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Rockies Ride a Silver Bullet for Past 22 Games

A First Time for Everything as Rockies Make Their First World Series

Alex Pandolfi

Issue date: 10/24/07 Section: Sports
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The Colorado Rockies, the Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise from Denver. A team that is so hot right now, not even a Rocky Mountain cold Coors Light can cool them down.

Back on Sept. 15 the Rockies weren't even a front runner in the playoff race, let alone being a contender for the World Series. They had a record of 76-72 and were on a three game losing streak. Their home crowd attendance was barely over 26 thousand.

At this point in time, the Rockies had to win most of their remaining 14 games to even stand a chance.

The next day on Sun. Sept. 16, the Rockies realized that winning was what they needed to do in order to achieve playoff glory. They did just that when they blew out the Florida Marlins in a 13-0 win.

This was just the beginning. On Sept. 21, Colorado extended their winning streak to six games. Colorado outfielder Brad Hawpe slugged a game winning solo home run in the fourteenth in a win over National League (NL) West division rival, the San Diego Padres.

The streak didn't end until Sept. 28 when they lost 4-2 to the Arizona Diamondbacks, but by that time the Rockies had put a major dent in the playoff picture and shook things up.

Even with the NL West division title out of reach due to the Diamondbacks win, the Rockies were still not out of the playoff picture. The only problem was, Colorado needed to win its last two games of the season against the Diamondbacks and hope for a few other teams like the San Diego Padres and the New York Mets to lose.

It seemed like the stars were aligned for the Rockies as everything fell into place for them. The Rockies were victorious and with the regular season at an end they still needed to face one more obstacle.

The Rockies' record was now 89-73 but the San Diego Padres ended with the exact same record. Since there was only one spot for two teams, the division rivals needed to face off in one more game to determine who would be the final team in the playoffs on Oct. 1.

For this one game, Rockies' home attendance at Coors Field was over 48 thousand. More than double the attendance that Colorado had back in Sept.

The Padres sent out their best pitcher, Jake Peavy, for this one game playoff. Neither team would let up in this game as it went all the way to the thirteenth inning with the scored tied at six. The Padres then broke the game open by scoring two runs off a home run from Padres outfielder Scott Hairston. With the last licks and playoff hopes on the line, the Rockies appeared to be down and out until they rallied back in the bottom of the thirteenth, eventually winning this game 9-8, and earning their spot in the playoff.

This was only the second time Colorado made the playoffs since the franchise began in 1993.

The Rockies weren't satisfied with just making the playoffs. They wanted to go even further. In the first round of the playoffs they needed to play a five game series against another playoff team that had made it by the skin of their teeth, the Philadelphia Phillies. Needing three wins to move onto the next round, Colorado continued their winning ways by winning the first three games, finishing off the fighting Phil's.

Going into the National League Championship Series (NLCS), the Rockies won 17 of their last 18 games, an amazing feat.

In the NLCS, Colorado faced a more formidable foe in the Arizona Diamondbacks, the team that served the Rockies their last loss. The NLCS is a seven game series where the first team to win four games moves on.

Too bad for the Diamondbacks, it was the Rockies serving up the ice cold losses this time around. Colorado won the first four games of the NLCS, en route to the World Series.

The team that appeared to be down and out in the middle of Sept. is now in position for their first world title, in their first World Series.

The extraordinary thing about the Colorado Rockies is that they're a young team. Out of the eight player starting lineup (excluding pitcher), six players are in their 20's and two are in their early 30's. Only two players have more than four years of playing experience. Only one out of the four starters in the pitching rotation is in his 30's.

Whether or not the Rockies win the World Series is going to remain a mystery until Wed, the 24. Just the fact that the Rockies are contending is a feat within itself, since they have now won 21 of their last 22 games; something that no team has done to reach the championship series.

The Rockies will face the Boston Red Sox at Fenway park on Wed, and fight for their first title.


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