No team in Major League Baseball has its winning so associated with the term “home-field advantage” as the Colorado Rockies. Despite tales of the patented Mile-High Baseball Thermidor™, protestation from Rockheads themselves, and the obvious proof of the team’s first-ever bona fide stopper in Huston Street (35 saves, 4-1 record, 3.06 ERA), the reputation continues fairly. At 51-30, the Rockies posted the best home record in the National League and were bettered in the statistic by only the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.
So naturally, says the pessimistic Rockie fan still not free of the bad taste caused by a certain record-breaking eight-day layoff, Colorado starts this NLDS in Philadelphia.
The defending champions make for a nice yin to the Rockies’ yang: The Phillies have a star-studded lineup which starts with a 1-6 of Jimmy Rollins, Shane Victorino, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Jayson Werth and Raul Ibanez – top to bottom nobody other than the Yankees matches that in these playoffs – the Rockies had two all-stars. (You know, Brad Hawpe and that other guy.) And if that Phillies lineup sounds like a fantasy baseball team, you could have done a lot worse than to draft half a dozen Phils: This team lead the National League in runs (820), home runs (224), RBIs (788), total bases (2,493), slugging percentage (.447), and doubles (312). Incidentally, they also tied for the best road record in baseball with the Anaheim/Los Angeles/California Angels at 48-33.
Diametric opposites? Indeed, because Colorado’s comeback kids have one huge factor in their favor: The incredible capacity of the Philadelphia bullpen to blow late-inning leads. I mean, come on, 22 blown saves? Including 11 from Brad Lidge, your so-called stopper? Six from Ryan Madson, the replacement closer in September, against ten successful saves?
I tell you what, I don’t have a statistic to back this up, but having seen dozens of heart-attack inducing Rockies games this season, these guys lead baseball in never-give-upness and manufacture runs for win after win in just-enough fashion. Even though Colorado went just 2-4 against Philadelphia this year, they haven’t played since early August; since that month, the Phillies are a respectable 34-27 (the Rockies are 36-23 in the span), but this is Rocktober, baby! And it says here you can’t win the World Series with a shaky ‘pen.
Prediction: Damn right I’m going there – Rockies in five.
Phillies finished the regular season leading the league in runs (820), doubles (312), home runs (224), total bases (2,493), RBIs (788) and slugging percentage (.447). They have six current and former All-Stars in the top six spots in their lineup: shortstop Jimmy Rollins, center fielder Shane Victorino, second baseman Chase Utley, first baseman Ryan Howard, right fielder Jayson Werth and left fielder Raul Ibanez. They have two former National League MVPs in Rollins and Howard. They have two former Cy Young Award winners in left-hander Cliff Lee and right-hander Pedro Martinez. They have one former World Series MVP in Cole Hamels.
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Colorado Rockies at Philadelphia Phillies.