Do a Little Doublethink on Big Brother Dan

Throughout all of the trade talk and rumors, all of the coverage of what most have called the awful Chacon move, I think we've all felt that something's just not right. And it's probably struck us all by now, the questions we've been dying to ask: Wait a minute, weren't the Rockies building a homemade, Colorado dugout? These kids, who have been pitching in Colorado all of their lives, are the only way to win, right Dan? Apparently not. In a stunning move, Dealin' Dan O'Dowd pulled one right out of Orwell's pocket and asked us all to do a bit of doublethink in a press conference yesterday. The Rocky's Dave Krieger puts it well:

And so the faces keep changing. One day you are part of the building process and the next day you're not. Remember when Chacon and Scott Elarton were part of the grow-'em-at-home plan? These were Colorado kids who had always pitched at altitude.

That was the secret.

For about a minute and a half.

Somebody asked general manager Dan O'Dowd about the homegrown thing and he immediately veered off into his rap about kids the Rockies have drafted. He didn't even remember the grow-'em-at-home plan. No wonder. There have been so many plans.

From Rockies' newest profile: Kiss hope goodbye in Saturday's Rocky

Quite frankly, this is an insult to the intelligence of Rockies fans everywhere. We remember when a slightly more chipper Dan told us that homegrown was the way to go, and asked us to stay the course for a few years as we built a bullpen that would know how to pitch in Coors Field. So we did. But now, it seems, all hope of building some kind of Colorado Dream Team has gone down the drain, because the GM doesn't even recognize the plan anymore. For years, we've been told that we're building and building, getting better and getting there, but every year since the Bichette and the rest of the bombers left, the team has been completely different. Hopefully, this is the last straw for Dealin' Dan. Too long, we've been asked to wait patiently as year after year of "rebuilding" goes by, with a completely different core in every "phase" of rebuilding.

The entire situation is beginning to show what it has always really been: not an effort to put together an attractive product, but an effort to cut salary and make as much money as possible. I wouldn't be this pissed if they had told me the truth from the outset - but year after year we've been told of the comittment and dedication to a good franchise, and year after year it's looked more and more like a pipe dream.

The Rockies have enjoyed a pretty decent following for their level of incompetence - the blog community proves that, but I'm thinking that's about to change. I'll continue to be a fan of the team, but I don't have to be a fan of the management. I hope you'll all join me in my campaign to Deal Dan Out. And while we're at it, let's fold with a pair of Monforts. When the day comes that we have real management in town, hopefully we can laugh at all of this - but right now, I can't wait to say "good riddance".

-Gabe

Humor to help us get through the Chacon trade, as posted in a comment in the last post

In fact, I'm surprised that he hasn't traded Helton yet. I mean, he was just batting near .300 when he got injured, and he had tons of power behind him all season, he's seen all kinds of great pitching. Oh, and there's no way he'll ever fully recover from, gasp, a strained muscle. Not to mention the fact that he's never been seriously injured before, so this one will hit him hard...hrm, now seems like a perfect time to trade him. Why, I'll bet we could get three or four Yankees prospects for him!

-Gabe
P.S. This was sarcasm.

Welcome Back to D-Town

So there I am, feeling like I need to check my e-mail, in the midst of a 1-1 ballgame. Jamie Wright is pitching well, and the Rockies offense is making solid contact, it's looking like a good game in the making. Then I come back, ask pop what happened, and learned (not to my surprise) that Jamie had given up back-to-back homers. But that's okay, it's just 3-1, and we're good at playing catchup. Plus, I'm hungry and a Quesadilla is calling to me.

Long story short, I get back from my Quesdilla-making only to see Byrnes make a stunning diving miss on an insideout liner (though props for trying), allowing in another run to make the game 7-1. Now it's 9-1, and Carvajal's just allowed a 2-run double by the backup catcher. I guess it's just the Rockies welcoming me back from a 5-week break from glorious Rockies baseball.

Thanks, guys, I missed you too.

-Gabe

P.S. I'd like to send a shoutout to my co-blogger Sam "The Brick" Handler for his excellent work during my hiatus. Wow, he's such a better blogger than I.

I'd Like to Give a Shout Out...

Well hello, everybody. Been a while. I'm just here proving Sam wrong by blogging tonight, because I ended up getting MLB.TV, so I was able to catch the highlight reel, even though I don't have much time to blog. I've also watched a few games but like I said, I just don't have much time.

Anyhow, aftert showing up my co-blogger, I'd also like to congratulate Sam for calling it perfectly a few days ago in his analysis of Brad "Leather" Hawpe (Oh God! No Mohr). Tonight, Brad really showed everyone how to play in the outfield with two stunning catches and one damn good one. Plus, Hawpe had two RBI's on a respectable 1 for 4 night. It's was just an all around good game, and it's fun to see him maturing defensively. Now there's just no justification for putting Mohr out ahead of Hawpe for anything else than the very rare break or to relieve someone else in the outfield.

Some other notes about the game that I had:

Todd Helton is heating it up. 3 for 3 with a double and a run scored? I think he's finally feeling it, and I still hold my position that he'll be batting .300 by the All-Star break, which brings me to my next point:

Who in the hell is going to represent the Rockies in Detroit? If you'd asked me a month ago, I would've said Clint Barmes for sure, but barring another ceremonial nod for Helton, who's gonna be "representin'"? The only people I can justify going to the game are the newly hot Garret Atkins (who isn't even on the list), and perhaps Brian Fuentes, but you can hardly claim that he's one of the top five closers in the league. If anyone has some ideas, please let me know.

Finally, I'd like to say congrats to J.D. Closser, who got another home run tonight. 3 Down, 72 to go. Seriously skipper, what did Danny Ardoin ever do to you? Give better defense and better offense a chance.

I'm out.

-Gabe