A Tale of Two Opposites

Tonight's game (Rockies vs. Sox Take II) chronicles an amazing difference between two teams at polar opposites in terms of record and two other important stats: pitching and hitting.

The Colorado Rockies have the best hitting in the league, with four players batting above .300, three in the .290s, and one who will be batting .300 by the All-Star Break. (there's my official helton prediction). The Sox, on the other hand, have the worst hitting in the league, with one player batting about .300 (albeit in just 52 atbats), and one in the .290s (the former Rockie, Juan Uribe).

So why do the Sox have one of the best records in the league, and the Rockies one of the worst? It's because unlike what appears to be current-day sentiment, pitching beats hitting every time. I think the Sox's formula will finally force managers to realize that slugging isn't everything, but my question is, what took them so long? If the league had been paying more attention to our Rockies, the league could've figured that one out long ago.

What am I talking about? The Sox have the best pitching staff in the league, and the Rockies have the worst. That should say it all right there, because Pitching is something that has always plagued the Rockies, from day one. Our ownership has never been willing to dig deep in those million-dollar pockets and sign a good reliever or two, despite contuining signs that pitching is really what matters. Of course, they weren't too worried back in the day, when the Rockies were still drawing 30K to the field night after night. But this year, with attendance dwindling even further, the only reason to go to the ballpark seems to be Todd Helton, who's deep in the worst slump of his career, and Clint Barmes, former rookie of the year candidate, who's going to be out of business for 3 months.

What's so interesting about this game is that it brings all of these facts into focus. If the owners don't see the Sox with their terrible hitting and brilliant pitching with the best record in the league, and take it as a wakeup call that the Rockies need pitching, I don't think we'll ever see a good team under this ownership.

But here's to the rest of this year!

-Gabe