Thursday, June 30, 2011

Thoughts on Todd Helton's 2000th game with Rockies

Congratulations are in order for Todd Helton. 2,000 games in Major League Baseball. 2,000. All of them with our Colorado Rockies.

Of active players, only Derek Jeter and Chipper Jones can say the same thing. I couldn't be prouder of the player or the organization for making that happen.

I wish Todd could play 2,000 more. To this day he is still one of my favorite people/players to watch do their job. That counts any sport or any form of entertainment. He's just plain fun to watch. Especially when he's in the box spoiling tough two-strike pitches or make another slick pick at first base. I love those little things.

He's not the same player he once was, but he's still the same man with the same drive and the same professionalism. He's never given away one at-bat, or taken a day off mentally in the field. He's always getting the most out of himself, even when his body wasn't cooperating.

Rock Solid Recrap: Rockies lose series to AL version of themselves

If the Rockies fired Jim Tracy tonight, it wouldn't fix everything - and very likely wouldn't fix anything - but I sure wouldn't be upset or angry. 

It's easy to say he's not the Rockies only problem or their biggest problem. That's the truth. But he certainly is a big problem. A problem that needs to be eliminated eventually. 

He was awful today. Completely overmanaged a very winnable game, helping turn it into a disaster. He used three pitches to get through the seventh, which I guess was necessary after Rafael Betancourt allowed the lead-off home run to Gordon Beckham? Or something.

He did allow Betancourt to face one more hitter, whom he retied, but then got the hook in favor of Rex Brothers. Personally, I would try to have a little more faith in Raffy. You know? You've demoted him to the 7th, which I can't argue with. But with a three-run, how can he regain his confidence getting yanked after one mistake?

Brothers came in and struggled again, which is totally on him. He needs to lock that down, but he didn't, so then we go to Matt Belisle. Belisle needs only one pitch to get the Rockies out of the jam.

Lineup Card: 6-30-11 Rockies vs White Sox

If you're looking for Rockies game lineups and you don't feel like searching all over Twitter or waiting for MLB.com to post them, check back to Heaven & Helton about 30-60 minutes before first pitch. They should be here waiting for you. 

Links
Lineups

Colorado Rockies (39-41)
  1. CF Carlos Gonzalez
  2. 2B Jonathan Herrera
  3. 1B Todd Helton
  4. SS Troy Tulowitzki
  5. RF Seth Smith
  6. 3B Ty Wigginton
  7. LF Charlie Blackmon
  8. C   Matt Pagnozzi
  9. P   Aaron Cook
Game No. 2,000 for Todd Helton. Pretty damn cool!