Are the Rockies Doomed?

There’s only one October, but who thought that it was going to be like this?  This is supposed to be a showcase of baseball’s finest, but with the emergence of the Red Sox it’s apparent that they are head-and-shoulders above the rest of the competition.  Whether or not this is a mere aberration will be revealed as the World Series plays out, but it looks like Cleveland woke a sleeping giant.  The way they eliminated the Indians and deflated the hopes of a whole region was almost cruel and unruly.  It was like watching Ivan Drago kill Apollo Creed in Rocky 4.  Can Colorado rise up and defeat them, or has Boston already won the battle?

Game one didn’t do anything to dispel these thoughts.  Blame it on the lay-off if you wish, but after one inning it was clear that Colorado was next on Boston’s hit list.  Josh Beckett made their hitters look foolish by striking out the side and JD Drew led the way with an RBI double in the bottom half of the inning.  It was all hugs and high-fives from there as they scored a record setting 13 runs in the series opener. By the fifth inning. 

They also set tied the World Series record for doubles in a game.  Out of everything, maybe the most amazing feat was their two-out rally in the fifth inning where they hit through the order.  In 527 World Series games this had never happened before. 

This isn’t the same team that was on the brink of elimination a few weeks ago. At that point Dustin Pedroia was struggling through his first postseason and was hitting .172, since the team’s turnaround he is 8-for-18 with two homers, three doubles, and six RBI.  Oh, and the fans don’t boo anymore when JD Drew comes to the plate, they’re chant his name now, and why not, the guy has been a catalyst for this offense over the last four games as well. Now with Coco Crisp on the bench and Jacoby Ellsbury in center, their foes have little left to exploit.

With the emergence of these players this is the most potent offense in baseball.  Even  David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez, whose names are now littered throughout the postseason record books, have taken it to a whole new level.  If it seems like these guys are get on base every time they come to the plate, it’s because they do.  Out of their combined 100 plate appearances they’ve reached safely 58 times.  Don’t forget about Josh Beckett either, the best big game pitcher in the major leagues, who has been Gibson-esque with his 1.20 ERA and 10.5 K/9 ratio.

This is the hottest team we’ve seen, since, well the 2004 Red Sox.  The fact that the Rockies haven’t lost a game since September 28, all-of-the sudden pales in comparison to the Red Sox 43-6 trouncing of their opponents over their last four games. No team has even reeled off three games in which they scored in double figures in postseason play, and their run differential in this span is an American League record.  This isn’t supposed to happen in October. Especially when two of the pitchers you faced are legitimate Cy Young candidates.

Can anyone beat them, or is Colorado in for more of the same?  They have been resilient all year, which is why we are watching them, but the regular season doesn’t matter come playoff time.  If it did then Fausto Carmona and CC Sabathia would have been able to pitch in the ALCS.  So we are left looking at history.  If it means anything, it tells us that the Rockies still have a shot.  In 1960 the Yankees’ defeated the Pirates by scores of 16-3, 10-0 and 12-0, but they ended up winning the Series in seven games.  In 1996 Atlanta beat the Yankees in New York 12-1 in Game 1 and 4-0 in Game 2, but dropped the next 4.  

Unfortunately, I don’t think the Rockies are the ‘96 Yankees, and I don’t think Bill Mazeroski will be showing up with a miracle homerun anytime soon . It’s unfortunate, because I think the Rockies got hurt by that lay-off more than we’ll ever know.  When you’re team’s playing like that you want to get on the field everyday, sometimes twice.  If the Red Sox would have swept the Indians then we’re talking about how they lost their steam.  I don’t think this thing will end in a sweep, Colorado’s the best team in the NL (or at least it’s representative), but I’ll be suprised if they win more than a game.  If they want to have a shot they need to have things evened up before game five.  They can’t afford to be playing must-win ball with Beckett back on the mound in game five.  Boston might be like Drago, but I don’t think anyone is going to be knocking them out anytime soon.