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..........

1 day

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C'mon Todd!!!

Pulling a classic nerd move by watching some tape-delayed Cactus League action from this afternoon's game against the Brewers. The early returns on Todd's surgically repaired back are encouraging to say the least. Seems like he's only been playing for a little over a week and he's already hit four dongs. Spilly has also gone yard today giving him his third dinger of Cactus League. I'm starting to think that a healthy, re-invigorated Helton and Spilly playing everyday, instead of the bunting machine that was Willy T, might make up some (emphasis on some) of the power lost with Holliday gone.

Ubaldo is also looking mighty dominant on the hill. Obviously, he is vital for the rotation to have any sort of punch this year.

Also, give me Goodman and Fraz any day over these losers collaborating from Fox Sports Wisconsin.

Two weeks until opening day and counting.....

Matt Murton Fever

A certain "Matty" is having himself a pretty good little Cactus League. A .450 batting average might look pretty good on a scrub outfielder's resume. Cory Sullivan already seems like a distant memory. Thanks Murt-Dog!

I-DOG

Is It Time For Me To Take Over Yet?

All this talk about how critical a fast start is and then the team goes 0-7? Must be time to pass the reigns over to Papa Baylor. What? This is only Cactus League? Whaahhhh!?!?! Who gives a shit!!!! I don't see the regular season starting off any differently, so why not just give me the keys to the car now and maybe we aren't 10 games out of first before May. You're welcome....

I'M KIP WELLS, DAMMIT!!

So it appears that in an effort to add a little incentive, new bench coach Jim Tracy is offering up $20's to any Rockie that can get a base hit with a Runner In Scoring Position in 2009.
Either that, or he just thinks legal tender makes for a snazzy jacket accessory...

Ouch.

Huh? I thought Spring Training was a time of optimism and bullshit like that, not deciding on season ending shoulder surgery...

At least the Rockies have upgraded in the moustache department...

...pitchers and catchers reporting in less than a day...

Forecast Calls For Minor League Fogg

Just picked up word that the Rocks pull off a blockbuster move and sign Josh Fogg to a minor league deal. I guess the market for dragon slayers was pretty dry. Meanwhile the D-Bags pick up Jon Garland. I think our division just got tougher.

Am I glad we signed Fogg? Yes - I like the dude as a player/gum gnasher and maybe he can make the team in a long reliever role. Unlike last year when I thought we should've resigned Fogg, we seem pretty solid in the end of the rotation department. But, I guess you can never be too sure. Am I excited about this signing? Not really. Any excitement that I do have is probably more sentimental than anything. Still, here's to a comeback year for the Dragon Slayer!

I agree with this trade.......

Vizco for Marquis? Big thumbs up O'Dowd. The papers make it sound like a done deal, which is fairly shocking. Marquis is pretty scrubby by Cubs' standards, but he'll definitely help the Rocks. In addition to being a totally mediocre major league pitcher (that's a complement on this team), the dude can swing the bat too. I hope the bullpen can survive missing all of those clutch performances from Vizciano.

Happy New Year, Cocksuckers!

The Hurdle and BSB family offer you our warmest holiday wishes. May I survive another year in a managerial role.

MLB Network.........

Got myself a raging nerd-boner at the impending new MLB Network channel debuting in the Denver-area on the Xomcast digital cable plan on New Year's day!
Oddly enough, I hear they have chosen the strangely forsaken 420 channel for broadcasting their feed. Does that mean I'll get nickel bags in my Xomcast bills? I sure hope so. When I tune in, I also "hope" I get to see lots of replays of the Matty-chin-plant Play-In game winning run against the Pads. Sarcasm aside, I know there won't be much other Rox footage fodder on a channel that will likely be a great source for old MLB game-films and the like.
As a Major League Baseball fan I'm looking forward to finding out.

All I asked for Xmas was a competitive Major League Baseball team and what I got was this lump-of-coal Ecard and an over the hill middle reliever.

pretty quiet 'round these parts...

What? That Alan Embree signing isn't generating any talk?

Adios Willy T.

This catch in the NLCS was a big part of Rockies "history." Still, I can't say I'm all that troubled by the departure of Willy T. Dude is a great base stealer, but his batting skills are not entirely fit for the majors. Too bad we couldn't have completed that trade for him to get Redding from the Nats. Now he goes for nothing. Oh, and fuck the Yankees.