NewsRockies come far to get to postseason
Arrival of Tracy a turning point to second trip in three years
By Owen Perkins / Special to MLB.com
10/01/09 9:05 PM ET
DENVER -- The Rockies' playoff-clinching celebration started Thursday afternoon with a called third strike from Franklin Morales for the final out in a 9-2 victory over the Brewers, and continued as Colorado's players and coaches took a victory lap around the field before heading into a raucous clubhouse, drenching themselves under showers of champagne. The rout to complete a sweep was barely in the books before the fans started chanting, "Beat L.A.!" and looking ahead to a weekend series with a potential to win the National League West with another sweep. "It says 'Postseason,'" manager Jim Tracy said, pointing to his dripping T-shirt and referring to their uncertain role as either Wild Card or Division winners. "I was wondering if it was going to have on the T-shirt 'To Be Determined.' We're not done yet." So the clincher in the Coors Field regular-season finale has an element of a cliffhanger to it. But the story has been so compelling since Tracy took over the reins of the Rockies on May 29 that the only thing keeping the players from celebrating long into the night was their flight to L.A. "It's a tremendous story about resiliency and unselfishness," Tracy said. "And a lot of hard work. "Honestly, I never wanted anything more for a group of players than this group. From where these guys were at and where they're at today, I've never wanted anything more for a group of players. Never in my career." Having booked their second trip to the postseason in three years, the Rockies earned a little luxury Thursday. They won early -- taking a five-run lead by the third inning -- avoiding the stress so many of their victories have required. "We played so many tight games coming down the stretch here, so it's nice to not relax, but enjoy it a little bit more," Todd Helton said, beaming after earning his second postseason trip in his 13-year career. "This is all that matters right now. You get a group of guys together that don't give up, don't get too high on themselves, don't get too low. We knew we were a talented team. It's a long season and it's very exciting right now." The Rockies can take a breath in L.A. as they push for the division title, but for once, when they say the pressure isn't on them, there's a resounding ring of truth to it. "When we left Spring Training, we said we wanted to win the division and win the World Series," starter Aaron Cook said after eight innings of one-run ball. "We put ourselves in position, and, regardless, we're in the postseason. But we want to go in there and beat L.A. We haven't played good against them this season, so this is our opportunity to go in there and play good solid baseball and see what happens."DIGGING OUT OF A BIG HOLE | |||
| These three teams overcame the largest deficits to finish in first place. No team has ever overcome a 15 1/2-game deficit to win a division or a league title, which is what the Rockies are threatening to do. | |||
TEAM | YEAR | DEFICIT | |
| Boston Braves | 1914 | 15 games | |
| New York Yankees | 1978 | 14 games | |
| New York Giants | 1951 | 13 games | |
If the season ended today, the Rockies would be the NL Wild Card winners and facing the Phillies, who had the second-best record in the NL entering their game against Houston on Thursday night. But with the four NL teams all with 91-93 wins, anything could happen in the remain three games of the season.
"I'd rather be the underdogs, and I think the players will say the same thing," said principal owner Charlie Monfort. "We're not the New York Yankees, who I think are one of the best put-together teams maybe in the history of baseball. We don't have Albert Pujols, we don't have Matt Holliday anymore. But I like our position." The Rockies will likely look like underdogs no matter where they stand, playing in a field of three franchises with deep history behind them. Even their ownership had a hard time overselling the expectations for the 18-28 club when it made the managerial move in May to put Tracy at the helm. Clint Hurdle's a good manager, Monfort said, "and he's a good manager for the team. But for whatever reason -- maybe because it was in his last year [of his contract] -- the team played tight. So Jim stepped in, and he said, 'Either we're going to stink, or we're going to have a good year. What do you guys want to do?' "I think the team took it on themselves to say, 'You know what? We should play better than this. We're good athletes, we're good guys.' For whatever reason, it moved on. Whether that would have happened [with Hurdle] or not, I don't know. But I think it was a wakeup call for the players to say, 'Let's start playing some baseball.'" The sudsy players bubbling about the Colorado clubhouse agreed with their owner's assessment. They never counted themselves out -- some holding onto the unprecedented run they made in 2007, winning 21 of 22 games to make it to the World Series. "I never forgot '07, and it's great to experience it again -- it never gets old," said Troy Tulowitzki. "In '08, we learned a lot, too. It's not easy getting here, so we value it that much more. We knew we had a good team. Every team goes through a struggle. Ours was early and we overcame it, and played great since then." In some ways, the fact that the Rockies held the NL Wild Card lead for 31 days made for a slightly less emotional finale than the unthinkable finish to the 2007 season. But to have sunk as far as they did and go through a dramatic managerial transition with such stunning results gave the season a special resonance. "For me personally, it's been an emotional year," general manager Dan O'Dowd said. "We've been a good team now for four months. We're a good team, but we're a team. That's the key."It's not a collection of individuals. There are no superstars. Each team gives of themselves for the team. We're going to play great teams. We got to play the very best baseball to advance, and we know that."
Owen Perkins is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
