Boston Takes Game Three, 10-5; One Win Away From It All...

Well, Game Three looked competitive for a while; however, it ended with a similar result – a resounding Red Sox win.

The Boston Red Sox whooped up on the Colorado Rockies, 10-5, thanks to big hits by rookie Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedoria. Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched a great game, and at least in the post-season has pitched fairly well (I’m not if it still justifies his contract), but he looked good in Game Three.

In spite of the Rockies making it a game during the sixth and seventh innings thanks to an ineffective bullpen, the two-headed combo of Okajima and Papelbon saved the day, and the Boston bats added more insult to injury with an eighth inning attack.

Josh Fogg was seemingly no match for the Boston offense, and it seems to be in this series that the NL is just much weaker than the AL, and Colorado’s performance in the World Series just flat out indicates that.

Overall, this World Series has been fairly boring and the games go on way too long, plus start too late.

The Rockies have great players; however, it seems the Red Sox are just beyond meticulous, know what to do break down teams and just simply execute.

Meanwhile, Colorado obviously must win four straight games and by the way they have looked, I don’t see it happening.

World Series Reflections; Game Two - Red Sox Beat the Rockies, 2-1

Last night, the Boston Red Sox took a 2-0 lead in the 2007 World Series as they beat the Colorado Rockies in a tight pitching matchup, 2-1. Instead of a slug-fest, fans were treated to a pitcher’s duel, supplanted by both Boston’s and Colorado’s strong bullpens.

Curt Schilling, who is making a strong case as being one of the top post-season pitchers of all time, allowed one run in 5 1/3 innings last night and impressive outings by Hideki Okajima (who went 2 1/3 amazing innings with 4 K’s) along with stud closer Jonathan Papelbon, sealed the Rockies’ fate.

Ubaldo Jimenez held his own against the veteran Schilling, as he went a little more than 4 innings and gave up two runs, before being yanked by Clint Hurdle. If there was a bright side to the loss, the Colorado bullpen was excellent, but the offense could not produce anything at all.

It’s critical the Rockies win at home in the next few days, or their series is done. From the looks of it, Boston looks strong and the magic that Colorado had is gone.

Now, they’ll have to fight to win.

Say what you want about Schilling, who looks closer to Greg Maddux now than a fireballer, but his intelligence, grit and guile has got him through this post-season. If he is indeed done with the Red Sox, they’ll be missing an integral part of their championship runs. As long as he can get guys out, I don’t see why he cannot stay in the game longer.

Game three will feature Daisuke Matsuzaka, who came big in the final game of the ALCS versus Josh Fogg on Saturday night.

World Series Reflections; Game One - Red Sox Whoop the Rockies, 13-1

I watched some of the World Series last night, and I learned two things.

One, Josh Beckett is well on his way to becoming one of the best post-season pitchers of all time. Two, for what it is worth, the layoff may have affected the Rockies; however, the Red Sox were just so much better, it doesn’t matter.

Unless, you are just waking up, or didn’t know, the Boston Red Sox demolished the Colorado Rockies, the feel good story of October, 13-1. For now, it looks like the magic that Colorado had that enabled them to win 21 of their last 22 games fluttered away as Jeff Francis got lit up for six runs, and then the Rockies’ bullpen just imploded.

Boston scored seven in the fifth and that more than anything led them to victory. It looked like the Sox were getting all the key hits and every play going their way; in hindsight seemed to be the exact opposite Colorado was experiencing.

Folks, in the last four games, Boston has whooped up on any opponent their way, looking more like the Patriots than your run-of-the-mill baseball team.

Again, it goes without saying, Beckett was incredible. From at least portions of the game I saw, his fastball was amazing, and his breaking/curveball was unhittable. For most of the game, he made the Rockies batter look foolish, and they have one of the better offenses in the National League.

The Rockies will send young fireballer Ubaldo Jimenez against grizzled, battle-tested veteran Curt Schilling.

If Schilling looks like he did in Game 6 in the ALCS, as opposed to Game 2, Colorado may have seen their World Series aspirations go up in smoke unless they startle the Sox at home.

***



If you love baseball and love Taco Bell, you might have a marriage made in food heaven.

Well, Taco Bell is offering a World Series promotion where, if there's a stolen base by either team in the World Series, you can get a free taco.

Ok, here are the details:

If the stolen base occurs in during games 1 or 2, you can get a free taco on Oct. 30.

If a stolen base happend during after games 3 and beyond, you can get a free taco on Nov. 6.

The hours of the giveaway are between 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.

