The evening started out well enough with the Diamondbacks jumping out to a one run lead. The best part of that storyline was that it was Micah Owings who scored the run after he had gotten an infield hit. That little bit of optimism was all that the Diamondbacks could hope for but that was soon dashed when the wheels fell off the Diamondbacks team bus allowing the Rockies to score 6 runs in the 4th inning to take a 6-1 lead. It looked pretty hopeless for the snakes. You could just sense that televisions everywhere were being switched to a different channel, the outcome of this too painful for the faint of heart. The Diamondbacks though would mount a valiant comeback scoring 3 runs in the eighth inning and have the tying run at the plate. Like many times in this series that runner was stranded as were the dreams of the Diamondbacks. In the ninth inning they again brought the tying run to the plate this time in the form of Eric Byrnes who has been their best hitter all season. Unfortunately the ball continued to bounce against the Diamondbacks when Byrnes with a check swing grounded out to end the game and the Diamondbacks season.

After winning their divisional series against the Chicago Cubs the Diamondbacks came face-to-face with a white hot team that just seemed to get all the calls and all the bounces. They took advantage of each of those and came out victorious. The Colorado Rockies are headed to the World Series and the Arizona Diamondbacks are headed back to Phoenix. After a brief hiatus team officials will regroup and begin planning for 2008.

There were a lot of things that went right this season and while we may be disappointed to see the season end we can’t help but be proud of the job this team has done representing Arizona not only in the post season but all year. Having the youngest team in the major leagues this team overcame a lot of adversity including losing three of their most productive players before the season ended and still somehow found themselves battling for a berth to the World Series. If anyone would have suggested in February that on October 15 we would be watching the Diamondbacks lose the NLCS we would have been thrilled that the team had gotten this far. Unlike last off-season the Diamondbacks have very few holes to fill in their roster and are very close to returning everyone for another run at the Rockies and the National League pennant. With the exception of Livan Hernandez who will be a free agent the remainder of the pitching staff will be returning. Randy Johnson should be available for spring training and hopefully will be healthy for a whole season. Micah Owings seems to have pitched and hit himself into the starting rotation and Edgar Gonzalez appears to be becoming more consistent and could find himself in the rotation as well.

The core group of position players will be returning as well. Justin Upton has now had not only major league experience but post season experience and he had some success. This should bode well for his development going into Spring Training. Mark Reynolds likewise has successfully made the jump to the major league and post season ranks which will help him gain a little more confidence. These two will be very important in 2008 since they will be filling a couple of holes left from players who might not make it back in time for the season to start. Chad Tracy is recovering from micro-fracture knee surgery and might not be available until May depending on rehabilitation. Carlos Quentin struggled all year with an injured shoulder which has been surgically repaired. I’ve gone through that procedure three times and I can safely predict he may not be available until May or June at the earliest. Tony Clark is a free agent after this season and I hope that the Diamondbacks can come to some kind of agreement to bring him back. He was instrumental in helping many of these young players and it would be heart breaking for him to leave and go elsewhere. Orlando Hudson should be at full strength well before Spring Training which means there may be a log-jam at middle infield with Drew, Hudson, Ojeda, Callaspo, and Bonifacio. I would expect to see some of this young talent packaged together for a possible deal for pitching (you can never have too much pitching).

So on a cold autumn Denver evening with forecasts of potential freezing rain and snow the Diamondbacks 2007 magical run came to an end. While it hurt to see them walk off the field in defeat especially at the hands of the Colorado Rockies, I am still filled with optimism that this Diamondbacks team has the talent and the leadership necessary to compete for several years. I’m hoping what we just witnessed was the beginning of a streak where the Diamondbacks become a fixture in the NLCS and beyond into the World Series. And next April when the gates open to Chase Field for Opening Day I’ll be there with my seat cushion and my scorebook waiting for the first pitch.

