By Gabe Stein | Monday July 31st 2006, 4:45 pm
A week ago, the Colorado Rockies website reported that Hurdle would be looking for a veteran to add to the lineup to give the team real pennant experience. Instead, the Rockies have dealt their top prospect, Ryan Shealy, to the Kansas City Royals along with Major League Failure Scott Dohmann in exchange for two young pitchers.
The more experienced of the two is 27 year-old lefty Jeremy Affeldt, who has played 4 seasons with the Royals. Affeldt started 9 games this year, but has been mostly delegated to relief pitching, where he has done well, posting a 2.96 ERA and a .174 opponent batting average in 18 appearances from the pen. The Rockies will likely use him as a left-handed specialist to replace the faltering Ray King, as lefties are hitting just .181 against him this season. This should give the Rockies increased stability in a bullpen that has been faltering of late, and certainly help us in the division race - but it does mean that our top prospect is gone and we still need to fill at least one literally gaping hole for next year: center field.
The other pitcher acquired is 25 year-old right-handed starter Denny Bautista, who has a great arm but has so far been a bust and has spend most of the season in AAA. Some people are pitting Bautista as the real headliner in this deal, but so far he’s just shown that he has potential - a lot like Scott Dohmann.
So the question now becomes, did we get enough for Shealy? I look at this in two ways: first, Bautista and Dohmann basically cancel out. Either still has the potential to be good in the majors, but neither has proven as of yet that they can do it. Shealy can hit at the major-league level, and plays a decent first base, but has yet to have a lot of experience in the majors, so it makes sense to get a reliever with proven talent out of the bullpen, especially in a role that we’ve really been missing of late, left-handed middle relief. But Shealy has the potential to be a franchise-building player, much like Todd Helton, and relievers tend to come and go. So while this may have been a good move for the short term, will we really benefit down the road when we find that our real problems are in center field, and that we might need a prospect like Shealy to solidify the outfield? Consider this: The biggest loser in this years’ trade deadline fiasco was without a doubt the Boston Red Sox. Possibly the most talked-about team heading into the deadline, all of the deals the Sox were considering fell through, and they got nothing. Meanwhile, their AL East rival, the New York Yankees picked up Bobby Abreu to add power to an already overpowered offense. When deals started falling through for the BoSox, could the Rockies have reminded Boston, who had expressed interest in Shealy before, that Ryan was still available? We will of course never know.
The Bottom Line
Both teams improved in this deal. Shealy will help the Royals fill a huge gap in their lineup, and at least for the short term, Affeldt should solidify the bullpen for the Rockies. Plus, Affeldt is young and could still prove to be a top-quality reliever, especially with a good change of scenery. Meanwhile, if Bautista turns out to be a real starter and not just a scouts’ player, next years’ rotation could be scary. All of the sudden, the Rockies’ organization seems to be filled with pitching prospects, and a 100% solid rotation would make this team very scary indeed. I’m still worried about what we’re going to do in center field, but after thinking about the trade over and over again, I can’t help but think that it was all-in-all a good deal for the pennant race this year, and could be a great one for years to come if everything pans out like the scouts say it will.
By Gabe Stein | Monday July 31st 2006, 11:38 am
I just wanted to let everyone know that there’s going to be a charity tennis tournament this weekend hosted by some local high school students at George Washington High School. If you’re free this weekend and you play tennis or know someone who does, it would be great if you would come out for this event. It’s really going to be a great time and benefit a great cause.
Here’s the info (via their press release):
HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TEAM UP TO SMASH CANCER
(Denver, CO) The “Smash Cancer Tournament†is a charity doubles tennis tournament to benefit the American Cancer Society. It is hosted and run entirely by students on the George Washington High School relay for life team.
The two-day tournament will be held on August 5 and 6, 2006 from 8am to 5pm at George Washington High School, 655 S. Monaco Parkway, and Place Middle School, 7125 Cherry Creek Drive North. Match times, locations and directions will be provided at registration. We will be happy to accommodate scheduling conflicts if notified beforehand. Awards will begin at 5:30pm on August 6.
