| Travis Heath. 18th August, 2005 - 4:03 am
 The bearded lady and the lion tamer were perhaps the only two things preventing Coors Field from turning into a full-fledged circus Monday night. Rockies Manager Clint Hurdle offered this thought after the game, “It was just kind of wild.” Well, most circuses are.
Just when I thought I had seen it all . . . the Brewers showed up to kick off a three game set with the Colorado Rockies. Aaron Cook took the hill trying to get his first win since August 1, 2004, and Ben Sheets -- who has pitched well for the Brew Crew this season -- opposed him. Considering that the Rockies left 324 runners on base (according to my unofficial count) last weekend en route to being swept by the struggling Washington Nationals, one had to figure that the Rockies would be hard pressed to reverse their luck against Sheets and his sparkling ERA of nearly 3.50.
But folks, these are the Colorado Rockies. And in the words of a wise man named Forrest Gump, “You never know what you’re gonna get.” Well, I guess that’s not true, because on most nights you know you’re going to get a loss. What you don’t know, is how that loss will manifest itself from game to game. But as I said earlier, Monday night’s game was far from typical.
The opening act of Monday’s circus provided some anxious moments for those in attendance. Cook was clearly battling himself early, and he struggled in the first inning with his control . . . and that’s being kind. With two runners on, catcher Danny Ardoin stood up to receive what was supposed to be the first pitch of a four pitch intentional walk. The only problem was that Cook fired the pitch over the head of Ardoin causing the baseball to bounce off the newly installed brick wall behind home plate. Fortunately for the Rockies, the ball took a fortuitous bounce right back to Ardoin. Perhaps, this was a good omen for Colorado.
Hurdle jokingly reminisced after the game, “I was worn out after the top of the first. We went to the emergency throw the ball off the backstop play a lot earlier than we normally do.” At least the ringleader -- err, manager -- has maintained his sense of humor.
Of course, every circus has to have its own version of the three stooges, right? Well, Colorado’s center fielder Larry Bigbie, right fielder Dustan Mohr, and shortstop Omar Quintanilla were all happy to oblige. The aforementioned trio all pursued a pop-up into shallow right center field hit by Milwaukee’s Rickie Weekes. The three players crashed into one another, quickly bringing to mind Mike Cameron like memories from less than a week ago. Fortunately for the Rockies, Bigbie held onto the ball, and all three players emerged from the collision with no serious injuries. Perhaps this too, was a good omen for Colorado.
Another prerequisite for any good circus is a superb magic act. In the fourth, sixth, and seventh innings someone must have waved a magic wand of some kind, because something almost incomprehensible occurred. The Rockies actually drove in runners in scoring position -- 11 to be exact. The fans ohhed and ahhed, astounded by the slight of hand exhibited by the home team.
Finally, any circus worth its salt has to end with a grand finale that leaves all of the people in the seats standing and clapping, truly appreciative of what they just witnessed. This Coors Field circus on the 15th of August 2005, was no different. Rockies pitcher Aaron Cook tallied his first win since returning to the field after battling life threatening blood clots in his lungs. In a season as abysmal as any in recent memory, Cook continues to be one of the few reasons for Rockies fans to stand up and cheer.
Every great circus has to leave town eventually -- and even though the Rockies managed to win a game despite themselves on Monday -- Rockies fans can’t wait for this circus to be replaced in the very near future by an outfit that actually resembles a big league ball club.
Travis can be reached at travismheath@msn.com |
