Tonight, I Wear My I-Dog Jersey (t-shirt)

We'll give the bullpen a little breather here and pay tribute to a certain catcher who has been struggling mightily at the plate. In light of the mini-meltdown Cookie had in the 7th (up 7-0, it's probably pretty easy to over relax) and the 'pen suffered in the 8th inning, I-Dog's two-run blast looks pretty nice in a 7-5 much-needed win today. Very nice to see Street lock down a 1-2-3 strike out the side 9th. That's what closers are supposed to do, from what I hear.

Watching a few moments of the replay of the game here tonight and it looks like there was a pretty good crowd on hand for a Wed afternoon. What, were they giving away Murton jersey t-shirts?

Great Job!

Our bullpen sucks.

Hi, Bullpen, It's Me Again

Just here to let you know, you stink, and I hate you!!

"The Fundamentals Of Our Baseball Team Are Strong"

Much like a John McCain campaign speech gaffe, the Rockies' motto coming into this season is becoming a cruel joke for all those with the stomach to watch. Stressing fundamentals in spring training has translated into inconsistent (at best) pitching, terrible situational hitting, and a multitude of perplexing errors. These are all characteristics of last season's team that was such a problem. Case in point, the Rockies have men on 2nd and 3rd in the fifth inning tonight with Hawper, Stew Bag, and Barmey due up. Two infield pop flies and a strike out later and you have nothing to show. Losers. Maybe they knew a two run home run was coming immediately in the next inning, which brings up another problem: the resistance to prosperity. Every time the Rocks scratch their way back into a game or take a lead, they seem all to eager to give it up as soon as possible. Watching this team is giving me ulcers at an alarming rate.

It's still early and having Frank-Dog suddenly exit the game during warm-ups in the third inning typifies the team's luck thus far, but all signs point to a long season and a failed campaign by the team's leader to keep his job much longer.

Swept Away

Miserable few days in the Ravine. A first game they should have won, and a couple more where they look like a downright shitty team.

Kind of going wrong all over the place.

Pitching looks horrendous pretty much down the line...this afternoon's batch were able to mark one scoreless inning on the card today. Whoo boy that Belisle is a keeper, huh?

At the plate, the copious strikeouts and runners LOB continue. Couple meaningless homers after the game was already lost is pretty classic Rockies too. Really clutch there I-dog. At least you got your second hit of the year!

The Rockies sure don't mind giving a fan a variety of losses. Heartwrenching bullpen meltdowns to lose a game they could have won. Or just flat-out getting their asses kicked and having a game out of reach by the 5th inning.

...a little afraid to head out to Coors next weekend when the Dodgers are in town. Things are starting to get ugly.

I Can't be Counted On.

No. Not the Meat Puppets song....but the refrain from a #1 starter's poorly digitally doctored visage on a Rockies blog.

"I'm back in the '09. Maddow and Bowie, take note (hell, maybe even alert Eno and Colbert). I'm just as prone to leave balls up in the zone and give up hits n' taters as any jackass in our bullpen. Why all the hate for those losers? You seen my ERA? Double digits, cocksuckers. I'll give you plenty of reason to pull your hair out and drink heavier than you should, and write derogatory blog posts.

What's that you say? I'm a sinker ball pitcher. Shit...forgot about that today, I'll write myself a note so I don't forget for my next start.

I now realize the Andre Ethier that went deep today, to totally fuck our chances, was the one who acutally plays Major League Baseball with the Dodgers, NOT the one who sings for the Deadly Snakes. Gonna have to pay attention to that next time I pitch against the Dodgers. Hopefully next time it's the Deadly Snakes guy, not the actual baseball player, that would make my job much easier.

Nice Work Bullpen

I was hoping not to have to show my mug around here, but it seems like someone is always looking for an encore performance. It's not even two weeks into the season and the bullpen can be squarely blamed for two losses (and a 4-5 record as opposed to a much nicer sounding 6-3). This time, your heroes are Matt Belisle (filling in for the '08 Herges?), Alan Embree (yes I hate Andre Either too, my man), and to some extent Grill-Dog (although the go-ahead run was scored on a very cheap-o hit, something that seems to be plaguing the Rocks in the early going).

Sure, some would point to an offense that did nothing after the first inning and squandered a great opportunity to at least tie the game back up in the 8th. But David Bowie and I are going to put this loss at the feet of the bullpen. You don't have to be perfect, but when you're given a three run lead, you should at least be able to hold it for an entire inning. Let's hope you get the chance to prove critics wrong this afternoon.

Troutdog Made Me Be Mean!

I'd like to apologize to the Das Boot family. I need to state that Troutdog had asked me to ruffle a few feathers before the season started because he thought that you guys were getting a little "soft". As an apology I have done some research and thought that this website may hold everything you need for a successful season. Good luck gentlemen.
Love,
30 Pack Thief

an almost choke job

Wouldn't have been nearly as bad as the choke job at Wrigley last year when we were up by like 50 runs, but that 9th inning was sketchy as hell. I got to believe there may be some closer controversey now with Street giving up runs in his last 3 appearances, and trying to rice up this one. I've got a feeling I won't be doing my heart health any favors by watching the Rockies in the 9th inning this year.

On a more positive note Marquis looked solid again, both on the mound and at the plate.

Back to 500? Nice ; like; get comfy.

The NL West team that fell to earth.