Register online by sending your Name, Phone Number, E-mail address and partner’s name to: smashcancertournament@yahoo.com or in person on August 5th at the George Washington High School tennis courts, located near Leetsdale and Exposition, at 8am. Single entries are welcome, and will be randomly paired with a partner before the event.
The minimum entry donation is $15 per person. Make checks payable to the American Cancer Society. Food and drink will be available on-site.
For more information, send an e-mail to smashcancertournament@yahoo.com, or call 720.341.3447.
By Gabe Stein | Monday July 31st 2006, 10:10 am
I’d like to congratulate Mr. Tracy Ringolsby for his induction into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame yesterday afternoon.
Despite being a blogger who has actively spoken out against the rigid MLB press rules, and was for it attacked by members of baseball’s press community, I can more than appreciate the professionalism and quality of coverage Ringolsby has provided the Denver area since the Rockies came into town in 1993 - I read it, almost every day. But Ringolsby has done more than that. He’s been an ambassador for the best parts of baseball, and perhaps more importantly, he brings the delight of being a fan to the game with him every day, along with his famous cowboy hat. And that is something that you can’t say about most sports journalists.
So congrats, Tracy, and here’s to a real September.
By staff | Thursday July 27th 2006, 10:29 pm
What is it going to take for the Nuggets to finally make it over the first round hump? Denver’s Coach K has some ideas.
A major part of the plan is New Orleans cast-away J.R. Smith who, during his first meeting with the Denver media, compared himself to NBA All Star Vince Carter, may be the outside scoring threat the Nuggets desperately needed last year (the team finished the season with a league-worst 32.5 scoring percentage from beyond the arch). Smith’s average from three-point range fared slightly better at 37.1 percent. Anybody who can hit three pointers will be a plus for the Nuggets. Smith spent the last two seasons with the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets, coming in as a highly-touted high school star, but ended his tenure in the Big Easy as a big headache for coach Byron Scott who kept him on the bench. I’m not getting my hopes up just to have them dashed by a 20-year-old bench warmer who is already comparing himself to Vince Carter. Plus, his defense is going to have to be pretty damn good to replace Greg Buckner’s who, despite his inconsistency as a shooter, was always a reliable top-level defender.
A second part of the plan is Yakhouba Diawara, who will either play shooting guard or small forward this season. Diawara played two seasons at Pepperdine, where he averaged 15.5 points and snagged six boards per game a year ago. He spent last season playing in two different European leagues: He played 20 games for JDA Dijon Bourgogne (French League), averaging 16.5 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. He spent another 25 games battling with Climamio Bologna of the Italian League, where he averaged 10.6 points and 3.8 boards per game, according to the Denver Post. I haven’t seen this guy play, so I’m not sure yet how I feel about him. But I do know that he reportedly turned down a larger offer from the Dallas Mavericks, who were a few bad calls away from a championship, to play for George Karl. He said he feels “comfortable” playing in the Denver system, and he had a verbal agreement to play for Karl. I want to be optimistic, but the last time this city got excited over a European prospect, we got burned. Let’s all say it together: Tskitishvili.
The Nuggets have also apparently signed free agent center Jamal Sampson. Sampson has played for four teams in four seasons, averaging 2.4 points and 3.9 rebounds. On the surface this seems like a pseudo-replacement for Francisco Elson, who bolted when the Nuggets wouldn’t match a $6 million offer from the Spurs. We’ll have to see how that one works out, but again, I’m not going to hold my breath on a guy who has averaged a bucket and a half per game over the course of his entire career.
Those are the definite additions, but there is one more deal out there that could add a proven veteran to the team. Keith Van Horn is looking for a team to play for, and he may just end up in Denver. Karl told the Rocky Mountain News Thursday that Van Horn, who lives in Evergreen, is on his radar as a shooting threat to relieve the pressure on Carmelo Anthony.
“I don’t think there’s any question I want a shooting big (man) next year,” Nuggets coach George Karl said. “We need somebody to get people off (Carmelo Anthony). I would lean more toward a veteran. (Van Horn) has got to be one or two on that list.”
The Nuggets will have to wait a while to find out, though. Van Horn is on an extended fishing trip in Alaska and his agent said he will not meet with him until mid-August to determine his future.