So, no - it's not during the lunch break, it's during the non-prime hours of the day -- obviously, when no one takes lunch.

Read the fine print here: http://www.mlb.com/mlb/fan_forum/tacobell/

Could Rocktober Be Over Already?

The Red Sox are simply kicking the collective asses of the Colorado Rockies, 9-1, and it's only the fifth inning. Needless to say, they must win on Thursday, or the series for the most part will be over and they'll have a huge mountain to climb.

They look nothing like the team that America has seen in the last month or so.

(This is a photo I took earlier this season...)

The World Series Is Upon Us...

The World Series is upon us, and in a little less than 9 or so hours, the games will begin.

We all know the Boston Red Sox will be taking on the Colorado Rockies, and the consensus seems to be that the Red Sox will take the series and Colorado's amazing win streak will come to an end. By now, we know all the characters, and it will be a test for Colorado, with their young team and inexperience, contrasted against Boston's high payroll, superstars, and experience.

I am picking Boston in Six.

The Red Sox just have the edge in pitching, and they have home field advantage (Boston is sure formidable). Even though the Rockies have a lineup that I think may be comparable with Boston's, I am worried about the Rockies' pitching and how their youngsters will hold in such an environment. I think it's critical that Colorado win a game at Fenway and then move it back to Colorado. If they can't do that, they'll have a mountain to climb.

Much has been made of the time off that the Rockies have had; however, I don't think it's that big of a deal.

Then again, I have been completely wrong on my playoff predicitions, so anything can happen.

The Rockies Ticket Buying Experience; Futile...

Timestamps EST...

5:03pm - No tickets for me.

I'm in Maryland, but I really feel for anyone in Colorado or who is a die-hard Rockies fan who could not get lucky.

World Series tickets for all three games at Coors Field sold out in less than three hours today.
The Rockies announced about 2:45 that all 54,000 tickets were gone.

Some lucky fans emerged with tickets after a slow start at noon today, but most people walked away from their computers frustrated and empty-handed.

"We know many people will be disappointed, and we do feel for them," spokesman Jay Alves said in a news conference.

The Rockies blame an "external and malicious" attack for Monday's ticket sales crash. The club said its Web site dealt with more than 8.5 million hits in 90 minutes, and only 500 tickets were sold.

Denver police and FBI officials said today they have received no complaint or request for investigation regarding the alleged cyber hacking.

"No formal complaint has been filed," said Denver FBI Special Agent Rene Vonder Haar, adding that her agency had yet to receive any information regarding a cyber-attack.

The sale today was slow. But the tickets, which went on sale at noon, finally sold out before 3 p.m.

Anyone who was crazy like me and tried, let me know. If you were successful congrats!

***

3:55 - I'm about 1700 miles away from Denver, and things are looking bleak for those who want tickets to the World Series out there...

According to the Denver Post:

Tickets to the World Series games in Denver are close to selling out, the Colorado Rockies report.

The only seats left are for the possible Monday game, the third home game.

Rockies spokesman Jay Alves told reporters at Coors Field that sales had increased to about 1,500 per minute, and he anticipated a sell-out for all three games.

"Not everyone who wants to get a ticket is going to get a ticket today," he said. "It's just not possible."

The first attempt to sell tickets was stymied Monday by a "malicious, external attack" on the ticket sales system. The Rockies website took 8.5 million hits in a 90-minute period that began at 10 a.m. Monday and proved too much for the system to handle.

Sigh, it's been bad. I have heard of few people getting through. Were people better off just standing in line? If I were a consumer, I'd be upset; however, life is not fair.

I'm going to look online later and check out third-party, broker prices online...

For those who got tickets in Boston or Denver, congrats! Have an awesome time...

If it's any consolation -- since I have tried for Game 5 tickets, my computer has not lost the connection to the network....

***

2:30 -

Ok, I am at work and I’m on the Colorado Rockies site hoping to buy tickets to the World Series. Not to say that I’ll go, but if I do, I will.

Anyhow, this whole process is fruitless. I have been dropped from their website 3 times already due to network problems.

Anyone else trying? How is it going? Well, anyone have any luck so far?

This was a completely stupid idea on part of the Rockies organization....

Colorado Rockies Fans Are Screwed For Now...

"Rocktober" may have come to a halt in Denver at the moment. For those waiting for tickets and the opportunity to snatch them online, eh, you're screwed for now.

From the Washington Post:

DENVER -- The Colorado Rockies suspended World Series ticket sales Monday after overwhelming demand crashed their computer system.

