly in the playoff hunt, the question remains whether Colorado will be aggressive in acquiring talent before the July 31 deadline.  Currently positioned in third place, just behind the Los Angeles Dodgers, and in a basic dead heat with the Arizona Diamondbacks, Milwaukee Brewers, and Atlanta Braves, the Rockies have a tough decision to make.  Go add some talent to keep up with the other teams, or hope their current roster is good enough.  Here are four players the Rockies should go after, and a fifth they probably will. Cole... Read More

In the game of baseball, a batter can often be bothered by the shadows that lie between the mound and home plate, but it’s the foreshadowing that concerns the Colorado Rockies.  Baseball purists will say not to worry, just stay around .500 until the All-Star break, and then make your move.  After all, there are 162 games to be played.  But the next six games may shape the landscape of the Rockies for years to come. Currently in fourth place with a record of 46-44, Colorado trails the Arizona Diamondbacks, Los Angeles Dodgers, and the San Francisco Giants in the race for the NL West.  To further... Read More