As one of the “elder statesmen” of the Arizona Diamondbacks (on this team anyone over age 28 classifies as an “elder statesman”) Eric Byrnes has attempted to help these young kids deal with the pressures of post season baseball. For most of the players on the Arizona Diamondbacks this is their first trip to the play-offs and playing October baseball. It is therefore important for them to understand that the game really isn’t all that different than what they have gone through in the previous 162 regular season games. They need to know that even though they are down 0-2 in this series it isn’t the end of the world. Byrnes attempted to explain that and as a result he seems to have angered the fans in Denver Colorado.

I think we’re a good team, I also don’t think the Rockies have outplayed us, because they haven’t. Not even close. They’ve had a little luck go their way. Definitely, the ball has bounced in their direction. They’ve been the beneficiary of some calls. So when we look at that as a group, we look back on those first two games, we have not been outplayed. If anything, I think it’s the other way around, so that gives us confidence knowing that we can play with them. That and the fact that we faced them about 9,000 times this year. We are not really fazed by what’s going on right now.

Coming from any other player this might seem like a slight to their opponent but that is just Eric Byrnes. What he was trying to convey was that sometimes luck plays a huge part in determining the outcome of a series and right now the Rockies are cornering the market on being lucky. Of course Mr. Bonehead – “the Great Troy Tulowitzki” saw it differently, He uttered the magnificent retort “That’s fine if they’ve outplayed us, we’re up 2-0 and we’re here to win.” Wow really? The Rockies are here to win? When did that happen? I thought the Rockies and in particular “the great Troy Tulowitzki” was only here for comic relief to kill time until the World Series started. The media loves comments like those by Eric Byrnes as it allows them to play up the fact that the ball has bounced favorably for the Colorado Rockies not just in this series but pretty much for the last month. They have spun that to decree the Colorado Rockies as a team of destiny. If we disregard the idiotic statements from the Rockies mediocre shortstop and those penned by the pseudo-journalist Jeff Passan, I think Byrnes comments present an interesting question, does luck equate to destiny?

I don’t think even “the great Troy Tulowitzki” can argue that during their past 20 games the Colorado Rockies have been the recipient of more than their share of lucky bounces. Does that mean that the Rockies are not a good baseball team? Certainly not in fact I would argue that it means they are a great baseball team since they have taken advantage of each of those lucky breaks to their advantage. A prime example of this luck occurred in tonight’s game when the Diamondbacks had runners on first and second base. A hard hit ball was laced back up the middle and the pitcher in self-defense lifted his glove to protect himself and the ball fell in it. That was pure luck both catching the ball and not getting killed but it did not end there. The pitcher turned and threw out the runner who was moving on a hit-and-run for a double play. That is taking advantage of the lucky break that you received. Now, does this luck equate to the Rockies being a better team or outplaying the Diamondbacks? Not at all; I would argue the opposite was true that the Rockies won despite their opponent outplaying them. Does having luck all fall in place to win 20 of their previous 21 games make the Colorado Rockies a team of destiny? That is a little tougher call. We have no way of knowing at this point whether the Rockies are destined to go to the World Series and even if they do we have no way of knowing whether they will be victorious. I’m sure if we ask “the great Troy Tulowitzki” he will have some tidbit of wisdom about how to play the game and respect your opponent and never stare down a winning streak but as usual none of that would be pertinent to the discussion. I don’t think the Rockies are any more destined to be world champions than I think the 2004 Red Sox or the 2001 Diamondbacks were destined to win. I think it is only a matter of time until the ball stops bouncing the Rockies way. It will be at that moment that we will learn what this team is made of. Can then contend with the American League champion when they don’t get all the breaks? If the answer to that is yes then they may be a team of destiny. If the answer however is no then they will just be a team that like a Vegas gambler just got on a great lucky streak and should have quit when they were ahead. And you can take that to the bank “the great Troy Tulowitzki”.

