• A RH power bat---Don't care what position...1B, corner OF, catcher. Or combination.
• A different hitting coach---Not sure it was DB's fault but I don't think he's getting through to most of them.
• A different TV announcing lineup---George has outlived his usefulness IMO.
• Re-sign JDLR---He want's to stay. Make it happen DOD
• Re-sign Beimel---See above
• Decide what to do with Chris Iannetta. Letting him languish on the bench is helping no one.
• Banish Dinger from behind the plate.

So here I am getting all antsy about the week 13 predriction thread. So I thought I'd make waves and see if someone hasn't gotten around to it. Here is next weeks schedule.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/teams/schedule?team=col

And my week 13 picks when I expect the bats to awaken:

7/6  Rox 9-1  WP Marquis

7/7 Rox 7-4  WP Hammel

7/8 Rox 6-2 WP Daley

7/9 Rox 8-1 WP Cook

7/10 Rox 10-3 WP Baldo

7/11 Rox 5-1 WP Marquis

7/12 Rox 6-2 WP Hammel

Crazy prediction:  Josh Fogg DFA

Jabberwocky Edit (thanks pedalpusher!):

Results After Week 12

PioneerSkies 121 (6 last week)
Holly96 115 (8)
Jabberwocky 111 (4)
jrockies 102 (7)
Avsfan4ever33 97 (6)
pedalpusher 95 (8)
RockiesDave 83 (6)
Poseidon's Fist 76 (3)
Mkorpal 64
Rockie4Ever 59 (5)
Rox Girl 47
BaronBill 35
oo_nrb 32
Hizilla 31
fantasyfencing 23
TuLoRocks2008 22 (6)
Rox 18
free7694 17
jlot10 13
arpagamos 13
xxxpickemgenius 12
WanderingRoxFan 11
rockiesfan4ever 10
Roxfan24 8

We've discussed best unis. Now the other side of the coin: The Worst Major League Uni List.

My top 5 in no particular order:

• Houston Astros god awful orange striped jerseys. Absolutely awful.
• San Diego Padres camo salute to the military. Terrible tribute to our soldiers and sailors.
• San Diego sand colored road uniforms. Look like they need washed.
• Chicago White Sox black unis that sported shorts instead of pants. What were they thinking?
• Kansas City/ Oakland A's green and gold uniforms. Not white with green/gold accents but the green and gold unis. If you never saw these, consider yourself blessed.

OK, there's some of mine. How about yours?

While watching the series with the Cardinals, I was once again impressed with the beauty of their home unis. And I got to thinking about who has the best looking unis.

My top five favs are (in no particular order): Cardinals home unis, NYY home unis (I know they're easy to hate but hey those unis have been around for over 70 years), Dodgers home unis (goes back to Brooklyn), Detroit home unis, and Rockies home uni (white vest).

Thoughts?

OK, we're one week from Opening Day. Time to go on record (as if we haven't done that enough already) with your pridiction for the final 25. Here's mine.

Pitchers

1. Cook
2. Ubaldo
3. Marquis
4. JDLR
5. Morales
6. Corpas
7. Street
8. Rusch
9. Grilli
10. Embree
11. Morillo

Catchers

1. CDI
2. Yorvy

Infielders

1. Helton
2. Tulo
3. Atkins
4. Barmes
5. Caber Stewart
   
6. Q

Outfielders

1. Spilly
2. Dixie Smith
3. Hawpe
4. Dex
5. Murton
6. Ortmeier

I'm assuming there are no more injuries and that Baker gets traded. The return for him is not considered in this roster. Ortmeier can play a variety of positions.

Your turn.

Got out to the park early and went directly to field #5 where the major leaguers take BP on game days.

Tulo, Hawpe and Atkins, Barmes, Yorvit and Herrera were out there. For those of y'all wanting a medical report (like all Rowbots no doubt), Tulo, Hawpe and Atkins looked fine. They took some infield first and none of the three showed any problem fielding. Lateral movement didn't seem to be an issue. Hawpe was fielding at first more I think to just give them someone to throw to. I don't think anything should be read into that.

In the cage, they all took healthy swings. Field #5 is a huge field with the fences about 400' all the way around with a chain link fence about 20' high all across the outfiled. Not a whole lot of ball were being hit out but Yorvit and Tulo did jack a couple.

Morales, DeLaRosa and Marquis also wandered  out to get some batting practice. As did Murton.

My impression of Tulo, Hawpe and Atkins is that the injuries either are minor in nature or they are close to being back. Of course I'm no doctor and I didn't stay in a Holiday Inn last night, but that was my observation.

The really cool thing about seeing  them on the back fields is how patient they are with the little  kids asking for autographs. I didn't see anyone refuse a request. That a great way to make kids baseball fans.

Today's game is the third one  I've seen this weekend and I can say that I'm getting fairly comfortable with our pitching staff. Ubaldo pitched what I thought were six strong innings and left with a 3 hit shutout. He gave up 2 BBs but his GO/FO ratio was excellent at 12/4.

