What This Means For Us: Colorado Rockies

It's a long road to the World Series, and perhaps only the diehards truly understand how far their team had to come. We've asked two writers who lust for their favorite teams to describe what it means to be here, in the World Series. First up: The Colorado Rockies. Your author is Mark T.R. Donohue.

Mark T.R. Donohue is a freelance writer, serial blogger, and member in good standing of the Baseball Toaster cartel. He lives in Boulder, Col. His words are after the jump.

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I was born in 1980 as a Cubs fan. I picked a bad time to be born, didn't I? As bad as the Cubs' history was before '80, they didn't start regularly making the playoffs and blowing it — like the Red Sox used to do, remember? — until 1984, just when I was becoming old enough for my father's baseball allegiances to be interesting to me.

Also, in the greater scheme of things, this is not such a great time to be alive. I'm a student of history and I can't think of a time since the Dark Ages where a generation had less positive an outlook on the future. Boy, the people of my generation are a sour, depressed lot. The level of sour grapes on Denver-specific message boards after World Series tickets sold out (on the second attempt, no thanks to a so-not-ready-for-prime-time ownership group) had to be seen to be believed.

People went from not having cared about the team for 10 years (9/1) to watching a game on TV for the first time (9/19) to going to a game for the first time since 1994 (9/28, 30) to being a diehard fan since 1993 who'd totally believed in them all this time (9/29) to swearing them off and buying a Royals hat (10/23). The Rockies screwed up the ticket situation big-time, but hardly any tickets get out to the general public for ANY World Series game. I tried to buy a ticket outside Fenway Park during the regular season this year and it turned out to be a fake... while at Coors Field good seats were always available except when fireworks were going off afterwards or for the three games against the Yankees. (Which the Rockies, ahem, swept, but we all know about small sample sizes and whatnot.)

(theybeatjoshbecketttheonetimetheyplayedhimtoo)

Crises of confidence are so common in the young. I'm no different: I gave up on the Cubs, and after a couple of false starts elsewhere I settled in quite happily as a Rockies fan after moving to Boulder in the spring of 2005. Yes, I'm a carpetbagger... so what? The number of original, O.G. Mile High Stadium Rockies fans who have continuously supported this franchise since Expansion Year 1993 is ... well, go look up the Coors Field attendance numbers from this year before September. Or from 1997-2006.

That's why it's so impressive, even more so, that this young Rockies team has played as flawlessly as it has. The quality of their league can be called into question, but the status of the Colorado players as playoff performers cannot. Their defense is a wonder to behold; their starters alternately dominate with raw stuff (Ubaldo Jimenez and Franklin Morales, neither of whom joined the '07 club until past midseason), elegantly play to the strengths of that defense (Josh Fogg), or both (Jeff Francis). Their hitters use the whole field and run the bases well. They have a lot of obscure bench players with winning personalities and useful, repeatable skills (Seth Smith, Ryan Spilborghs, Cory Sullivan, Jamey Carroll). They're kind of an old-fashioned baseball team.

Which is why I've come here today in support of an old-fashioned idea: That you are very wrong if you think the Boston Red Sox are likely to make quick work of the Colorado Rockies in the 2007 World Series, and you should prepare yourself for the eventuality that the Rockies might indeed win the damn thing; and that the major reason for this is that the Rockies have Chemistry.

I know! I said it. I'm a "Moneyball" guy — really, I lost interest in baseball around the time video games, the drums and girls presented themselves (not in that order) and didn't get back into the game until college, helped in no small part by the fact that I was living in close proximity to Billy Beane's Oakland A's. Ask me right now, and I'll tell you that the Rockies' success this year is largely the product of Dan O'Dowd and Clint Hurdle's sudden stunning embrace of the New Testament of the baseball bible. Build from within! Maximize the productive years you have coming from guys your organization controls through arbitration! Balance drafting with international scouting and always be on the lookout for veteran discards available at below-market value - like Carroll, Fogg and Kazuo Matsui.

But the reason the Rockies have been able to keep their heads down and play nearly flawless baseball since September 15 — 21 wins out of 22 games - is because they're an old-school we-all-pull-together TEAM, and it's kinda neat. There was an overexposed story in USA Today last season about the prevalence of Christians in the Rockies lineup, but I think there's a larger lesson to be drawn than that. Most of the young, homegrown players Colorado has have played together in the minor leagues for several seasons now. When they look around the clubhouse all they see is familiar faces, guys they know, guys they trust. I can't help but think it makes a difference.

I've listened to all the postgame interviews, driving back from the clinchers (thanks to preseason foresight and faith I've been at every Rockies home game since the classic tiebreaker with San Diego), and maybe this is selective hearing on my part ... but I don't believe that I've heard a single Rockies player say, "Nobody believed in us." Maybe it's gotten around in the athlete community that the playing of the "nobody believed in us" card has become such a rote occurrence that the words have no meaning any more; even as the 18-0 Patriots approach the Super Bowl, I half-suspect we may hear a few "NBIU's" on Media Day.

Or maybe the Rockies intuitively grasp the contradiction in the term: "nobody" would include they, the players. These guys believe in themselves. Whatever else they may choose to believe is immaterial.

As they have faith in each other, I have faith in them. Logically I can't see how the storyline would work out — as it was for Cleveland, I reckon the Rockies would be toast were the series to get back to Fenway — but I have too much respect for Josh Beckett and the 2004 veterans to give this one to the Rockies in 5. Colorado in six?

Please?