It’s funny how the press has decided what was newsworthy from this series. Instead of focusing on the game on the field or the inconsistency of subjective rules such as 7.09 they chose to cast their magnifying glass on the fans of Phoenix. Leading up to Game 1 the radio waves and print media were filled with stories about how the Diamondbacks could not sell out a game and how apathetic the fans were. Yahoo! Sports hack Jeff Passan who hasn’t written anything resembling journalism since he was an intern for the Washington Post in 2002 was especially critical in his description of the stands during game 1. About the only part of his story that I found appropriate was the fact that Yahoo had provided him tickets in the nosebleed section of Chase Field. I’m sure if they could have they would have given him tickets on the roof or the parking garage. His description of Section 307 Row 40 was accurate at first pitch which occurred at 5:30 PM local time. What Passan didn’t disclose was that two of the valley’s major freeway systems that feed the downtown area were blocked down to one lane due to an accident and commuting gridlock. If Passan had remained for the whole game instead of hurrying back to his hotel to post his column so that he could go have some dinner he would have seen that by the second inning the stands were filled and the game was indeed a sell-out. Like most facts that one eluded Jeff Passan.

When the apathy card ceased to work the media turned their attention to the “rowdy” fans in the stands who threw debris onto the field during the seventh inning. According to police reports there were 10 arrests made during Game 1 and none of these were related to fans throwing things onto the field. The arrests were actually a fight that occurred between Diamondbacks fans and Rockies fans in the upper deck that turned to blows resulting in some blood loss (I’m not sure whether the blood was Sedona Red or purple). For all we know that fight may have been caused by Jeff Passan as he rushed to the exit to beat the crowds. It is journalists such as Passan that prove the theory proposed by Jorge Luis Borges that if you put an army of monkeys in a room filled with typewriters given enough time they may randomly type the complete works of William Shakespeare. All of these “reporters” who rushed to their computers or their microphones to condemn the Diamondbacks fans should have watched more closely. In those sections where bottles and trash were being thrown there were fans pointing out the perpetrators to security who removed the troublemakers from the stands. We may not have agreed with Larry “the lizard” Vanover but that doesn’t mean you have the right to brand an entire fan base. Perhaps if you showed up to more than one series during a season you could make a better value judgment of what kind of fans there are in Arizona.

The Diamondbacks had high hopes for Game 2 with Doug Davis on the mound. The game was much closer than Game 1 and it almost looked as though Arizona had figured out a way to even the series. The Diamondbacks got to Rockies closer Manny Corpas and tied the game in the ninth inning despite the efforts by Larry “the lizard” Vanover. For the second night in a row he found a way to insert himself into the flow of the game. Moving from second base to first base Larry “the lizard” was able to determine whether a hitter went around with a swing on an appeal by the catcher. He called every appeal a strike. A guy could shrug his shoulders and according to Larry “the lizard” that was a strike. I will give him credit he was consistent, he botched calls for both teams. Unfortunately the Diamondbacks were trying to be a little more patient than the Rockies and therefore had a few more go against them.

I can’t put all the blame on Larry “the lizard” though. Jose Valverde pretty much fell apart in the eleventh inning. After getting two men out he fielded a dribbler down the third base line and touched the foul line. That seemed to really freak him out and after that he couldn’t seem to throw a strike walking in what would be the winning run. It was a tough loss and now the Diamondbacks have to head to Colorado down 0-2 in the series. It’s weird because watching these two games the Diamondbacks have outplayed the Rockies yet find themselves winless.

Chris Snyder began the inning with a double down the left field line. The fans who had been quieted down after the Rockies had taken the lead got to their feet and cheered for the home team. Perhaps this was the inning where the Diamondbacks would come back. The next batter was right fielder Justin Upton who was hit by a pitch. Upton obviously was not thrilled to be the recipient of a Jeff Francis “inside pitch”. From the stands there seemed to be nothing out of the ordinary with Upton going to first base. Colorado Rockies rookie shortstop (the key word here is “rookie”) saw it differently.

When he got hit in that situation, that’s obviously the last thing Jeff is trying to do. I didn’t appreciate him staring down Jeff. In that situation, you should be happy you got hit by a pitch and you should just be quiet and go to first base.

