MLB: COLORADO ROCKIES , STILL ON THE WAY BACK // NFL: (Revised:) QB PEYTON MANNING & THE DENVER
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“SPORTS NOTEBOOK” posts its columns Tuesday and Friday of every week---Ed. & Publ., Marvin Leibstone.
MLB: IT’s there, 50 wins, a team no longer below .400, 11 games ahead of NL bottom-of-the-pile Houston Astros---this is the Colorado Rockies, experiencing a steady and respectable climb toward other than an embarrassing 2012 MLB season finish.
As proof of "new life," the Colorado baseball franchise has won 12 of its last 17 games, and in a balanced way, that is, with (a) contributions from an improved starting rotation and a refreshed bull pen, (b) a line-up that’s hitting better, and (c) a defense that’s been fielding more aggressively.
Of the recent Rockies wins, most had opposing teams finishing with very few runs (3 or less), and two series were won by the Rockies ---vs. the Miami Marlins + a four game sweep of the New York Mets, the latter topping off with a four day total of 15 runs and a combined starter and bull pen ERA below 2.0.
The final game of the vs. N.Y. series had the Mets scoreless, redemption for a Rockies pitching staff humiliated in earlier games by several NL and AL teams (prior to the Rockies August, 2012, surge). The final vs. Mets game gave the Rockies a second five game winning streak of the season, four that were against the Astros end of May + a win vs. the L.A. Dodgers, June 1.
So, what’s congealing for the Rockies ? Is the team’s risk-laden go at a four man rotation/70-75 limit pitch per starter paying off as hoped, reaching a point where, as if a laboratory experiment, it’s obtained enough yeas as means to upgrade suppression of an opposing ball club in the first five innings of a game?
Is it that manager Jim Tracy finally has a line-up that can deliver multiple hits resulting in runs during most of the team’s half-innings?
Is it that the Rockies current line-up has included some of the best rookies playing baseball today, and that the line-up's Josh Rutledge, Tyler Colvin and D.J. LaMahieu have proven to be hot infielders and solid replacements for the reliable but injured Troy Tulowitzki, Todd Helton and Michael Cuddyer?
Witnessed above all has been a successful internal attack against two of the Rockies more serious vulnerabilities, a starter rotation and bull pen that until the second week of August performed far below rational expectations, and an insufficient number of extra base hits capable of driving in runs before that third out.
It’s likely that the above-cited reasons for the Rockies recent wins can be credited equally in rough measure, and there hasn’t been evidence that any of these causes of success will step back quickly and deflate.
Peculiar in the wake of the Rockies victory-causes, however, is their contribution to the number of games that the Rockies have won on the road compared with games won at home. Presently, the Rockies away from home win/loss record is 24/34, and the Coors Field record, 26/39. The 10 game road deficit is a better stat than the team’s 13 at home deficit, odd since year after year the Rockies have had a better at home record than maintained on the road.
Next up at home for the Rockies, is a three-game series against the Dodgers, followed by three vs. the San Diego
NFL: THIS page listed the obvious on Tuesday, “QB Peyton Manning will remain an extremely valuable asset for the Denver Broncos throughout the 2012 NFL season,” adding that notions about his achieving “savior status” as easily as a God might are unrealistic, in that Manning will be working as hard as any other QB who hopes to lead a winning offense, which means that, like other QB’s, Manning will experience some setbacks.
It isn’t unreasonable to think that with Manning at the helm the Broncos offense could help the Denver
Sure, Manning allows for the possibility of a great Broncos season finish, a goal that did not exist as a safe expectation last season. We can even argue that the Manning-led Broncos offense could have a shot at the Super Bowl, without our seeming as though we’ve inhaled an illegal substance, providing, of course, that the Broncos defense can equal the improved Broncos offense.
But the idea that Manning will be the sole reason for an effective Broncos offense, is flawed.
When judging Manning’s leadership, his speed and throwing skills, we could make the mistake of seeing him as a spectacular one-man show, as the scene-stealing hero of the American football drama, everyone else on the field, and even Broncos head coach, John Fox, being supporting characters meant to exist in Manning’s shadow. Fact: with regard to tactical execution of playbook maneuvers, Manning’s throws will demand the effective wide receiver, the canny tight end and the fast back capable of taking that accurate bullet from Manning; and, for making those throws safely, Manning will be depending on speedy pass protection.
Unmistakably, Manning has a lot going for him in Denver
This page repeats: Manning isn’t going to be Denver
Remaining pre-season games could tell us how close to perfection the synchronicity between steadily effective QB’s and their targeted receivers can be in the regular season. The Broncos will be playing the San Francisco
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