"Right now we're shutting the system down," club spokesman Jay Alves announced outside Coors Field, drawing boos from fans. "We expect to be online at some point."

"We're as frustrated and disappointed as they are," Alves said.

Alves had said last week that the Rockies were prepared for any computer problems.

On Monday, there were 8.5 million attempts to connect with the computers in the first 90 minutes after sales started, he said, and only several hundred tickets had been sold before the system had to be shut down.

The Rockies put as many as 60,000 tickets up for sale online only, and team officials said their computers were ready to handle the expected crush. But two hours after tickets went on sale, many fans reported they could not get access to the ticket-sales Web site.

Officials with the Rockies and Major League Baseball did not immediately return calls.

KCNC-TV in Denver reported that the company that runs the ticket-sales computers, Paciolan, Inc. had an unspecified problem. Paciolan officials did not immediately return a call to The Associated Press.

About 20 people lined up in near-freezing temperatures outside the Denver Public Library before it opened in hopes of using public-access computers to score tickets.

"If you can't get tickets here, you're going to have to pay $200, $300 above face value," said Clayton McLeod, a 26-year-old heavy-machine operator who took the day off to try to get seats.

Yikes. That sucks! Let's hope for the sake of the fans out there, the ticketing system comes back online and well-meaning fans (note: NOT SCALPERS) get a chance to see their team live out a dream...

Eric Byrnes: Eating His Words...

Since I am bored here at work, I found a great cartoon from the Rocky Mountain News showing Eric "Captain America" Byrnes eating his words.

Captain America, the Rockies were better than you.

See the cartoon here: Link

Playoff Reflections, Day Seventeen: Indians One Away from the World Series; An Ode to the Rockies...

Well, the Boston Red Sox are in trouble as they are now down 3-1 to the Cleveland Indians.

Indians’ right hander, Paul Byrd, once again came through in the clutch; pitching five strong innings where only allowed two runs and struck out four. Once again, Cleveland had a huge inning, this time in the fifth, as Casey Blake started the fun with a home run.

They would soon knock Tim Wakefield out of the game and that coffin was nailed shut for the Red Sox by Jhonny Peralta’s three-run homer.

Peralta’s homer was the second for him in the series.

Despite an amazing display of back-to-back-to-back home runs by Boston’s Kevin Youkilis, David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez, they were done in Game 4.

The Red Sox season may come to an end tonight as Josh Beckett needs to have another amazing game, and the Tribe counters with C.C. Sabathia, who has struggled in the playoffs.

***

Meanhwile, what can you say about the Rockies?

Incredible.

Right now, they are the biggest story in sports and most of America is starting to get to know the team.

I don’t know how they have won; nor do I care, It’s an awesome story and we can be on the verge of history here. It looks like they have built up the team right and has players you can root for, starting with Todd Helton, Matt Holliday, to Troy Tulowitzki all that way down to Jamey Carroll.

It seems like they cannot do anything wrong and have a new hero, each and every day.

It’s too bad that TBS and MLB decided to put their games well after 10pm on the East Coast (where I live), making it near impossible for anyone to watch. Just a shame.

I have decided to join the bandwagon and root for Colorado, just because I want some new blood & I am starting to like that team a lot.

The Red Sox are great, but they have already won a World Series and frankly are closer to the Yankees than most would admit; the Indians, good team, great stars, but I have no emotional investment in them (nothing personal to fans of the Tribe).

It’s nice to see in that part of the world that the Rockies are now relevant in October, and for now, the Broncos may have a back seat.

If you have a moment, check out the Denver Post and some of their cool pictures of the celebration, their fans and of the games itself…

Crazy stuff.

Playoff Reflections, Day Sixteen: Rockoctober Continues Out West, Indians/Red Sox

A little more than a month or so ago, the Colorado Rockies were not even an afterthought in terms of postseason play. Well, after a hot streak, they found themselves in a pennant chase and needed a 163rd game to get into the post-season.

Now, they are in the World Series.

Colorado shocked Arizona and the world with their 6-4 win last night, thanks their offense outburst in the sixth inning topped off by a three-run homer by series MVP, Matt Holliday. The Diamondbacks countered with a three-run homer by Chris Snyder in the 8th inning; however, the Rockies’ Manny Corpas kept the game in check and earned the save.

The Rockies now obviously don’t know how to lose, and have won their 21st game in 22 chances. Seemingly everything has gone right for the Rockies, and now tenured veteran, Todd Helton is seeing his first World Series after being in the league for 12 years.