We as humble Arizona Diamondbacks fans apologize to the great Troy Tulowitzki. Given his vast experience and knowledge of baseball, we come to grovel at his feet and beg for his forgiveness. I had no idea that the appropriate protocol after being drilled by a pitch was to show joy and happiness and skip to first base and thank the baseball gods for allowing you to reach base successfully. Perhaps what is needed is an object lesson so that the great Troy Tulowitzki can demonstrate how you should best handle a situation such as this. I propose that in game 2 the Diamondbacks bring in reliever Tony Pena and allow him to put a 97 mile per hour fastball directly in the center of the back of the great Troy Tulowitzki’s number 2 jersey. Then we can all observe as he quietly walks to first base thanking Pena for the opportunity to be on base. The alternative of course is for the great Troy Tulowitzki to shut his mouth and play baseball like the rookie that he is. No one wants to hear his attitude or his opinion on the proper way to conduct yourself after being hit by a pitch. Last time I looked he was 0-3 at that juncture of the game with a strike-out, he hit into a double play, and left 5 guys on base. Yeah those are great numbers for a “role model”. The great Troy Tulowitzki just made my list of guys to boo mercilessly and to heckle until he goes back into the dugout crying. He seriously needs to shut up and play.

With Snyder still on second and now Upton on first with no outs the fans were beginning to get loud cheering for the home team. Second baseman Augie Ojeda came to the plate and did the one thing everyone in attendance was praying he would not do. He hit a ground ball to the third baseman. Justin Upton came into second base hoping he could break up the double play keeping the rally going. He slid and he definitely reached the bag. As he came up his elbow came out and caught Rockies second baseman Kaz Matsui. Second base umpire Larry Vanover (another name that will be permanently removed from my Christmas card list) made a very poor subjective call claiming Upton interfered with the play calling not only Upton out but also Augie Ojeda and requiring Chris Snyder to return to second base. The call was ridiculous. Upton came into the base no differently than any other runner during that game or at any time in the post season. Vanover decided in his infinite wisdom that he needed to be involved in the outcome of the game placing his own subjective viewpoints into this critical game juncture. Upton attempted to state his case to the umpire while the great Troy Tulowitzki felt this somehow vindicated his team because of the unsportsmanlike staring that had gone on after Upton was hit by a pitch. Again, the great Troy Tulowitzki needs to just shut up. Larry ‘the lizard” Vanover did not want to listen to Justin Upton and immediately dismissed the outfielder turning his back signaling that the conversation was over. Diamondbacks manager Bob Melvin came out of the dugout to argue on behalf of his player but he likewise was dismissed. Vanover’s body language was arrogant and unapologetic. He never asked for assistance from his fellow umpires nor did he consult with crew chief Tim McClelland. Instead he stood by his erroneous subjective decision. It is at this point that I am most shocked and proud of what happened. The fans at Chase Field, all 48,142 of them were on their feet. Those that were cheering for the Diamondbacks which made up probably 80 percent were booing at the top of their lungs. I have never heard such a concerted effort in my life. These fans were passionate and wanted the world to know how badly their team just got screwed. The volume was incredible and the duration was amazing. Of course when that many fans are so passionate about their team’s misfortunes there will be some that take it a step further. From the stands flew empty water bottles, empty plastic beer bottles, and just about anything else that was not tied down. The problem was that none of these fans had the arm strength necessary for any of this debris to fall at the feet of Larry “the lizard” Vanover.

I am not condoning fans throwing things onto the field. Quite the contrary, I think it is normally a bad idea for fans to throw anything onto the field (with the possible exception that I would be very appreciative if someone were to throw Rally Sally onto the field preferably from the upper deck). But in this case if an umpire is going to make a garbage call I can totally see where some fans might believe it is appropriate that the umpire have other garbage at his feet to put the call into its proper perspective.

