No one ever said it was going to be easy.
On Saturday afternoon, before the game at Coors Field in Denver even started, the Colorado Rockies secured a postseason bid when the Cardinals, down 6-0 early in their game, came back in the bottom of the eighth inning to narrowly defeat the Milwaukee Brewers, 7-6.
The Rockies had to delay their own game 20 minutes for “weather,” which was code for “celebration.” There was no inclement weather at Coors Field.
All season long, the Rockies have seen their fair share of peaks and valleys. At the beginning of the season, they were up as much as 21 games over .500, and all was right in the Rockies’ world. Then the slump came.
The Rockies lost 10 out of 11 games at the end of June, and their serendipitous record looked to be headed to a wasteland. It certainly didn’t help that the Dodgers and Diamondbacks were hot on their trail; both teams would soon overtake their lead in the NL West.
Neither the Dodgers (103-58) nor the Diamondbacks (92-69) have slowed down, and the Rockies have had to fight and scrap to hold their playoff position while battling within baseball’s toughest division.
The Rockies didn’t battle only the schedule, or their division rivals — they had to combat injuries, as well. Midway through the season, prized free agent Ian Desmond was plagued by three stints on the disabled list, after a nagging calf strain just wouldn’t go away. After finally getting healthy again, he’s still struggled, hitting only .253 since he returned to play on August 28.
All of that pales to the challenges that Chad Bettis overcame. Bettis went into spring training feeling good this year, but after being diagnosed with a recurrence of testicular cancer, he was forced to watch his team from afar. Until Sept. 10, that is. After beating the disease a second time, Bettis came back and shined in his season debut, and threw a near-flawless performance with seven shutout innings.
Carlos Gonzalez battled his way through the worst season of his major-league career, and while his .262 average on the season won’t impress, the free-agent-to-be has hit .365 with 12 doubles, five home runs and 15 RBI in September. As the only player who was on the team in 2009 — the last time the Rockies were in the postseason — the remarkable, memorable 2017 campaign likely has a different meaning to Gonzalez, who may be playing his final games in purple and black.
Those games aren’t over yet. This scrappy, entertaining bunch — comprised of youngsters, veterans like Gonzalez and MVP candidates like Nolan Arenado and Charlie Blackmon — have a date in the desert on Wednesday.
