OLYMPICS: “LEADING THE REST” // MLB: COLORADO ROCKIES , “FINDING THE BIG FIX”
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“SPORTS NOTEBOOK” posts its columns Tuesday and Friday of every week---Ed. & Publ., Marvin Leibstone.
OLYMPICS --- The sports kudos for a wave of today’s English-speaking world are certainly well deserved. We’re talking about American, British and Jamaican athletes performing superbly at the 2012 London Olympics.
More specifically, cheers and applause belong now to the U.S. men’s swim team for winning multiple Gold at the London games, and to America
And praise surely belongs to America
Let’s add Britain’s Andy Murray defeating world class tennis great, Roger Federer, for Gold, and Jamaica’s Usain Bolt for establishing an Olympic record in track and field’s 100 meter heat, and Jamaica’s Yohan Blake taking Silver for the same event.
And, praise belongs to America ’s Sanya Richards-Ross for her Gold after completing the women’s individual 400M, praise, too, for Jamaica ’s Shelly Ann Fraser-Price for receiving Gold after winning the women’s 100 M, and high praise must go to Britain
Incredibly noteworthy, of course, is U.S. Olympian swimmer, Michael Phelps, retiring at London with 22 medals, the most of any athlete in Olympic history, 18 of them Gold, and praiseworthy, too, is U.S. newcomer to the Olympics, 17-year old swimmer Missy Franklin picking up five medals, four of them Gold.
Prior to Monday, the U.S., Great Britain and Jamaica together accrued more than 85 medals, nearly half of them Gold, the most by any group of nations that not only have the same official language but excel in similar sports, for example, America’s Williams sisters and Britain’s Andy Murray regarding tennis, and the U.S. and Jamaica with regard to track and field (While the two male Jamaicans grabbed Gold and Silver for their 100 meter performances, U.S. track stars Justin Gatlin, Tyson Gay and Ryan Bailey placed third, fourth and fifth in the 100M activity. Remarkable is that these Jamaican and U.S. racers finished with times under 10 seconds, an Olympic first, Bolt the leader with his Olympic record-breaking 9.63, Blake next with 9.75).
Yet as of early Monday the U.S. failed to maintain its lead in number of medals won at London U.S.
MLB: When a baseball franchise hits bottom, and you can’t get lower than where the Colorado Rockies are today in the National League, something has to give, change has to happen, though moving lots of players, office staff and the furniture around isn’t always the making of a positive difference. Reconfiguration isn’t necessarily “restoration.” It can be, usually starting under a different label, “trial & error.”
Facing the Rockies front office today, and, of course, challenging Rockies manager, Jim Tracy, is a long ride across difficult “makeover terrain,” where missteps will be common until the right solutions to problems appear clear as a cloudless blue sky. One could say that the ride began more than a month ago, when manager Tracy shifted the Rockies starters to a four-game/roughly 70-75 pitching limit, now too early for knowing if matters could have been worse had Tracy
So, what is it that winning teams have that the Rockies are without? That’s easy to figure out, but hard to obtain in the short run, and impossible to put in place beyond mid-season, for example, the lion’s share of winning teams usually have two exceptionally competent pitchers, plus infielders and outfielders that always create the right path instantly to a baseball, making the pick and throwing accurately when necessary. Add a line-up that’s strategic---extra-base and home run batters and a DH and others from the bench maintaining high on-base percentages. Also include low ERA relievers and closers that can sustain or create the winning advantage. And, most important, winning teams have sufficient farm system depth for players to move up from the minors speedily as replacements for injured frontline starters, e.g., more than one Rutledge to get out of a rut with.
Surprisingly from examinations of individual player records, the Rockies have much of what comprises a winning team, e.g., outfielders/hitters Carlos Gonzalez and Dexter Fowler, infielders Troy Tulowitzki, Josh Rutledge and Todd Helton, catcher Wilin Rosario. However, as this page has noted repeatedly, this hasn’t been enough to offset the Rockies weak starting pitcher rotation or the bull pen’s vulnerabilities.
First priority for the Rockies , then, is developing that string of starting pitchers that can build a lead in early innings, with a bull pen that can hold that lead. How possible is this? One way to look at the question is to ask another: “Is the current Rockies pitching staff capable of being a successful work in progress, can it evolve into a game-winning pack?” If not, there’s that necessary look at baseball history and baseball money, which shows that year after year available talent crowds the MLB scene, often better than the year before, but also that this talent is suited in money, the two are sewn-together assets, inseparable twins for the evolution of professional baseball. Team progress requires finance-backed Darwinism if a team wants to win enough games for post-season play. What’s an option, then, for the Rockies , a possible fix? Steinbrenner’s gambit, a.k.a., “deep pockets.”
Yes, Michael Lewis’ book/movie, Moneyball, suggests that GM savvy can override high-end spending and put together a winning ball club, providing that a rarity comes one’s way, i.e., the existence of super talent that can’t find better paying work elsewhere, almost as rare as the Chicago Cubs winning as many World Series as the New York Yankees have.
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