The debris and the booing continued for quite some time. It was obvious that the fans were just not going to let this go. Rockies Manager Clint Hurdle started to get frustrated. I think he was more frustrated with the fact that his pitcher was losing control and now the sound was deafening to the point that it would be impossible for him to get his composure but he couldn’t very well say that so he approached reincarnation of Satan umpire crew and asked for their assistance. The umpires who at this point were probably beginning to wonder whether there was enough security personnel in the state of Arizona to protect them if 48,142 people decided to take matters into their own hands did the only thing they could collectively think of, they pulled the players off the field for “safety reasons”. This action of course only made things worse since the fans now felt that they could have an impact upon the game. The booing intensified the whole time the players were off the field. The Diamondbacks public address announcer was doing his best to try and articulate the gravity of the situation and ask for fans not to throw objects onto the playing field (unless it is Rally Sally – ok I made that last part up). The problem was that the fans were drowning out the Chase Field sound system. This emotional outcry went on for 8 minutes which I think is a record in Arizona. Finally players returned to the field amid even more booing and play resumed. For the remainder of the night the natives were definitely restless and everyone fully expected another outburst if another questionable call was made.

I think Major League Baseball took for granted that the fans in Arizona were docile and unable to express any emotion. They just figured that it didn’t matter what they did the fans would just roll over and accept it. They couldn’t do that in Philadelphia, New York, or Boston but in Arizona they thought they could get away with it. This event might just be the catalyst for creating a society of diehard baseball fans who don’t let the teams or the umpires get away with anything. In that sense I am very proud of what the Diamondbacks fans accomplished tonight. Now if we can just plunk that bonehead “the great Troy Tulowitzki” then I would be a happy camper.

My dreams tonight were slightly more stressful than those I had 6 years ago. Then I was thinking of how dominating the Diamondbacks pitching staff was lead by Cy Young Award winner Randy Johnson and his equally dominating side kick Curt Schilling. Now I am waking up in a cold sweat thinking about which Livan Hernandez will show up for Game 3 and if Doug Davis has fixed his mechanics problem where he was tipping his pitches. I tossed and turned in bed; my mind racing wondering whether we would see the near flawless Stephen Drew that we watched during the Divisional Series against the Chicago Cubs or would we be watching the Stephen Drew that committed 17 errors during the regular season and had a batting average of .238? How much would this team miss the gold glove of Orlando Hudson at second base? Would Chris Young and Eric Byrnes be patient enough with Rockies pitching or would they be too aggressive and get themselves out while keeping the pitch count low for Colorado pitchers? Could the Diamondbacks somehow shut down the potent offense of the Colorado Rockies and would it be possible for any of the Diamondbacks pitchers to finally figure out a way to shut down Brad Hawpe? Even more frightening, would Diamondbacks closer Jose Valverde be the dominating all-star that he has been for most of the season or would he become the reincarnation of the 2001 Byung-Hyun Kim meltdown at Yankee Stadium? With all of these questions it’s no wonder I can’t sleep. But even with all of the anxiety there is something more.

I laid there in bed staring at the ceiling but not really seeing it at all. Instead the room seemed to open up to the sights and sounds of Chase Field. I could see the warm afternoon sun glistening on the façade of the stadium as fans began to arrive. The sounds of the gates opening up filled the room. I could see the friendly faces of the Diamondbacks staff as they welcomed us to an historic event with the continuation of the impossible dream as the Arizona Diamondbacks appeared in just their second National League Championship Series. The quiet concourse erupting in excitement as fans entered the stadium to take in the sights and sounds of play-off baseball. I could see the freshly cut grass on the field and admired the NLCS logos that would be painted in front of each dugout. The Diamondbacks hitters were entering the batting cages taking their swings and preparing for game 1 of the series. I watched as the fielders glided along the outfield grass shagging balls and tossing some of them into the stands to cheering fans. The stadium was filled with the aromas of baseball. From the fresh cut grass in the outfield to the smells of grilled onions and sausages from Hungry Hill, everything seemed perfect. With all of this going on how could I possibly be expected to sleep? This is what every fan dreams of. Their team is playing in the post season for an opportunity to go to the World Series. Maybe this isn’t real. Maybe I am dreaming this whole scenario. If it is a dream I don’t want to wake up.

