Sympathy For The Fans

Fans of the Colorado Rockies, I truly feel bad for you all. I’m talking about the actual fans, who want nothing more then a winning baseball team. So many writers and analysts had the Rockies as favorites in the NL West last season. The 11-2 start sparked the hope in many fans that the time may actually be here. We all know how the story of the 2011 season goes. Honestly, I think last season was the most disappointing in franchise history, simply because of the expectations that surrounded the team.

Rockies’ fans are starting to demand action. Great, let management know they have fed you non-sense and you’re not blind to it. Let them know you will not support the mediocre, quickly becoming embarrassing, product that’s put on the field every game. It’s wonderful that fans are becoming outspoken and want change in the organization. A great fan demands excellence from their favorite team, but don’t count on your voice being heard. For every fan that doesn’t show up to Coors Field, somehow over 30,000 others remain in the seats.

I understand showing up if you love baseball. The argument fans need to stay home and not go to games is a slippery slope. It makes sense where the argument comes from though. Yes, I get it. The more fans keep going to games, even when the Rockies are on pace to lose 99 games, the less motivation there is to make a change.

There have been plenty of questionable things said by Jim Tracy, Dan O’ Dowd and of course the now famous quote from owner Dick Monfort. Some of it has been down right insulting. One that makes absolutely no sense is, when Jim Tracy says fans need to be patient. Have fans not already been patient? Since the Rockies’ inception in 1993, they have only made the playoffs three times. They’ve finished 4^th place in the NL West eight times, last place two times. Then of course there’s some 3^rd place finishes sprinkled in the history, but keep in mind three of those finishes came when there were only four teams in the division.

The  Miami Marlins came into the league the same year as the Rockies and have two World Series championships to their name and the Arizona Diamondbacks came into the league in 2001 and not only have a World Series title, but they’ve been crowned NL West champs five times.   have never won a division title! So don’t tell the fans to be patient. They’ve been plenty patient.

As bad as it’s been, it might get worse

The Rockies have begun a nine game road trip in Detroit with a 12-4 win last night. While the Tigers haven’t been the best team in the AL Central, they still have plenty of offensive fire power with the 5th best team batting average in the league. Bad news for Rockies’ pitching. Opposing teams have racked up a .297 batting average against Colorado. OUCH!

After Detroit, the Rockies then travel to Philadelphia, where they are projected to face Hamels, Blanton and Worley. The Rockies should be able to gain a victory against Blanton, but facing Worley and Hamels will be difficult test for the offense.

Then the Rockies wrap up the road trip with a series against the best offensive team in the league, the Texas Rangers. More trouble for the Rockies starting rotation. The Rockies then return home to take on the Washington Nationals. It should be interesting to see the Rockies line-up against the best pitching staff in the league. The Nationals haven’t been lighting things up on the offensive side, but neither was Oakland.