4 Sports
Wednesday, Nov. 7, 2007
Clackamas Print
Rockies make World Series but fall
short after winning 21 of 22 gamesi
Colorado Rockies
show heart in their
miracle run to the
World Series but still
can’t overcome the
Boston Red Sox
Zak Laster
The Clackamas Print
The Colorado Rockies
entered
Major
League
Baseball in 1991.
In their short 16-year his
tory they have averaged 73
wins per season, making the
playoffs only once, in 1995.
They were consistently last in
their division.
Nobody expects anything
from the Rockies except for
them to get beaten into the
ground by superior oppo
nents.
But something in them
changed this year, starting
Sept. 16 in a game against
the Florida Marlins. The team
won 13-0 and went on to win
14 of their last 15 regular
season games to tie with the
San Diego Padres and force a
one-game playoff. They then
beat the San Diego Padres 9-8
and propelled themselves into
the playoffs.
To be able to win 14 of 15
is very difficult to pull off at
any stage of the season, but
the Rockies chose the best
possible time to get hot.
During the playoffs, they
were on such a roll as a team
that they swept both the
Philadelphia Phillies in the
National League Division
Series and the Arizona
Diamondbacks in the National
League Championship Series.
In fact, they won the
National League Pennant so
quickly that they had to sit
and wait nine days and watch
the Red Sox play four more
games before they could get
back on the field for the World
Series.
Somewhere during all that
time off, the Rockies appar
ently lost their momentum.
They were blown out in Game
1 of the World Series, 13-1.
Jeff Francis (17-9, 4.22 ERA)
was the starter for Colorado,
but he lasted only four innings
after giving up six runs. His
opponent, Josh Beckett (20-7,
3.27 ERA), pitched phenom
enally, giving up one run in
seven innings of work and
striking out nine batters.
x Game 2 was more of the
battle of the bullpens. Neither
starter Ubaldo Jimenez (4-4,
4.28 ERA) of Colorado or
Curt Schilling (9-8,3.87 ERA)
pitched very long; both pitch
ers were done by the sixth
inning. Schilling had built a
2-1 lead over the Rockies, and
the bullpen was able to shut
down the Rockies en route
—
Games this week
Cross Country wiH travel to Clark College
on Saturday, Nov. 10, for the Northwest
Athletic
Association
of
Community
College
Championships
(NWAACC).
The race will take place in Lewisville
Park, located in Battle Ground, Wash.
On Saturday, Nov. 10, women’s soccer will
play in the NWAACC quarterfinals at the
Oregon City High School stadium at noon.
Today, women’s volleyball will play at home
again-. Linn Benton Community College. The
game will take place at 7 p.m. in the Randall
Gymnasium. The game is a league match.
Playoff ties will be played Nov. 9 and 10. The
times and locations are to be announced.
to a 2-1 victory and a com
manding two-game lead in
the series.
In the off-season the
Red Sox won the rights to
Japanese phenom Daisuke
Matsuzaka (15-12, 4.40
ERA). It cost the team
over $100 million, but they
bought him for these high-
magnitude games.
Matsuzaka took the
mound in Game 3 of the
World Series. He didn’t
have his best outing, going
5.1 innings and giving up
two runs while striking out
five and walking three. "He
pitched much better than the
Rockies’ Josh Fogg (10-9,
4.94 ERA), who only lasted
2.2 innings, giving up six
runs. The Red Sox won the
game 10-5, and were now in
full control of winning their
second title in 86 years.
In Game 4 the Red Sox
put Jon Lester (4-0, 4.57
ERA) on the mound against
Aaron Cook (8-7,4.12 ERA).
Lester had just been brought
up from AA on Sept. 2. Both
pitched very well in a hard-
fought game.
The Rockies were play
ing for their playoff lives.
However, it wasn’t enough,
as the Rockies had faced
the same problem the whole
series: lack of bullpen depth.
The Red Sox won 4-3.
The Rockies had a great run
to finish the season, all the
way up to the World Series.
Photo Illustration by Elizabeth Hitz Clackamas Prin
They just ran into a better,
deeper team in the Red Sox.
The state of Colorado
hasn’t had much to cheer
about in any sports since the
retirement of John Elway
1998.
Hopefully, the Rockies i
be able to take it a step furt
in 2008-09.