Thankfully there were no injuries during the first round of the play-offs so the same players are available to choose from for this series that were available last series. In a seven game series given the scheduling nuances it is possible to go with a three man rotation for starting pitchers. I don’t think that would be a wise idea since ace Brandon Webb has never pitched on short rest and he is coming off a season where he has thrown a career high number of innings. I would therefore stick with a 4 man rotation in this round as well. The only problem I see is that with the sweep of the Chicago Cubs, Diamondbacks starter Micah Owings missed his start meaning the rookie has not been in a game situation since September 27. It is unclear what impact if any this may have. For the National League Championship I would carry the following pitchers:

• Starting Pitchers
• Brandon Webb
• Doug Davis
• Livan Hernandez
• Micah Owings
• Relief Pitchers
• Juan Cruz
• Edgar Gonzalez
• Brandon Lyon
• Dustin Nippert
• Tony Pena
• Doug Slaten
• Jose Valverde

This season MLB added an additional off-day into the schedule for the NLCS in part to overcome any potential weather issues similar to what was experienced in St. Louis and Detroit last season. The extra day not only helps the starting pitchers but also works in favor of the relievers allowing you to carry one less pitcher than you would normally have to. I have therefore gone with 11 pitchers for this series. I gave the nod to Dustin Nippert from the mere fact that I think his numbers are better against the Rockies. His height plays to his advantage as well as the ball appears to be on top of you as soon as he releases it.

With the pitchers set let’s turn our attention to the position players. Since I went with 11 pitchers; it allowed me to carry 14 position players for this seven game series. Those players are:

• Catchers
• Robby Hammock
• Miguel Montero
• Chris Snyder
• Infielders
• Emilio Bonifacio
• Jeff Cirillo
• Tony Clark
• Stephen Drew
• Conor Jackson
• Augie Ojeda
• Mark Reynolds
• Outfielders
• Eric Byrnes
• Jeff Salazar
• Justin Upton
• Chris Young

I struggled a little bit picking the position players. I made three changes this round versus the series with the Cubs. First was the removal of Carlos Quentin from the roster. Quentin underwent surgery today to repair the partially torn labrum that has plagued him since Spring Training. The surgery was successful but recovery time for that procedure is approximately 6 months making the outfielder unavailable for the remainder of the post season. I added Robby Hammock to the roster giving Bob Melvin a versatile player who is capable of playing any position including catcher (although I hesitate to suggest that Hammock could play first since he looks very uncomfortable at that position). I also dropped Alberto Callaspo in exchange for Emilio Bonifacio. The reason for this change is that Callaspo still does not appear to be 100 percent. His leg injury continues to plague his season and with the cold rocky mountain temperatures in Denver I am worried about a potential aggravation of that injury. I replaced Callaspo on the roster with rookie Emilio Bonifacio. That move allows the Diamondbacks to still have a switch hitter coming off the bench but also gives you the added dimension of speed. With these teams being so closely matched a game may end up being decided by a single run. Having someone with Bonifacio’s speed could allow him to score from first on an outfield hit. I’m always a proponent of speed and manufacturing runs and this gives Melvin options to do that.

So there are my choices for the Arizona Diamondbacks National League Championship Series roster. It will be interesting to see how closely my choices match with those from Bob Melvin and Josh Byrnes. Hopefully at the end of this 7 game series we’ll revisit the roster again and make selections for the World Series roster. That might have an interesting twist since second baseman Orlando Hudson has announced that he could be ready to return from ligament surgery on his hand should the Diamondbacks make the World Series. That is definitely something to consider.

The Arizona Diamondbacks would beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-1 on a strong pitching performance by Edgar Gonzalez. They would go on to win two series against the San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers to close out their home schedule before going to Pittsburgh and Colorado. Their win/loss record would put them in a position of needing one win in the final 3 games to secure a play-off berth and the National League Western Division title. While that is extremely impressive considering the amount of youth on the Diamondbacks roster, it is nothing compared to the Colorado Rockies.