I was really looking forward to Allen Iverson coming to Denver. The Nuggets were one of the few teams around the league that could offer the 76ers a viable trade for the superstar. I say I was looking forward to it because apparently Iverson is staying in Philly. There may be hope yet: ESPN is reporting that an Iverson deal is still on the table, if the right deal came along. Sixers management had to tell the touchy superstar they wanted him on the team after spending the whole off-season dangling him on the trading block, but truly they want to move him.
Let’s just see what happens when the Nuggets take the floor this season. If everything comes together, and everyone stays healthy (I’m looking at you, Nene) the Nuggets have no excuse for not getting past the first round of the playoffs. Seriously.
By Gabe Stein | Thursday July 27th 2006, 12:14 pm
I’m pretty sure I don’t have to tell any of you how crucial this weekend will be for the Colorado Rockies. An embarassing 6.5 games back in the division, the Rockies have a unique chance to climb right back into the thick of the race with a four-game set at home with the division leaders that starts tonight and ends Sunday afternoon.
Meanwhile, the Rockies’ bats are in the same slump they encountered earlier in the season, and it all comes back to Todd Helton. Helton’s average, .300 and rising at the All-Star break, has dropped back to a mediocre .279, and with it, the entire team’s offense. It seems that the team lives and dies with Helton, which is a predictable but a deadly self-fullfilling prophecy. Helton’s a smart guy, and realizes that the team revolves around his production, which makes Helton think he has to produce more, which makes him squeeze the bat and produce less…last time this cycle started, Hurdle played a big roll in getting the team out of it. His mantra became ‘forget the past,’ and gradually, the team learned to. Every player started saying, at least in public and likely at Hurdle’s command, that they didn’t have residual memories of last night’s game, or any night. It was all well and good, but they were still losing ballgames - until they started to actually believe it, and got out of the slump. The entire team collectively started to believe that regardless of the record or the current losing streak, regardless of Helton’s production, they could win any given ballgame.
The Rockies should do exactly the same thing to get out of this slump, and do it in a hurry. They should realize that they are still in an extremely good position to compete for the division, and that even though they have won just three games since the all-star break, they are still just 6.5 games back, and they have a unique opportunity to beat the division leader four times, and pull right back into the division race.
The division is far from out of reach, and Hurdle should be telling his players right now to forget the standings, forget the losing, and just play the next four games like they’re the first of the World Series. And maybe, in time, they’ll get there.
By Sam Handler | Wednesday July 19th 2006, 7:18 am
So I know that the title of the post is trades, trades, trades, and I confess it’s a bit misleading. The Rockies should do nothing of the sort. At this point in the season, we’ve got to take a step back and realize, as our Rockies-blogging better Mark Donahue has said, that this season is not the Field of Dreams/Angels in The Outfield/Angels in The Outfield 4–Anakin’s Demons that it appeared to be in the first half.
Today, the Rockies are three games under .500, with a record of 45-48, while the division leading Padres are 50-43. Do not despair. Remember March, when we all thought the Rockies would improve slightly but still be depressingly terrible? Remember March. It is the new Rockies fan motto.
Anyhow, the trading deadline is approaching, and us Rockies fans need to resist the urge to do something stupid like, I don’t know, trading away a rising young outfield star in exchange for some middle relief. First, those deals typically favor the worse team, and second, they are usually three month rentals instead of long-term building blocks.
In the name of all things Gen-R, the Rockies have no business getting into this messy trade business. The aforementioned Reds deal proves that middle relief doesn’t come very cheaply in this league anymore, and that’s where the Rockies could most directly benefit in the market. Sure they could take a stab at Soriano, but that would only be logical if he would stay on the Rockies after this year, which is almost entirely independent of where he plays this year.
Fortunately, the penny-pinching front office ’round these parts wouldn’t dream of pulling a bold personel move, which is for once a good thing.
I don’t want to promise anything, what with the unreliability and all, but I’ll probably be doing a free agency survey sometime soon. Can anyone say Torii Hunter (the answer is no. God no.)