Fogg had a clean inning as did Embree. And then Street decided to make sure the battle for closer stays hotly contested as he looked Fuentesesque to me. Blew the shutout and appeared to be just grooving the ball in the heart of the plate. But at least we had a 7 run lead at the time.

Pods may be trying a little hard to create something with his speed. He was caught stealing in the 1st on a stike 'em out, throw 'em out double play. I'm hoping that was a hit and run call from the dugout that Dixie just missed on and not something that Pods decided to do on his own. And then he tried to stretch a single into a double and was easily thrown out. This was right after Dex had created a double with a hit to center. And have I mentioned how fast Dex is ? You've got to see it to believe it.

The Toddfather continues to look good working around the bag. I'm not sure what the exact count was but he must have had about 5 or 6 ground ball chances and handled them all flawlessly. He doesn't show any signs of ailments with his back. And he continues to hit the way we've all come to expect. People can just shut up about losing the production of you know who because Todd's rebound should more than make up for it.

Spilly continues to impress. He is going to be a different kind of lead off hitter with his power potential. If he in fact is the lead off hitter. Today he hit 5th as Hurdle continues to tinker with the lineup. I could understand him leading off Pods but I was surprised that he had Dixie Smith in the two hole and Spilly fifth. Oh well, I guess when we see something that more closely resembles the regular season line up, we'll know more.

So another great day at the ball park. Tomorrow we leave early to head back to Colorado. Spring Training is something all true baseball fans should experience.

After a day off on Saturday while the Rox were in Surprise, I took in the game between our beloved Rockies and the Cleveland Indians.

Hi Corbett was the Indians Spring home for a long time from the late '40s to the mid '90s. In fact, part of one of the best baseball movies of all time (IMO), Major League, was shot at Hi Corbett. No evidence of Willie Mays Hayes or Pedro Cerrano today.

Starting pitchers were Cliff Lee vs. Adam Cook.

Cookie pitched 5 workman-like innings giving up 1 run on six hits with 2 Ks and one BB. He pitched out of a jam in the first and escaped with slight damage. His GO/FO ration was excellent 9/3 as he had the Tribe pounding the ball into the dirt after the first. He also had a nice pickoff at first.

Juan Morillo came in and worked the 6th and redeemed himself somewhat in my eyes. He had to work out of trouble but escaped without allowing any runs. He gave up one hit,  one BB and had 2 Ks. A good job of working out of trouble.

Randy Flores however wasn't quite as fortunate. He worked the 7th and gave up 2 runs on 3 hits, one of which was a 2-run jack. The disappointing thing was this allowed the Indians to tie up the game after the Rox had forged a 3-1 lead.

Matt Belisle came in and pitched a scoreless 8th despite giving up 3 hits. He was helped  out by a 5-4-3 twin killing.

Glendon Rusch earned the save retiring the Indians in the 9th despite giving up one hit.

Overall the pitching did what needed to be done to give the team a chance to win.

The hitting highlights were just enough to squeak out a win.

Dex Fowler was 2-4. This guy is fast. Really fast. It was especially noticeable on a deep fly to center that he effortlessly tracked down for what looked like a routine catch.

Barmes was 0 for 4 with 3 LOB.

Caber was 1 for 1 with a BB and drove in the eventual winning run. He also played a couple of innings in LF and handled his one chance with no problems. I will say again...Hurdle has got to find a way to get him in the game on a regular basis.

Yorvit was 0 for 3 with 3 LOB.

Christian Colonel was 1 for 2 with 2 RBIs. I know the RBI stat isn't held in much favor but when he came up with the runners in scoring position, he delivered. He played a couple of innings at 1st after starting at 3rd. Don't think there's anyway on God's Green Earth that he can make this team but I like the way he goes about his business.

Ortmeier was 0 for 3 with 3 LOB.

Another fun day at the ballpark. Tomorrow the Brew Crew come to Hi Corbett. I'll check in after that game.

There aren't  many places better to be in March than at Spring Training. Arrived at Hi Corbett at about 9:00 AM and the minor leaguers were on the back fields. I watched everyone in the orginization (it seemed) take infield, batting practice and a couple of innings of an intersquad game. With the exception of a few (EY jr) it was kind of hard figuring out who was whom, especially with all of the offensive guard and tackle numbers. There was a good group of fans watching and as usual it was very enjoyable.

The ML game however was something else. My take from an upclose perspective...

First the pitchers:

Jason Marquis had two terrible innings in which he gave up 3 runs in each and 3 decent innings. And he had a nice single up the middle. Overall a less than stellar outing.

Juan Morillo didn't fare much better. Gave up 2 runs in his inning of work. And didn't look real good doing it.

Manny Corpas looked ok in his inning of work giving up one run. Not a bad inning.