On September 16 the Rockies played the final game of the series against the Florida Marlins. In that game the Rockies bats came alive. In the first two games of that series the Marlins outscored the Rockies 17-8 but in this third game Colorado scored 13 unanswered runs to beat Florida 13-0. The momentum of that game carried forward to a four game series with the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Rockies swept the Dodgers which began a downward spiral for Los Angeles and eliminated any play-off hopes they might have. With their winning streak now at 5 the Rockies visited Petco Park for a three game series with the Wild Card leading San Diego Padres. The Rockies continued their hot streak sweeping the Padres running their winning streak to 8. Colorado was not done yet. They travelled north to play three games against the fading Los Angeles Dodgers and earned another series sweep making their winning streak 11 and setting up a three game series to end the season with the NL West leading Arizona Diamondbacks.

In the first game of the series the Diamondbacks sent ace Brandon Webb to the mound to face Jeff Francis of the Rockies. Webb had struggled all season against Colorado but not that night. Webb threw a masterful game beating the Rockies 4-2 breaking Colorado’s winning streak and in the process securing a play-off spot for the Diamondbacks. Prior to the second game of the series the San Diego Padres lost to the Milwaukee Brewers giving Arizona the National League West title. For the next two games the Diamondbacks rested many of their starters. The Rockies took advantage of that and beat the Diamondbacks two straight. The win on the final day of the season coupled with a Padres loss to the Brewers set up a one game play-off with the Padres to determine the NL Wild Card representative. The Rockies beat the Padres for the right to play the Philadelphia Phillies. During the divisional play-offs the Rockies swept the Phillies earning the first play-off series win in franchise history. They also ran their record to 17-1 since September 16 making the Colorado Rockies the hottest team in baseball.

Beginning Thursday the Colorado Rockies face the Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League Championship Series. Because both the Diamondbacks and Rockies swept their series, both teams have 4 off days before play resumes. After 165 games (166 for the Rockies due to the one-game play-off with the Padres), an extra day of rest is usually a good thing. The question is what will 4 extra days of rest do to these two teams? Will the off days revitalize each team or will the extra rest cool them off and shift the momentum back to zero? For the Diamondbacks sake I hope that the extended off period will cool off the white hot Rockies and make this an even series. An even series would seem appropriate since these two teams have played each other so much this season and each game has been relatively close. Hopefully the Colorado players are enjoying their time away from the diamond and will be content just getting this far.

In a newspaper interview Steinbrenner suggested that Yankees manager Joe Torre would not be brought back to manage the New York Yankees next season unless the team was victorious in this series with the Cleveland Indians. Now depending on how well players liked Joe Torre this was either a move to give the Yankees players more incentive to play hard or if a player didn’t care much for the manager this was a golden opportunity to influence a key position in the dugout. And while I am definitely a National League proponent, when this is the only game on, I am definitely tuning in to watch. I’ve been following each play-off series and I have to admit I did not give the Yankees much hope against the Cleveland Indians. The Indians pitching is vastly superior to that of New York. In fact I think the pitching of Cleveland is much better than any of the American League play-off teams. The pitchers simply overpowered the Yankees offense which once again proves that good pitching and good defense wins play-off series over good offense. (I’m hoping that the Arizona Diamondbacks can continue to prove this theory when they meet up with the powerhouse Colorado Rockies hitters.) Almost immediately the Indians showed that they did not want to head back to Cleveland for a fifth and deciding game. Instead they preferred to finish the series now despite playing in front of a hostile New York crowd. They chased Yankees starter Chien-Ming Wang from the game after just one inning in route to a 6-4 win. The win earned them a flight to Boston to open a seven game series with the Red Sox starting Friday. The League Championship Series is now set in both leagues and they should be good. Both series feature teams with identical win records during the regular season. The next week or so of baseball should be a lot of fun to watch. I’m hoping for a World Series featuring the Arizona Diamondbacks and Cleveland Indians although I am guessing that people in Denver and Boston may be thinking of other match-ups.