By Sam Handler | Monday July 10th 2006, 11:23 am
Because I don’t have a real job (I work part time for no pay because I’m what experts in the field call a “moron”), I payed quite a bit of attention to the World Cup. When I say quite a bit of attention, I mean I watched every bracket game save one or two and probably two games per day during group play. Remember, I don’t have legit employment.
One thing I truly began to appreciate in the games was the sportsmanship. Those corny banners about fair play apparently had an effect, because soccer was as classy a sport as I’ve ever seen. When a player is injured, for example, play isn’t halted, so if the opposing team has the ball, they kick it out of bounds to let the injured player recieve treatment.
So, when Zidane decided to headbut an Italian player in overtime of the World Cup final, in his last World Cup, it left a scar on the vibe that prevailed throughout the tournament. Rather than remembering a thrilling game that came down to PKs after Italy barely hung on to get there, we’ll remember a golden-shoed, balding baby that couldn’t curb his emotions for the sake of the game of soccer and his country. Way to go, ya big jerk.
By Gabe Stein | Tuesday July 04th 2006, 11:07 am
I’m doing a short series (which may end up being an article and a blurb) on local poker players playing in this years’ World Series of Poker.
For those of you not familiar with the event, the World Series of Poker is a tournament run by Harrah’s Entertainment each year which is largely considered one of the best and most prestigious tournaments around. Held at various casinos throughout Las Vegas, poker players who win WSOP events win a World Series ‘bracelet’ in addition to cash. Some people use these bracelets as a measuring tool for how good a poker player is. ESPN started showing the World Series of Poker on TV just a few years ago, and it has become one of the network’s biggest shows. Largely as a result of its TV popularity, WSOP attendance has skyrocketed in recent years, with over 7500 entrants expected to play in this years’ Main Event alone.
This years’ WSOP is on-going as we speak, and will end August 10 with the final table of the ‘Main Event,’ which is a $10,000 buy-in no-limit Texas Hold’em tournament. This Main Event is the most prestigious tournament in the world, and the winner, besides hauling in $7.5 million, will instantly turn into a poker celebrity. ESPN will be showing taped coverage of the WSOP starting on July 18.
Today, we’re talking to Denver resident and poker player Chad Stoffel. Chad, 29, will be attending the 2006 World Series of Poker in event #17, which is the $1,000 no-limit hold’em event. Below is an abridged transcript of the conversation.
Denver Sports Zone: How long have you been playing poker?
Chad Stoffel: I’ve been playing for about 10 years. I first got serious about Texas Hold’em when the first World Poker Tour [WPT] came out on TV three or four years ago.. I had played hold’em in college, but we’d only play one hand at a time, and then we would move on to another game. So I never really learned about the nuances of hold’em until they played it on TV. After that, I picked up some books and really got into [hold’em].
DSZ: Is this your first WSOP?
CS: This is my first time at the World Series. I’ve been saving money since January for the trip to Vegas. I wired my $1,000 buy-in a few days ago. It’s going to be really a crap-shoot, because you don’t get much play out of the chips you get. The blind structure is the same for every event, even though the chips are different. On smaller events you need to get your hands early, and those hands need to hold up. If I made it through the first day, I’d be happy.
DSZ: Do you have any suggestions for players who are just getting started?
CS: If you’ve already played a little bit, the free online stuff is pretty good, but it gets obnoxious. Just for the play that you get to learn and the tournament structures, the Full Tilt one is pretty good. Buy some books if you’re getting started. The Dan Harrington books, volumes one through three are probably going to be the best for quite a while as far as tournament no-limit hold’em strategy and discussion. Then there’s Supersystem 2 by Doyle Brunson and Theory of Poker by David Sklansky. Small Stakes Hold’em by Ed Miller and David Sklansky is good for Colorado readers. It’s kind’ve related to what’s up in Blackhawk. But I did read the book and go up there [to Blackhawk] with $125 and lose it in an hour and a half, so you never know. DenverPoker.com is a good site for local users. It’s fairly active, but you’re not overwhelmed by trying to read all these posts. And they talk about the local stuff, so I definitely recommend that.
DSZ: Have you ever met any pros, and what will it be like playing with them at the WSOP?
