Quote Of The Day: Jon Garland Isn’t Scared Of Coors Field

Words can hardly describe how much I love this quote from Jon Garland, who won his Rockies’ debut yesterday. This comes courtesy of the Denver Post:

"I’ll tell you what, there are other ballparks that are more intimidating…In the summertime, on a hot day in Chicago, at the Cell (U.S. Cellular Field). Or in Philly or Cincinnati. There are a lot of tough places where the ball flies. But if you make your pitch and you keep it down, you are going to get outs wherever you are."

Coors Field. Image: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

It’s that last part that matters. Make your pitches, hit your spots, and the park doesn’t matter.

I understand that Coors Field is very friendly to hitters. What bugs me is the narrative that it is some crazy fun-house where it is impossible to play a legitimate brand of baseball. I just don’t think it’s that much more friendly than some of the parks listed by Garland.

Also, there’s this quote from Pete Rose about Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati (courtesy of Grantland):

"I saw a guy last year in Cincinnati — I’m not (bleeping) you — his (bleeping) bat broke in half, and he hit the ball out in center field. Out of the ballpark."

The main problem is how exaggerated the home/road splits are for Rockies hitters. It creates a perception that it is so much more hitter-friendly than these other parks. I just don’t think it is as extreme as people make it out to be.

The starting pitching for the 2012 Colorado Rockies would have been atrociously awful whether the team played its home games at Coors Field or the Oakland Coliseum or the Polo Grounds. Coors made it worse, but it was not the reason for the failures. Hopefully Garland and the rest of the staff this year can prove that.