It still seems too unreal to imagine that two teams who most baseball experts had predicted would battle for the cellar in the National League Western Division would instead determine who would go to the World Series. This is like finding out you have a blind date to the prom and when your date shows up you find out it is your sister. The Colorado Rockies and the Arizona Diamondbacks have played each other 18 times during the regular season and 4 times in Spring Training plus several other inter-squad scrimmages before Spring Training games actually began. It only seems like they have played each other a million times. The Arizona Diamondbacks opened the regular season in Denver Colorado where they beat the Rockies on Opening Day then lost the final two games. The Colorado Rockies hosted the Arizona Diamondbacks the final weekend of the season losing to the Diamondbacks on Friday before winning both Saturday and Sunday. In the regular season the Rockies have the edge with a 10-8 record. In Spring Training the Diamondbacks had an edge with a 3-1 record. In 2007 these two teams have a record of 11-11 which means they are quite evenly matched. Facing another team 22 times over the course of 7 months, there is probably not a whole lot you don’t know about them. Neither the Rockies nor the Diamondbacks were supposed to get this far. So in that case both of these teams are the underdogs. The national press continues to disbelieve in the Arizona Diamondbacks. ESPN for example asked 10 baseball experts to predict the winner of the NLCS. Nine of the experts selected the Colorado Rockies with only Jerry Crasnick selected the Diamondbacks to be victorious. This isn’t exactly a new scenario. Eight of ten ESPN experts selected the Cubs to win with most thinking the Diamondbacks would be lucky to win 1 game. So with home field advantage in the NLCS and the best record in the National League the Arizona Diamondbacks are again the underdogs. It is a role they seem to be enjoying at least up until now.

As Rich Hill and the Chicago Cubs were warming up prior to the game I turned to my son Dakota and said, “What we need is for Chris Young to hit the first pitch out of the ballpark just to quiet the Cubs fans and stake Livan Hernandez a lead.” Dakota nodded his agreement as Chris Young entered the batter’s box. The first pitch was a fastball from Rich Hill and Young planted it in the left field bleachers. As he rounded the bleachers Dakota and I both turned to look at each other. Our mouths hung open in a stunned expression. In unison we both said, “Did you just see that?” Before we could finish that sentence Stephen Drew rifled a shot in the gap for a double. It was hard to tell who was more stunned, us watching television or the crowds in the stands at Wrigley Field. From that point on the Arizona Diamondbacks played like a team on a mission. They made outstanding plays in the field and got timely hits from both their youngsters and the veterans. In typical Livan Hernandez fashion it seemed like every inning the Cubs had runners on base threatening to score. It felt as if any pitch could erase the Diamondbacks lead and put momentum on the Cubs side. Just as the knot in your stomach began to enlarge threatening to explode; Livan would get one of the Chicago players to hit into a double play ending their rally. By the time that Livan Hernandez left the game Arizona was up by a score of 4-1. The Diamondbacks bullpen continued to dominate throwing three innings of shut-out baseball allowing only 2 hits. The ninth inning somewhat epitomized the way this whole series went for the Diamondbacks. Stephen Drew hit a home run to make the score 5-1. The hit was Drew’s third of the night and his seventh for the series. He hit .500 in the three games with the Cubs including 2 home runs, a triple, a double, and 3 singles. Besides his offensive numbers Drew also made several spectacular defensive plays including being involved in 3 double plays in game 3. In the end it was the Cubs fans who were mostly quiet except for the booing that was directed at Cubs players who continued to struggle at the plate. The Diamondbacks were the first National League team to make the post season and now they are the first team to advance to the National League Championship Series. It will be the first time they have been there since that magical 2001 season. The young players who were supposed to dissolve under pressure and quake in the midst of the Cubbies den were instead dancing on the infield leaving Cubs fans to drop their heads and utter the same phrase they have for the last 99 years, “Wait until next year.”