The Rockies started off slow just as anybody would start off an ice cold Coors in April, but just after the All-Star break the Rockies have powered their way close to a .700 record turning that blue bottle label white hot indicating it’s time to pound! The Rockies have pounded the ball and surprised us with some decent pitching as well. The Rockies took the wild card lead back by one game today, and they truly look like the force they were in their last playoff run in 2007. The Rox 2.0 just picked up Jason Giambi, who arrived in Colorado today.
They have added him as a pinch hitter plus a sub for Helton to keep that always troublesome back of his from acting up. Giambino made his first NL atbat of his career tonight that netted a bases loaded RBI walk. He knows he’s not a major piece, but feels he can help them out with his experience saying “There is no small role when you’re in a pennant race.” The Rockies also added Jose Contreras from the White Sox for a minor league pitcher yesterday who should fill in nicely for injured starter Aaron Cook. He should get his first start this Saturday. The move from AL to NL has been very kind to many pitchers that were performing at a much lower level (See Smoltz).
Their closest competitors are the Giants, which I unfortunately don’t see them hanging in there. I hope they can pull it out, because they have great pitching that would be fun to see in the playoffs. They still can’t consistently score runs though. They never really filled that hitting void that everyone was talking about for the months leading up to the trade deadline. It feels like they just have big holes in their lineup where you decide, they won’t score this inning before they even bat. They were shut out tonight, which could have been Hamels brilliance, but it could just as easily been that they don’t have that many good hitters. Freddy Sanchez and his continually delayed return could help a little, but they need some more power. He wasn’t the guy they should’ve gone for at the trade deadline. Penny just signed with SF, and just like the cases mentioned earlier going from the AL to the NL should treat him well or at least descent.
Zito is quietly throwing up lots of zeros on the scoreboard. It’s unfortunate that he hasn’t pitched to the level of his contract, but this is a start.
The Braves and Marlins are the next closest teams to them, but seem to have trouble playing any better than .500 ball as both teams have been just above or below there all season. I think the Wild Card winner should be a good 8 games over .500, at least we’ll hope that’s the case! Tim Hudson made his return tonight for Atlanta, and pitched pretty well. That has to help the Braves chances if he can stay healthy. He’s always been a big competitor, and should give them everything he can. I do like the makeup of the Braves, but they’ll need their pitching to step up especially Lowe. I just saw that Hanley left the game tonight in Florida with some more of that hamstring tightness he seems to have a lot of. They can ill afford to lose him, and if they do you can kiss goodbye to the wild card spot.
Ultimately I think it’s the Rockies spot to lose, since they have been consistently playing better than the other teams in the hunt over the second half of the season. I don’t care if the Giants swept them in a series, and they lost a couple more.
They could have broken the spirits of the Giants, but now I believe it’s just a minor stumble as they are now back in first. Another reason I attach myself to the Rockies, is because they have some former A’s players on their team. With the addition of Giambi, it’s too hard to resist picking them. Carlos Gonzalez homered tonight, and he’s heated to white label hot over the last month! I hate second guessing things, but I wonder if we should have kept him over trading for Holliday. We’ll have to see how Brett Wallace turns out to answer that one, on another post.
Back in the first week of August, I wrote 
Last season there were only three teams that didn’t sell out games and not surprisingly the list was Oakland, Detroit, and St. Louis. They combined for a total of nine blacked out games last season. I can’t blame any of the fans for not going to those games though, especially since I’m a Raiders fan and value paying to see them as much as going to see “
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a fair weather fan, I’ll always be a fan of the A’s, Raiders, and Warriors which sholuld say enough looking at their track records this past decade. I’ll root for all the Oakland teams no matter where I live, but every sports fan has “other teams” or man crushes on a certain players so we follow them. If they’re in the local media market, they are certainly going to be watched. That won’t happen if eight of a teams games are being blacked out. How can anyone get attached to a player or team that isn’t shoved down your throat? It won’t happen, and that’s why this rule that’s older than Al Davis needs to be changed.