With their amazing momentum, they are primed to perhaps win their first World Series in franchise history.

More Video:



***



Meanwhile, in Cleveland, the Indians took a 2-1 lead in the ALCS combined with the strong outing by Jake Westbrook and the contributions of the ageless Kenny Lofton.

Westbrook pitched a little under seven innings and kept the powerful Red Sox offense at bay; Lofton homered off rookie sensation Daisuke Matsuzaka and three double plays by Boston helped them the Tribe to victory. The only scoring Boston was able to muster was off a two-run, Jason Varitek homer in the seventh inning, but Cleveland made the plays and did the little things right.

With a 2-1 lead, the Indians are in control, but there’s still plenty of baseball to still be played and Boston is very powerful.

The Game Sunday Afternoon: Rockies Defeat the Orioles, 6-1; Rundown and Photos...

Rockies and Orioles - June 10th, 2007

Who in the hell is Ryan Spillborghs?

Well, he managed to make Sunday miserable for the Orioles and all of their fans. As we all know by now, the Orioles lost 6-1 last night; thus, the Rockies took two of three from the Birds this weekend.

Let’s go back to Ryan Spillborghs. He hit two homers and drove in a career-high six RBIs, as he three hits. In addition, he had one homer off Erik Bedard and then a three-run shot off of John Parrish.

The Orioles scored in the second inning, as Aubrey Huff drove in a run. In a continuous theme this season, the team had little offense to counter the opponent with and suffered.

Well, the starter for the Rockies, Jason Hirsh who only had two wins, with six losses and and ERA around near five, threw a complete game five-hitter that saw him only give up one run on five hits.

In other words, we made Hirsh look like Greg Maddux or Jake Peavy.

The bats need to wake up for the O’s, as it is sort of a problem when Brian Roberts and Nick Markakis are doing the work, while everyone else is just being lackluster. At some point, the players need to take accountability and ask themselves what I can be doing to be better and help my team win.

Patterson, Mora and Gibbons sat on the bench on Sunday, but it’s time to ask, if these guys are struggling, then why should they play? It looks Sam Perlozzo is frustrated, and who would blame him?

This team is a lot better than what their record stands at right now. Honestly, the pitching has more than done its job – the bats need to wake up (its June now, what’s going on?)

I feel for Jeremy Guthrie. He once again pitched a masterful game on Saturday, and it’s too bad the bats could not come together to support him. For all intensive purposes, if not for his bad start in Cleveland, he would probably be getting some All-Star consideration.

The Orioles take on the Nationals this week (Tues-Thu) at the Yard.

***

Roch Kubatko has highlights of the game Sunday, and he notes that the Orioles are frustrated with their lack of offense; hey, so are we…

The Baltimore Examiner has a recap of the game yesterday, as does the Orioles MLB site…

Melvin Mora took the day off yesterday – this time, without controversy; therefore, it was his choice on Sunday, mainly to get some rest and figure out why he’s been lackluster at the plate. On this topic, it looks like Sam is getting tired of the lackluster approach of his hitters at the plate, and some of the guys struggling are being benched.

Ramon Hernandez is on the DL for a second time, and Adam Loewen is healing slowly (I don’t see him being back in ’07)…

Well, Bill Ordine has thoughts of the game yesterday, the Orioles in general and NBA stuff in his blog, O, By the Way…

Freddie Bynum got a start yesterday, and Paul Bako is back behind the plate, plus the pitchers on the staff trust him…

The Baltimore Sun has a question with Steve Trachsel, this time about what he thinks of Jeremy Guthrie.

Peter Schmuck thinks Sam Perlozzo is off the hot seat – for now, and as well believes the Orioles are at a crossroads right now in the 2007 season.

According to Roch Kubatko, Todd Williams might get more time in games in light of the bullpen overuse, and the struggles of Danys Baez…

Rodrigo Lopez faced off against us this weekend in the Rockies series. He looked good on Saturday, and it looked like he was backed to his pre-2006 form. Although he left the Orioles on shaky circumstances, he did fairly well for the team, winning 60 games and was a strong pitching pitcher. I liked him and it’s good to see him doing well.

The Game Last Night: O's Down The Rockies 4-2 (Photos Only)

Rockies and Orioles - June 9th, 2007

I went to the game last night, and here some shots from the game. I'll have the game report and some links and to various articles, stuff.

I've got to do Beltway Baseball this afternoon, then go to Camden Yards to do a shoot, and attend the game tonight.

Until then, I hope you enjoy the photos...