Owners dragging Rockies down

By Angelo Stambene

Don’t look now, but the New Year is fast approaching, and you know what that means – resolutions. After 23 years of mostly ineptitude, it’s time for the Rockies to make a resolution that the team will uphold. Though it will be uncomfortable, it’s time for a fire sale. 

The Rockies have seen seven campaigns where the team finished over .500. There have been just three postseason appearances and a magical run to the World Series where they were killed by the Red Sox, outscored 29-10. Other than those playoff runs, the Rockies have been just laughably bad.

There have been 15 seasons with at least 85 losses. There have been seven seasons with at least 90, including this one, and twice the Rockies flirted with 100 losses.

One hundred! It seems like a successful season is avoiding triple digits.

Obviously it’s not working in Denver, and the Rockies should embrace that fact by identifying a core such as Carlos Gonzales, Nolan Arenado, maybe DJ LeMahieu and Charlie Blackmon, then trade away everyone worth anything and start over.

Then the team needs to clean out the front office, maybe even all the coaches and everyone that has been a part of the team since the Rockies’ horrendous slide beginning in 2011.

No changes, no matter how extreme, will matter unless the ownership is addressed. To borrow from Shannon Sharpe, someone call the National Guard, because the Monforts are killing the Rockies.

Fans should never forget about the e-mails Dick Monfort sent saying “maybe Denver doesn’t deserve a franchise.” Cheering for a team whose ownership cares less about winning than Allen Iverson cares about practice is an exercise in futility, and nothing will change in Denver without drastic measures.

Altitude excuse not fooling fans

By Doug Fitzgerald

Over their 23 seasons, the Colorado Rockies have posted only seven winning records. And it’s getting worse. Even if they win all of their remaining games, the Rockies will still have just posted the worst five-season stretch in franchise history.

But through much of that history, they have led the league in one category: making excuses.

“We now realize where we are at and where we play,” then-general manager Dan O’Dowd told the Denver Post in 2012. “There is not going to be one easy answer to any of this.”

The Rockies have turned Coors Field and playing at altitude into obstacles that no human can be expected to overcome.

“We’re tackling a monster in Coors Field,” former manager Jim Tracy said.

But the excuses come with a cost. As human beings, we gravitate toward the path of least resistance. If there is no stigma attached to failure, we will tend to fail.

The Rockies scapegoating of their ballpark and home city has made losing acceptable.

Home runs? The ball flies at altitude. Doubles and batting averages? The huge outfield is to blame. Poor pitching? The ball doesn’t break the same way.

It’s even been blamed for injuries even though world-class athletes have long trained at altitude and seen it as an advantage.

Carlos Gonzalez, Nolan Arenado, D.J. LeMahieu, Cory Dickerson, et al would be solid players on any team. The problem isn’t the players. It isn’t the coaches. It’s a culture that allows for failure with honor.

The Broncos, Nuggets and Avalanche all use altitude to create home advantages. The Rockies must learn to do the same.

“It can be the biggest home-field advantage in sports if you use it right,” former slugger Dante Bichette told the Post.