Chris Carter, who was the main reason for my attending the game, did not disappoint. I missed his first at-bat, where he flew out to right field. In his second at-bat, however, he came to the plate with the bases loaded, after a Matt Carson single, and back to back walks to Brett Wallace and Aaron Cunningham. Perhaps the most important note is Carter’s music. He walked to the plate to the tune of E-40 and Keak the Sneak. Gotta love that! Anyway, with the River Cats holding a 1-0 lead, he pulled a Ryan Sadowski fastball down the left field line for a bases-clearing, 3 run double that rolled all the way to the fence. In his next AB, he roped a broken bat RBI single to left for his 4th RBI of the night. I made my departure before his next plate appearance, but he finished the night 3-5 with 4 RBI. Not bad at all for his AAA debut. Let’s just hope he finishes out the year here, as opposed to being rushed to the majors for the pointless final month of the season. 
On the Giants’ side, Buster Posey looked TERRIBLE. In the only AB I remember, he hit a very weak grounder up the middle, but he did manage to beat it out for an infield single. Behind the plate, there were three plays that stood out to me. First, he caught a Sadowski fastball, with his facemask. The batter didn’t even swing, so he must’ve been expecting a breaking ball. Either way, it was NOT pretty. Next, he tried to gun down Eric Patterson stealing second. No catcher will have much chance catching him, but Posey bounced one in front of the bag that rolled into center field, allowing Patterson to advance to third, and a run to score. The next inning, Posey did it again. With Carson on the move – not exactly Usain Bolt on the basepaths – Posey rushed the throw and sailed it into center field, again allowing the runner to take third as well.
This off-season has been highlighted by Cable’s haymaker, but I’d say that last season’s Jevon Walker saga was much more dysfunctional. At least this season, it was football related. Plus, I really like that he did it. It makes me feel like he really cares. Whatever happens, I’m glad we have a coach that gets fired up enough to sock someone. If I was a player, he’d have my respect instantly. Anyways, if we’re going to win a significant amount of games this season it all falls on Jemarcus and his ability to lead this offense.
Jevon Walker made his first appearance 
They could address a number of needs and still have a two headed monster that teams covet in the backfield. They don’t even need to go for a receiver that I stated they need so desperately. They could upgrade the offensive or defensive line. In this scenario, I’d much rather see Fargas go as he runs into his own linemen more than tacklers, but if it takes Bush to make a drastic improvement in any of the above mentioned areas, I’m all for it. I’m not saying that Mr. Davis would make a sensible move such as this one, but we can hope. I’m ready for the Chargers on the Monday edition of season openers!
With the PGA Season wrapping up, it’s time to evaluate whether anyone not named Tiger has a chance to win the Player of the Year honors pending the FedEx Cup results. It’s almost a given each year that Tiger will win the award, but sometimes there are a few players that give Tiger a run for his money. I have no idea how they figure out who had the best season or what the exact criteria is, but here are some of my picks for players that had a good enough season to be considered!
He is the only player to post a win in a major and a win in another PGA tournament. His year will undoubtedly be known for beating the best player in the world in the final pairing of the PGA Championship. He showed us something that nobody else has, he can fist pump as good as Tiger when making a charge in the final round. He is easily the runner up for player of the year in my mind. I hope we get to see him and Tiger can battle it out again in the FedEx Cup.
He won the next weekend as well. Perry also had the lead in the Masters through 16 holes. He needed to finish with a par and a bogey to win. His chipping hurt him as he finished with two straight bogeys and handed the trophy over to Cink.
He is also the golfer who played the least PGA events (21) on my player of the year list. He either needs a new pair of shades or to grow a little taller before you’ll find me rooting for him.
Brett Favre made his “comeback” Friday night in Minneapolis and left much to be desired. Favre completed just one of four pass attempts, a four yard completion to rookie Percy Harvin. I know often times a box score doesn’t tell the whole story, but did anyone in Minnesota or Kansas City catch the game? Was their any silver lining in this performance? Was their a lack of protection? Or did Favre simply complete another phase in the decline of a legend? Post a comment if you watched the game.
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cali4dre
chappy81
dyslecix
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Doin Work 