Fantasy Season Making Believers Out of Colorado Rockies

Throughout my travails in the Carolina League working with the Potomac Nationals (single-A affiliate of the Washington Nationals), you would think that I would find at least one person from Wilmington, DE to Myrtle Beach, SC that would be willing to shake me from my slumber and end this delightful dream that has overtaken my subconscious since the fourth of June.

The Colorado Rockies, the Colorado Rockies!, could not seriously have their sights set on a division crown, not after finding themselves 15 1/2 games back of the mighty LA Dodgers at the beginning of June. 

Right?

Think again.  Borrowing a phrase from Purple Row, one of the best Rockies blogs on the World Wide Web, Rockaugust has brought the Rockies into the national spotlight.

They are doing it with pitching, a far cry from the Blake Street Bomber days of the late 90s.

They are doing it with timely hitting, no more prevalent than the last 48 hours which saw one of the greatest games ever played in the Rockies' 17-year history only to be trumped the following night by another extra-inning walkoff win that sent the Blake Street faithful into a feverish frenzy.

They are doing it with a manager who had a pair of unceremonious tenures at the helm of both the Pirates and Dodgers.

But most of all, they are doing it with the assumption that every day they come to the ballpark, they are going to drive home at night with another tally in the win column. 

There is definitely something to be said for positive momentum in the sense that winning breeds confidence which breeds more victories and so on. 

Anybody remember September 2007?

I thought so.

Having nearly chopped down the entirety of the monumental deficit they once faced, the Rockies are clearly in control of their own destiny at this point. 

No need to watch the scoreboard when every opponent you play is trudging back to their clubhouse, shoulders slumped, after another miraculous Rockies victory, mumbling platitudes about how it is only one game and there is still a lot of season left to play.

While those grumbles may have truth to them, there is no denying the Rockies have rocketed from NL West also-ran into legitimate contender in the National League. 

After taking three of four from the second-place Giants, besting Tiny Tim Lincecum in Sunday's afternoon affair in addition to the most exciting regular season game in Rockies history the following evening (play-in game not included), the Rox welcomed the mighty Dodgers into Coors Field for a three-game series.

With game one's walk-off, extra-inning triumph, the Rockies announced to, not only the front-running Dodgers, but to the national media that Colorado is here to crash the party once again.

The talking heads are taking notice.

For the first time in what can only be described as a raccoon's age, the Rockies were the leadoff highlight on Sportscenter three times in the past week, even ahead of, GASP, Brett Favre's latest shenanigans.

I was looking for an amphibian downpour or plagues of locusts because I am almost positive that seeing the Rockies getting nationwide attention prior to the final few weeks of September was akin to Al Davis and Mike Shanahan sharing a frosty cold milkshake down at the ol' soda fountain. 

The Rox are in the middle of their toughest stretch of the season with a seven game homestand with the Giants and Dodgers with another three-game set against the rival Giants from AT&T Park over the weekend. 

Don't expect to see much offense as Ubaldo Jimenez draws Lincecum in a grudge match on Friday, Jason Marquis and Barry Zito square off on Saturday, with Jason Hammel and Matt Cain set to duel on Sunday.

Under Tracy the Rockies have been transformed into a pennant contender, posting a Major-League best 54-22 record since the skipper took control of the Rockies' sinking ship. 

With just over a month left to play, the Rockies sure have the look of a team of destiny, but they have to go out and take care of business as the schedule turns soft in the season's final month. 

But if the last week is any indication of what is in store for the Rockies, I'd rather just remain in a deep sleep, maintaining my trance-like state until I see Todd Helton hoist the World Series trophy.

Hey, a kid can dream right?