Rockies can thank Gwynn Jr. for improbable hot streak

ON BASEBALL

Tony Gwynn must be so proud of his son, Tony Gwynn Jr. (As long as he can put his San Diego allegiance to the side for a minute).

If not for his boy, the Hall-of-Famer wouldn't have gotten to commentate on one of the greatest stories baseball has witnessed in years.

The elder Gwynn is an analyst for TBS, which broadcasted the National League Championship Series. On Monday Gwynn, among others, witnessed an amazing spectacle in a chilly Mile High City. When precocious rookie shortstop Troy Tulowitzki threw out Arizona's sliding Eric Byrnes, the Colorado Rockies were headed to the World Series.

Yes, the Colorado Rockies. For the first time in the franchise's history.

Now Colorado has eight days off before traveling to either Boston or Cleveland for the World Series. The Rockies should use the 192 approximate hours to call the younger Gwynn and offer thanks. If not for him, there wouldn't be pandemonium in the streets of Denver. There wouldn't be a historic 21 wins in 22 games. There would just be Broncos talk in the football-crazy city.

Oh, thank heavens for Tony Gwynn Jr., religious general manager Dan O'Dowd must be thinking.

The day was Saturday, Sept. 29, and the setting was Milwaukee's Miller Park. The Brewers had nothing to play for. The night before their postseason hopes had been dashed when their loss to the Padres combined with the Cubs' win over the Reds had clinched the NL Central for America's most beloved loser. The Brewers' dream season was over. They'd have to wait until next year.

The Padres, on the other hand, needed just a single win to clinch the NL Wild Card. Their win on Friday spliced with Colorado's loss to Arizona had them up two games on the Rockies with two to play.

And then they were within a single strike of the playoffs. The bubbly was ready in the visitor's clubhouse. In Denver, the Rockies who played later that night were prepared for the inevitable: another missed playoffs, their 12th in a row.

But then one moment in time, one sharp crack of the bat, one arc of the ball — changed everything. Everything.

Gwynn Jr., in his only at-bat against his dad's former team, laced the game-tying triple in the bottom of the ninth inning. Two frames later the Brewers got the game-winning hit for a 4-3 victory...

And the rest is history. History in the making, I should say.

Another Colorado win and San Diego loss the following afternoon set up a one-game playoff at Coors Field. Then, on that Monday night, magic seemed to be in the air as the Rockies rallied with three runs off baseball's all-time saves leader, Trevor Hoffman, for a thrilling, exhilarating, never-leave-your-seat-for-the-bathroom 9-8, 13-inning victory.

Little did the Rockies know, that wouldn't be their most exciting Monday of October.

What followed was a sweep over the high-octane Phillies, which made the naysayers realize just how good this Colorado pitching staff is. Then came the four-game sweep of the Diamondbacks, when everything seemed — and did — go right for the Rockies.

As a sportswriter, I'm schooled not to throw out cliches such as "team of destiny," but this bunch of youngsters fits the name way to well. Given the opportunity to play in October, this team embraced it. And, needless to say, have made the most of it.

But the players never dwelled on their success. Never thought about it too much. As NLCS MVP Matt Holliday said, most of the clubhouse talk has revolved around the well-being of everyone's fantasy football teams.

When the players took the field each night, however, they were all business, and they played about as flawlessly as a team can play. They weren't spectacular. They didn't fit the bill of past Rockies teams — lots of hitting, little pitching. No, this team — over the past three weeks — has been the paragon of a winning baseball team.

Stellar starting pitching. Great relief pitching. Timely, clutch hitting. And, not to be forgotten, tremendously sound fielding.

The Diamondbacks were not far behind the Rockies in all four games. It was just a big hit here, an Arizona error there, a great play by Tulowitzki here (he made about 27 difficult plays from his position at shortstop), a Manny Corpas save there.

As is usually the case when a team advances in October, there wasn't a star. Rather, every player who stepped on the field contributed, such as Seth Smith, who hit the pinch-hit, two-run blooper down the left field line Monday night that gave Colorado a 2-1 lead it wouldn't relinquish.

For much of the 21-of-22 streak, the Rockies have downplayed their accomplishment. When asked about it, they've shook their heads and smiled. It's unexplainable, they explain. It's just one game piled on top of another.