I guess it's safe to say that the drunken euphoria related to the home opener, and the Rox previously taking a series from the hated Snakes has subsided and has been replaced with....."yeah, this is about what I was expecting."

Multiple run leads dashed by poor late-inning pitching and "hot" bats that don't produce in the clutch to come from behind when they must.

I'm sure last Sunday I would have said that I'd have been satisfied with a 3-3 record after opening on the road in AZ and then facing the reigning World Series Champs at home. But we were 3-1 two days ago, and that seems like quite awhile ago already (this weekend has been a bit hazy, granted)...foolishly, I had become quite accustomed to having a .750 record.

The Silence is Killing Me

You can tell what the TruckTroutTooth family was up to at the game yesterday by their lack of blog posting. A 10-3 home opener and nary a word out of their North Denver Baseball Compound? From what I understand they nearly emptied the keg in between the Three One One and the Three One Two.
As my name would imply I too enjoy a sip of the hops and barley every now and again. However, yesterday I was as dry as Mayberry, North Carolina. Me and Six Pack Thief took the game in and enjoyed a day of sun, baseball, hot chicks that you'll never see at a baseball game again until the next opening day and every drunk in Denver who needed an excuse to start drinking at 10 in the morning.
What can I say? I had thought that Marquis would be the weak link on the mound. He pitched lights out!
Well its 10:30 in the morning. I think I hear some stirring going on at the Trout household. It most likely smells like upchucked vegetarian hot dogs and Swanky's Nachos, baseball mitt conditioner and Miller High Life Light.

Nice little start actually....

Encouraging and exciting. The Inspector must be pissing himself.

Weird that the "inevitable" Frank-Dog send-down was followed through with. Dude had a strong game. This Rays cast-off, Hammel, better bring it.
Congrats to Dexter for his first MLB homer.
Glad to see the Phillies (hopefully) getting their offensive explosion out of their system.
AL note. My A's? SuperFuentes coughing up a blown save and loss for the Angels...I ain't crying over that news.

KEEP IT GOING FRIDAY AT COORS! May the Buttcrack section be rocking, drunk, and semi-naked.

Yep, One Run Should Be Enough....

....but, it was nice the Rocks add a couple more and make it a stress-free night for the bullpen (certainly not used to that). Such a huge outing by Super Ublado to counter a pretty dominating performance by Haren. After yesterday's mystery slugfest loss, this was the type of game that I would completely expect the Rocks to lose last year, especially playing in AZ, which has been a house of horrors for them since the '07 playoffs. Another homer by Tulo, some key hits by Barmey, Stewbag, and Todd, and some great pitching by Super Ubaldo, Manny, and H-Street make for some enjoyable baseball to watch. Doesn't hurt to see the shutout against the hated D-Bags lineup.

It's only one win, but it's nice to get it under your belt quickly after yesterday's disappointing opening day loss.

Post Game Report: After seeing the Cowboy on the FSN post-game set and being subjected to his tight-fitting middle section attire in HD (the gut hasn't regressed since last season's Tucson's photos), FSN would be wise to feature as much Rizzo as possible.....

Should be interesting to see how Frank Dog does tomorrow in his start. If anyone needs an mlb audio password to have radio access via the net, I now have one and I think multiple log-ins are allowed.

Welcome back baseball....

The inspector is also ready: 0 days

2008 is done. Bring on 2009

The thong that brought Jeff Francis his first win of 2008 turned out to be a placebo if anything. As promised, and much to the delight of Mrs. 30 Pack Thief, it has been dismantled like the World Series Rockies team. It has been entombed in a section of the Denver Post and is ready to spend the rest of it's days in a overpopulated landfill.
30 Pack Thief is ready to resume life as a ballpark drunk.

TroutDog Is Ready For Baseball

To quote a cinematic luminary (Chip Douglas aka the Cable Guy), "Let's get it on!!!" The sour taste that the '08 baseball season left can't be washed out soon enough. While I hope '09 will yield better results, I'm thinking it will just be less painful due to lower expectations. I kind of like the Rockies team, but it is flawed in many ways. It will only take a slight rocking of the boat and the wheels could come off quickly (sorry to mix metaphors).

My biggest concerns are the rotation and the schedule in April. The butt-end of the Rock's starting rotation is vulnerable to say the least. I'd like to think that Super J (Jason Marquis - the nickname is a work in progress) will be solid out of the gate and that DLR and Frank Dog (Morales, not Francis) will hold their own, but the trio hold an unknown commodity that doesn't sit well in this fan's stomach. Moreover, Ubaldo isn't a seasoned veteran and Cookie can be a bit injury-prone. So, I hold my breath in terms of what the Rock's starting pitching holds in store.

Probably more concerning is the fact the Rockies have one of the most unfavorable April schedules imaginable. Opening the season against the top 3 D-Bags starting pitchers, possibly facing Cole Hamels in your home opener a few days later (countering with the aforementioned Super J, no offense, but not all that fair), and hardly any home games until May. Truth be told, the Rockies could easily be 8 games back before those fruity Russians start parading around the May Day Pole.

Still, I think we have a chance to win the NL West, flip a giant F-U to the experts, and make those $6.75 Coors Lights almost seem worth it. The key is a somewhat consistent starting rotation, hitting that lives up to potential, and surviving April no more than 7 games back in the division. Either way, I'll waste plenty of time at the ballpark..........

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