These aren't your grandfather's Rockies.
Then again, the Colorado franchise didn't even come into existence until 1993, so you're grandfather didn't even have Rockies.
But these aren't your dad's Rockies, either. They're not even your older brother's Rockies!
Heck, these aren't even your Rockies of one month ago!
Who are these guys? It's a simple question, but one that is difficult to answer for the common baseball fan. So, allow to me make it easier for everyone to answer that question by introducing you to one of the greatest Cinderella stories in Major League Baseball history, the 2007 Colorado Rockies.
Starting at the top of the starting lineup:
1. Willy Taveras — Setting the table for the Rockies throughout the second half of the season, Taveras hit .320 and was seventh in the National League with 33 stolen bases despite recording just 372 official at-bats. By Rockies standards, the center fielder is almost a seasoned veteran at 25-years-old. As a rookie in 2005 with the Astros, Taveras led the major leagues in bunt hits, infield hits, and singles. Clearly, he is a terror for opposing defenses and pitchers, not only on the basepaths, but also at the plate. In what looks like an outrageously one-sided deal in Colorado's favor, the Rockies acquired Taveras (and pitcher Taylor Buchholz and Jason Hirsh) prior to this season from Houston in exchange for Jason Jennings and Miguel Asensio. It's paying dividends so far.
2. Kazuo Matsui — It didn't quite work out for Matsui as a New York Met, but it's all changed now that he is a member of the Colorado Rockies. After being traded midway through the 2006 season, Matsui hit .345 the rest of the way and stole eight bases, more than his entire total from 2005. This year, he hit .288 and swiped 32 bases, exceeding his previous season-best by 18 steals despite playing in only 104 games. Matsui has really been on fire this postseason, hitting .418. The second baseman belted a grand slam in Game 2 of the NLDS against Philadelphia and in the same night, he became the second player in baseball history (in addition to Lou Brock) to hit a home run, a triple, and a double in one postseason game.
3. Matt Holliday — He's still not as big of a name as his numbers would suggest, but this is still a guy who every baseball fan should by now. After all, he will probably be named your 2007 National League MVP following the World Series. The left fielder hit .340 this season, slugged .607, blasted 36 home runs, crossed the plate 120 times, drove in 137 runs, and added 11 stolen bases for good measure. He also, of course, scored the controversial winning run in the 13th inning of the one-game playoff against San Diego. Holliday is in his fourth season in the Majors and is without question the franchise player in Colorado. If the Rockies are to cap off this shocking season with an upset in the World Series, Holliday will have to continue his torrid pace at the plate. There's no reason to think he won't.
4. Todd Helton — This is the guy who needs no introduction. Helton has been the face of this franchise since really breaking onto the scene in 1998. The first baseman is a lifetime .332 hitter with 303 career home runs and 1088 RBIs. At long last, he is making his first postseason appearance, and while he hasn't exactly been lighting up the box scores this October, he is still the veteran leader on this team. In case you don't know, Helton had a scholarship to Tennessee to play both baseball and football. He backed up Heath Schuler his first two seasons, took over as starter after Jerry Colquitt got injured the following year, then was replaced by none other than Peyton Manning after he went down with an injury of his own later that season.
5. Garrett Atkins — The third baseman reached the big leagues in 2005 and finished fourth in Rookie of the Year voting. He's really taken off since then, posting big numbers in each of the past two seasons. While his 2007 campaign was not quite as productive as his sophomore season with Colorado, Atkins still hit .301 and drove in 111 runs while belting 25 homers. Atkins chose to play baseball at UCLA rather than sign with the New York Mets, who drafted him out of high school in 1997. At UCLA, Atkins was teammates with Phillies' star 2B Chase Utley — one of the Rockies' first-round sweep victims.
6. Brad Hawpe — Like Atkins, Hawpe started making his presence felt with the Rockies in 2005, five years after being drafted by Colorado in the 11th round. It was not until this year, however, that Atkins' bat really started to produce. The right fielder enjoyed a career year in the regular season, hitting .291 and easily setting career marks in home runs (29), RBIs (116), and runs scored (80). Hawpe won the national championship as an LSU Tiger, so he probably has more late-season baseball experience than any Colorado player had prior to 2007.
