Overheard On Monday Night: Colorado Rockies Mentions

H.Darr Beiser-USA TODAY Sports

Sure, the Colorado Rockies were not directly involved in either of the major sporting events Monday night. Game 5 of the World Series and Monday Night Football were both in full swing in the city of St. Louis. It made for great sports and great entertainment for those of us sitting on the couch. And even though I long for another year in which the Colorado Rockies will matter again in October, this night was not devoid of mentions of the franchise.

Start with the rehashing of Sunday night’s game 4, in which poor Kolten Wong was picked off of first base with Carlos Beltran at the plate to end the game. That, of course, brought about memories of another player who was picked off first base, against those same Boston Red Sox, in a World Series game. That would be Matt Holliday in the final days of Rocktober.

Craig Calcaterra wrote about the connection this morning on HardBallTalk:

"Specifically: Game 2 of the 2007 Series. The Red Sox vs. the Rockies. It’s the eighth inning of a 2-1 game. The Rockies finally get a base runner by virtue of a single. Their most fearsome hitter, Todd Helton, is up to bat against the Red Sox’ closer. Then ……Yup, the Rockies player who hit the single and who got picked off was Matt Holliday, current St. Louis Cardinals left fielder. I imagine, then, that he can console Wong a bit, even if he can’t tell him that everything will be alright in the end."

Speaking of Holliday, he cranked a home run to center field off of Jon Lester on Monday night for what would prove to be the only St. Louis offense in their 3-1 loss to Boston. For me that brought about memories of another home run to center field from Holliday in a World Series. The Rockies had a bit more offense to speak of in that one, eventually losing 10-5 in game 3 of the 2007 series, but it was another instance of Holliday providing a jolt in a World Series game only to see the team come up short.

Finally, on the football side of things, there was Russell Wilson playing quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks. As Mike Tirico and Jon Gruden sought different ways to discuss the star sophomore quarterback, they mentioned his stint as a second baseman in the Colorado Rockies system more than once. They noted his athleticism and how his strong arm must have suited him well as a baseball player. Which it did, I suppose, but the guy did play second…

Anyhow, things took a turn for the weird when they got really focused on the size of Wilson’s hands:

This topic did not come up in the context of his baseball career. Thankfully I have never been inclined to consider the size of the hands of any member of the Rockies, so I won’t have to analyze such a strange topic. I’m not sure I would be equipped for it, frankly…

…what’s that you say? Oh yea…

Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports

I’m sorry if I’ve offended anybody by forgetting those horribly creepy shots of Jose Contreras stretching his fingers around a softball. Let’s just say, if that’s going to be what it takes to talk about hand size and the Rockies, I hope it’s a rare topic.

Anyway, the Rockies don’t matter right now, but they were not without mention on Monday night during some major sporting events.