CS: I haven’t played with any of them, thank God, because I’d be broke…but I was at the Golden Nugget heads up tournament in Vegas in March, which was an invite tournament of 64 of the best pros. So I was standing at the Golden Nugget watching a cash game at the poker room, where Brunson, Chang, Johnny Chan, Paul Phillips were all sitting. It was ridiculous. I asked the foreman what they were playing, and he said “anything they want.†They were playing $2,000/$4,000 blind limit. Each one of them had $100,000 on the table. Then later, Howard Lederer was in town for a conference, and I talked to him, asked him how he liked Denver, and he said, ‘oh yeah, I had a good time.’ So he likes our city.
I’m not sure how many of the pros are gonna waste their time on the $1,000 event. And the pot limit Omaha event is that Sunday, so if they’re playing in that, they won’t be there for the start of the $1,000. And then the H.O.R.S.E event starts. So I’m not sure how many pros are going to be in the $1,000 buy-in. But it would be cool. What I love about the game is that anybody can play and be up against the best. You can’t play Michael Jordan in a basketball game or John Elway in football. But in poker, you can sit next to ten of the best players in the world and try your shot at it. Doyle Brunson said, ‘it’s a lottery, the pros just have more tickets,’ aka more experience. So I’m starting out with my first ticket, and it’s a lottery, so we’ll see what happens.
By Gabe Stein | Monday July 03rd 2006, 11:32 am
After yet another series win against the relatively hot Seattle Mariners, the Rox are in great shape approaching the break. We’ve got two more series until the break, against the perfect opponents: the worst of our division. This means that if we assume the Rockies win each series 2-1 like they’ve now done for a while, the the Juggernaut of the NL WestTM will head into the All-Star break at 46-41. If I’ve done all my math correctly, that would be on-pace to win 92 games, which would by almost all people’s accounts be enough to win the division.
As the deadline approaches, we’ll look into why and how the Rockies got to being a .500 team at the break - but for now, I’d like to examine the past few series the Rockies have played, and why we’ve won. In my view, it comes down to one word: Patience. Patience at the plate, and patience throughout an entire game.
When the Rockies got into their biggest skid of the year against the LA Dodgers about a month ago, they did so because they were frustrated. This letdown was setup by the way the schedule unfolded. For the first month of the season, the Rockies had played very well, especially for them - and then early in May, their first real test of the year came in a stretch of games against the Cardinals, Astros, and Dodgers. In those three series, the Rockies won just three games. They were mad, and they took their anger out on the next team they faced - The Toronto Blue Jays. They swept the Jays by using the AL pitching to their advantage - but the problem was that they were directed just to go out and get those pitchers. This was a curse for the Rox. When the Dodgers and their amazing technicolor pitching came back into town, the Rockies got drilled, and stopped scoring runs. Because unlike the Blue Jays’ mediocre staff, the Dodgers’ pitching staff killed the free-swinging Rox. No one in the lineup was being patient, fighting to keep counts alive, and seeing a lot of pitches - which is what you have to do against a good, hard-throwing staff, like the one that the Dodgers bring to the game.
So the slump continued, until finally, finally finally finally, they started to recover against the awful Pittsburgh Pirates. They recovered because they realized that they had to see a lot of pitches, and fight to get starters out early. As an added bonus, they were able to do that easily against the Pirates’ bum staff. In the two games the Rockies won against the Pirates, Pittsburgh’s starters played 7 total innings. Even though they lost two out of three games in the next series against the dreaded Dodgers, the starters played a total of 17.2 innings over three games, not 19 or 20 like series’ past. Even though it seems like a small difference, think about what it means in a three-game series. If the starters play only 17 innings, it’s less than 6 innings per game, a very good turnover rate. If they play 20, it’s almost 7.
Since that time, the Rox have gone 11 and 6, and opposing teams’ starters have averaged just 5.2 (or so) innings per game. That’s a very good turnover rate, especially over 19 games, and most of it is due to the fact that the hitters are starting to hit like a team that knows how to win and battle, even when their pitching is shaky. In a word (here’s that word again), they’re learning patience, and they’re learning how to grind out a game instead of giving up. They’re finally learning not just how to play, but how to win.
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