The Burrall Blog – The Same Team, Only Different

 8/8/09 – 11:50 PM

DENVER — Just got back to my brother’s home from watching the Rockies and Cubs.  Though they lost tonight, Colorado has played remarkably well since the long-overdue firing of manager Clint Hurdle in May.  As of this writing, they are 40-18 since being 12 games under .500 in early June and one game behind the Giants’ National League Wild Card lead.

Jim Tracy has made a great difference since being hired as manager.  Everyone is accountable.  Everyone knows what is expected of them.  Rockies’ relief pitchers who couldn’t get hitters out are now at Triple-A Colorado Springs or in another organization, instead of being coddled or ignored by Hurdle.  With that exception, the Rockies’ personnel is basically the same as it was when the team was playing abysmally in April and May.

Can a managerial change make that much difference?  Well, it can and has before.  And it has with the 2009 Rockies, who went from possibly the most underachieving team in the majors in the first six weeks of the season to a team seriously contending for a playoff berth.

I know this:  I cringed watching this team early on this year.  They looked like they knew they were going to lose.  But since the change, they not only think they can win, they expect to win, and it’s almost a shock when they don’t.  Now, I don’t cringe watching the Rockies.  I savor it.  Whatever happens this year, they’ve made the turn back into one of the National League’s best teams.  Now, if only the owners, who seem to be more interested in their holier-than-thou attitude (witness the incomprehensible barring of excellent radio play-by-play man Jeff Kingery from the team charter for the rest of the season) than spending money to make the team even better, would sell the team to someone who has a clue, so they can get rid of the general manager and baseball operations people that don’t have a clue, being a Rockies’ fan would be even more enjoyable than it already is.

The Burrall Blog – OK, That’s A Start

5/29/09 – 2:15 PM

Rockies fans have gotten one of their wishes.  Manager Clint Hurdle has been fired and replaced by bench coach and former Pirates and Dodgers manager Jim Tracy.

From all accounts, Hurdle’s a good guy and does deserve some credit for leading Colorado to the World Series in 2007.   That team was talented, and the talent level really hasn’t dropped off since then.  So, why did the Rockies win only 74 games last year?  Injuries did have something to do with that, but a well-run team would have again contended for a title in this weak division, even with the Dodgers’ surge and Manny “No, I Really Didn’t Know That Was a Fertility Drug” Ramirez.  Young pitchers have to be actually coached, not coddled, as the man who is somehow still the pitching coach, Bob Apodaca, seems to do.

And even with talent, there isn’t much depth still in the Rockies’ organization, and that falls at the feet of the man who is somehow still the general manager, Dan O’Dowd.  I’ve written before about the terrible trades and signings he’s made, and the Rockies are still recovering from them.

But still, as inept as O’Dowd and Apodaca are, the problem may still be at the top.  Charles and Dick Montfort, seeing the amazing attendance in the first years of the franchise, thought they would make huge amounts of money.  Well, the problem with that is that the team didn’t get any better and attendance dropped.  So, instead of making moves to help the team improve, the Montforts have instead aimed themselves upon improving their bottom line.  Therefore, with the notable exception of the last two months of 2007, the overall quality has suffered.

Sure, O’Dowd and Apodaca should have been gone lone ago.  But, I’m afraid to say that results may not change with the Rockies until the Montforts decide they’ve had enough and sell the team to someone who actually has an idea about making the team better, and consequentially, improving attendance and interest.