Huston Street was a bright spot with a scoreless inning following Manny. Not sure if they scheduled them back to back for comparison purposes or not.

Jason Grilli got grilled. Did not look good at all. I wonder if this WBC thing has put some of these guys behind in their work schedules.

The hitters:

Spilly...Looked great. 3 for 4 with two doubles and a walk hitting in the two hole.  This guy is an on base machine.

Caber Stewart...3 for 4 with a monster homerun. Hurdle has got to figure out a way to get his bat in the lineup on a regular basis. He will be wasted sitting on the bench getting a couple of starts a week in my opinion.

The Toddfather...Looked good. Started stretching 45 minutes before game time.  Move good around the bag and hit the ball well.

Tulo...hitting cleanup! Not sure why but he looked weak on all his at bats.

Dexter Fowler...1 for 5 and got swings from both sides of the plate. This guy is fast. But it will do him good to get 4 to 5 at bats every day in Colorado Springs.

Brad Hawpe...Taken out of the game early and I'm not sure why.  The trainer and Hurdle came out to 2nd and escorted him off. These little nicks seem to be piling up.

Baker had a pinch hit appearance and popped  up. I'm not sure about his future here.

Daniel Ortmeirer got a couple of at bats. He is a big individual. 6'4" 220.

Sal Fasano and Paul Phillips split the catching chores. I really like Sal but I'm afraid he's a long shot to make this club with Yorvit in the dugout.

And I'm at a loss as to what to think about the outfield makeup of this team. How many will they carry? There is definitely a logjam out there. But if we keep getting these little nicks maybe there will be playing time for all. Who knows? Certainly not me.

I would have rather seen the guys play better but overall it was a very enjoyable day at the ballpark.

Tomorrow is a travel day to the Rangers and then back to Hi Corbett Sunday for the Indians. I'll report back after Sunday's game.

Our very special boy had a big night for USA vs. Venezuela. He went 2 for 3, 4 RBIs, 2 walks and a good job behind the plate. Blocked a potential wild pitch that saved a run. One of his hits was a bases loaded double (should have been ruled a triple) that cleared the bases and gave the USA a big lead. The announcers gave him some good props for the job he did. One minor situation was that he looked like he took a foul off the left hand but shook it off and continued.

USA won 15-6.

Ryan Howard and the Phillies agree on 54MM for 3 years; the NYYs with a payroll that dwarfs some 3rd world countries; $6 beers; $10 parking in the boonies; a family of four going to the ballpark costing something in the neighborhood of $150 to $200 for an evenings entertainment. The economics of MLB is getting way out of hand. I'm afraid the answer to the title of this fanpost is NEVER.

The owners and players are getting real close to killing the golden goose. And the fans too because we continue to subsidize this madness.

I ask this in all seriousness. Having been hanging around here for a little over 2 months, I keep running into the term "casual fan".

Is this someone who gets their Rockies news only from the mainstream media and maybe sees a handful of games at the most? Or is it someone who follows the Rockies on a daily basis, watches all the games, follows the team on a variety of sources but is NOT a sabermetician? I'm just curious because I would fit into the second category.

Not saying that I feel all the metrics are worthless (as some have said re: traditional stats). However I do often wonder why some of them were ever made up in the first place and do they really tell you anything?

Maybe it would be a good thing to have a Metric 101 blog where the neophyte could get comfortable with what the most often used metrics mean and how they are applied.

Just a thought.

We all know that complete games are a thing of the past. But why?

Are pitchers of today unable to throw 130 to 150 pitches every 4th day as in the past?  I'm not sure why pitchers quit being able to pitch a complete game or at the very least go deep into the game. Seems like everyone is thrilled if a starter goes into the 6th inning.

I've taken 12 pitchers off the top of my head and put complete game percentages together  for them (my on little sabermetric :) ) to start the discussion. Six are HOFers from the 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's. Six are current pitchers (or close to it) who arguably are headed for the HOF. I don't think the numbers are surprising but the bigger question is why?

The line I've used is Games started/Complete Games/ CG percentage. Thoughts?

Warren Spahn                           665/382/57.4%

Tom Seaver                               647/231/35.7%

Nolan Ryan                               773/222/28.7%

Jim Palmer                               521/211/40.5%

Whitey Ford                              438/156/35.6%

Sandy Koufax                           314/137/43.6%

CC Sabathia                           254/26/10.2%

Roger Clemens                    707/118/16.7%

Roy Halladay                         255/40/15.7%

Randy Johnson                    586/100/17.1%

Greg Maddux                        740/109/14.2%

Roy Oswalt                           241/15/6.2%

I'm think of going possibly around 3/22. Anyone else? I think the Rockies have about 3 games at Hi Corbett during that time frame. And the Major League roster will be taking shape by then as well.

If you have never been to Spring Training, it's something you should try to do. Great atmosphere and access to the back fields is really kind of cool. You can just wonder around and watch all different levels of the team.