Quote:
Originally Posted by Newman
Baseball, ain't it great?!
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It is Newman. It has been a magical season, and not just for this franchise but possibly one of the best in baseball history. We are seeing some amazing events unfold these days.
The Rockies are taking many positive steps toward winning this fanbase back over this stretch. They are the talk of the town. We are seeing excitement unlike they ever have, and I know things were amazing for nearly the first decade of this franchise but it is a new kind of excitement they are generating again now from fans like Newman who for years have preferred to blast than praise them most of the time in frustration -- baseball fans craving some meaningful baseball to put their hearts into, furious that they've been without it but now throwing themselves into it.
This, by the way, is what I've been saying is possible EVEN with owners or managers you hate and smaller budgets. Why it ISN'T hopeless here, and why the bottom line doesn't have to determine our results. We've seen teams overcome odds and challenges before, and hopefully we're placing ourselves into those same categories of teams I've referenced for years that we could aspire to become. We could even SURPASS some of those examples depending upon how far our young talent takes us.
Now I'll certainly admit that I myself don't always trust our baseball judgement without question -- nor should anyone automatically, and still believe the front office didn't do these players any favors when they were in desperate need -- but I've always believed that the off-the-field obstacles people focused on could be overcome on the field by the players.
While the game will fascinate the town for at least one more day, we can't really ever escape the factors off the field with this team for too long. If you hate the owners with a passion and can't see much beyond that for Rockies baseball subjects, then once this season is officially done you may not like the positive impacts this will have for the franchise. Season tickets will start to go back up again. There will be a renewed sense that the organization was on the right track despite their heavy criticism, and actual evidence to support that with the team's improvements. Win or lose in this play-in and playoffs, the Rockies will likely be viewed much more positively as a national story and have new legions of supporters everywhere.
We've seen the organization in situations like this before where revenues were on the rise and the same with team victories and expectations. They've historically invested in those opportunities. I think you will see more investment next off-season, especially in keeping some of the momentum already established for signing some of their own. However, I doubt it will be enough to avoid the same off-the-field criticisms next year, but at least hopefully there will also be a sense that we AREN'T SIMPLY CONFINED by the dollars spent. That teams can pull together to accomplish something more than their collective paychecks. Tulo and company may make the league minimum, but that doesn't measure their actual contributions.
The Rockies will come out big winners with this surprise story, but in the end I'm hopeful that it also changes the framework of Rockies discussion. Not just here, but everywhere for years it hasn't really been about the players, but instead complaints about everything else. I don't think people will be able to say this team CAN'T do anything anymore with these owners and manager, and that's a good thing for moving the focus toward the players on the field and what they can or cannot do when the ball is in play.