And so opening day of the Rox 2008 campaign finally arrives…it seems like almost five months since we last saw the boys in purple. Here’s a video of the Hawper showing off the pipes to stoke the fires.

until the boys of summer begin to arrive in Tucson for spring training. Thank goodness that somethingball season is now over (the lost time between the end of the World Series and the beginning of Spring Training) we can begin to ancticipate in full. Though it is snowing in Denver today, the sun is out and greening up the field at Hi Corbett field.

Since the Rox play in the foreign Mountain Time Zone and so few people know who they are, I thought I would dig up their first album and scan the cover as a bit of public service.  Helton, Matsui, Carroll, Atkins and Tulowitzki form the inpenetrable infield of the soon to be World Champions.

In response to Eric Byrnes feeble attempt to explain away the DBacks collapse against the Kid Rox where he stated that the Rockies were simply ‘lucky’, the beneficiaries of the obviously tainted umpiring staff, and had clearly been outplayed by the Diamondbacks superior team, young Mr. Tulowitzki opined “They can outplay us all four games. If we end up winning the series, I’ll be fine with that.”

A Clint Hurdle in the making?

The man of the perpetual grin and bubble blower extraordinaire gives us something to chew on this morning in an oft repeated phrase “Respect everything. Be in awe of nothing.” Rumor has it that he has printed and bound this and other statements to be delivered to Snakes such as young Mr. Byrnes who opined “I think we’re a good team, I also don’t think the Rockies have outplayed us, because they haven’t,” Byrnes said Saturday afternoon before the Diamondbacks workout at Coors Field. “Not even close. They’ve had a little luck go their way. Definitely, the ball has bounced in their direction. They’ve been the beneficiary of some calls.” Would those calls be the strikes that the Snakes have watched go by or the high-sticking check into the glass that his teammate tried to lay on Mr. Matsui? That kind of talk just makes you look silly when you’re losing.

In a collapse heard round the baseball world after midnight last night, both closers of the battling Diamondbacks and Rockies faltered and hoisted the entire game onto their backs. First, with a hard fought 2-1 lead in the bottom of the ninth, Rox closer Manny Corpas beaned Young with one out later allowing him to score on a ground out by Byrnes. Fortunately, Stephen Drew had a ‘Baldwin Brothers’ moment, walking off of second base after the umpire called him safe and into the eternal jibing that his brothers will offer.

When the Snakes trotted their intimidating closer Valverde out in the eleventh inning having thrown far more pitches than he normally does, he too stumbled. After giving up a single to Spilly, he walked Brad Hawpe and Jamey Carroll to load the bases for defensive hero Willy Taveras. Taveras stood in and patiently took four flaming pitches that, unfortunately, weren’t even close to the strike zone. Base runner trots home to take the lead, ball handed to Speier for a perfect eleventh and the Rockies headed to Sky Harbor Airport for the trip back to the oxygen depleted confines of Coors Field for game 3. As the sign used to warn at the old Mile High Stadium fence, “Breathe Deeply, you are now one mile above sea level.”

That line, originally tossed off by both Butch and Sundance as they looked over their shoulders at the pursuers who would not quit, has been asked more often in recent days of the surging Colorado Rockies. Few of them had were familiar with the players, much less having seen the team play. Strange, in a world of satellite television and 24 hours sports news. Perhaps the reason that the Kid Rox are such strangers is that they are not in the news for dog fighting, steroid abuse, tantrums and threats to sit out their contracts, drug problems, alcohol driven incidents, or any of the other myriad issues that athletes succumb to these days.

Perhaps USA Today was on to something back in June when they ran the story entitled “Baseball’s Rockies seek revival on two levels.” Give the article a read and get to use our boys in Purple (who have stuck with the black tunic in hopes of not interrupting the streak) a little better.

When asked by the astute pontificators from TBS about the effects of the gusty winds Saturday night, Hurdle thoughtfully replied ” Well…it’s blowing my paperwork around.” Few can guage the true depth of the Rockies’ leader…

The Kid Rox took it to the Phillies again yesterday behind the grand slam by bomber power hitter the situational hitting of Kaz Matsui. Oh what New York would give for him now! Two and ought and back to the friendly confines of Coors Field for a Saturday night in LoDo. Rocktober Baby!

In response to yet one more dumb question the Rockies have received in the past few days, the Soul Patch speaks…

Asked the importance of winning Game 1, Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said, “I don’t know. I don’t have any experience to draw upon. But I would think it would beat the heck out of losing Game 1.“

Kid Rox in 4…