7. Troy Tulowitzki — Go ahead and hand this guy the Rookie of the Year award. He's only 23-years-old, but he is already a leader both in the clubhouse and on the field. And on the field the shortstop does it with both his bat and his glove. It's probably hard to believe this, but just look at these fielding numbers: He led all shortstops in fielding percentage (.987), putouts (262), total chances (834), assists (561), and double plays turned (114). At the plate, he hit .291 with 24 home runs, 99 RBIs, and 104 runs scored. He also slugged 33 doubles and legged out five triples. Tulowitzki is the future of the Colorado Rockies, and the future is now.
8. Yorvit Torrealba — Torrealba was traded to the Rockies following the 2005 season after Seattle signed Kenji Johjima to be its starting catcher. Torrealba started this year platooning behind the plate with rookie Chris Iannetta, but Iannetta struggled so Torrealba soon took over full-time. His numbers at the plate aren't anything to write home about, but just like almost all the other Rockies, he is rock solid on defense. Let's also not overlook the fact that Torrealba crushed a three-run homer off Livan Hernandez that provided the winning margin in Colorado's Game 3 win over Arizona in the NLCS. In case you were wondering, his parents gave him the name Yorvit when they could not decide between Yorman and Victor.
Don't be ashamed to admit it if you've only barely ever heard of the pitchers that make up Colorado's postseason starting rotation. In fact, there's a good chance you've probably never heard of two of the four. Jeff Francis and Josh Fogg, at 26-years-old and 30, respectively, are the veteran anchors of the staff. Francis, the ace, went 17-9 in the regular season and you have to think his 4.22 ERA would have been well under 4.00 if he didn't have to pitch half of his games in thin air. He started Game 1 in both postseason series and he is 2-0 with a 2.13 ERA, 12 strikeouts, and three walks. Fogg won 10 games in the regular season and posted a decent (by Colorado standards) 4.94 ERA. In two postseason starts, Fogg is 2-0 with an incredibly impressive 1.13 ERA.
Youngsters — and unknowns — Ubaldo Jimenez and Franklin Morales round out the staff. Jimenez went 4-4 with a 4.28 in 15 starts for the Rockies this season. The right-hander did not win either of his starts against the Phillies and Diamondbacks, but in 11 and 1/3 post-season innings, he has allowed just eight hits and two runs. Morales bounced around between AAA and the big leagues throughout the season. In eight starts with Colorado, he went 3-2 and posted an impressive 3.43 ERA. Morales, a southpaw, is lethal against left-handed hitters. They are hitting just .129 against him while righties are batting .273. Morales' one postseason start came in Game 4 in the NLCS when he held the Diamondbacks to just one run over four innings.
24-year-old Manny Corpas is the team's closer, a role he has filled admirably since taking over for Brian Fuentes following the All-Star Break. Corpas finished the year with a 4-2 record and a phenomenal 2.08 ERA. He converted 19 of his 22 save opportunities and in 78 innings he struck out 58 batters and walked just 20.
What is the sum of these parts? Quite simply a National League pennant and a berth in the 2007 World Series. How the Rockies did it, though, was by no means simple. They were six games behind wild card-leading San Diego on September 1, an afterthought in the playoff race. But that's when Colorado caught fire, as the Rockies went 20-8 in September and won 13 of their last 14 games.
The last time a team went on a streak like the Rockies did to end the regular was back in 1977 when the Kasas City Royals started September 23-1 en route to a 102-win season. Guess who was a rookie on that team? None other than current Rockies' manager Clint Hurdle.
They didn't have the best hitting, they didn't have the best pitching (they never have and never will in Colorado) and their roster certainly doesn't consist of the biggest names. They did it by getting scorching hot at the right time and by playing consistently phenomenal defense throughout the season. In fact, the Rockies set a single-season record for fielding percentage (.98925).
Ladies and gentlemen, these are your 2007 National League champions.
And if the Boston Red Sox aren't careful, these might be your 2007 World Series champions.
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