But you could sense on Monday, after Holliday's three-run home run in the same inning as Smith's hit gave Colorado a 6-1 lead, that the Rockies were starting to understand the enormity of their feat. They could no longer act as if things were normal, as if they were involved in "just another game." They knew they were making history.

It showed in their impatiences the rest of the night. Hurried at-bats. Poor swings. They didn't come close to scoring another run. And it almost came back to bite them, as Arizona cut the score to 6-4 in the eighth and brought the tying run to the plate in each of the last two inning.

But in the end it was the Rockies, once again — although nervously this time — adding another win onto their amazing run, a win that will stand a little taller than the rest. A win that has them four more wins from championship glory on this incredible journey.

The most improbable of journeys. The type of journey which is why people follow sports. Why it's never smart to leave a ballpark early or give up on a team prematurely (even if they need help from another team to make their dreams come true).

I could name all the records that the Rockies have set, but I'm sure they've already been ingrained in your noggin. The one that stands out to me is that Colorado is the first team in baseball's long history to reach the World Series after trailing by two games in the playoff race with — yep — a lone two games remaining.

It could be said that on Sept. 29 the Rockies were down to their final strike, one whiff away from another October on the golf course. But then Tony Gwynn Jr. saved their season, lifting them into the air of possibility.

And they haven't come down since.

Parity isn't just the NFL's recipe

ON COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Saturday night was a "Bar Night."

As in find a large bar with at least 31 TVs displaying multiple college football games and give your neck a workout straining to watch 14 games simultaneously — while drinking a beer and eating some chicken wings.

It's not quite heavy lifting, but it ain't exactly a relaxing night on the town either.

On this particular Saturday, the workout was well worth it. And if Saturday's results were any indication, each afternoon/night of college football the rest of this season will be just as intriguing.

OK, a quick rundown is in order:

Before Saturday's slate, the top two teams in the country were LSU and California. Ohio State was No. 3

By the end of the night, the Buckeyes were back on their 2006 regular season perch — the top spot in the country. The Tigers and Bears had both lost, but here's the caveat — neither can be ruled out of the national championship race.

LSU is ranked No. 4 in Sunday's first rendition of the BCS Standings. While Cal is a distant 12th, what's to say that 10 of the teams in front of it won't loss in the next seven weeks? Heck, just six of the preseason's top 12 remain in the current top 12. Michigan, the preseason No. 5, just returned to the No. 25 spot after four weeks in purgatory.

Any one-loss team from a major conference has a right to think it's in the national title hunt. Two weeks ago Sooners fans were devastated after an upset loss to Colorado — which began the cavalcade of surprises we've witnessed the past three weeks — dropped Oklahoma to No. 1 in the AP Top 25 and basically, they thought, out of the national title race.

Um, two Sundays later the Sooners are ranked No. 4 by the Associated Press and are No. 5 in the BCS. If they win out, I'm saying they're in the BCS title game.

As a Michigander, I have to consider where the Wolverines would be had they beaten Oregon — their second loss. If, let's hypothesize, their only loss was to Appalachian State. As crazy as this sounds, I think they'd be in the thick of this national title race called "Survivor: On college campuses nationwide."

The feel-good story of this mess is the Bulls. No, not the Chicago Bulls — although they're looking good this preseason. If you're unfamiliar with them, you need to Wikipedia the "South Florida Bulls" because they're your No. 2 team in the BCS.

Note: As much as I enjoy spewing humor out the left side of my mouth, the above is a true statement.

In the preseason, the Bulls (6-0) were ranked 35th by the AP behind teams such as Miami and Georgia Tech (4-3) and Oregon State (3-3 after its 31-28 shocker at Cal). Now they are — for the sake of redundancy and emphasis — No. 2 in the BCS as well as the AP.

In case you are wondering, South Florida had never been ranked in the BCS' top 25 before Sunday.

Not to be overlooked is Boston College, which stands at No. 3 in the BCS and No. 2 — ahead of the Bulls — in the USA Today/Coaches Poll. The Eagles (7-0) were No. 28 in the first AP poll.

Let's make this educational. Let's dissect the data, if you will:

1. In case we weren't sure, it is now quite transparent that the preseason polls (I mean lazy predictions by writers who haven't done any research) are garbage. And that's being kind. Want an example? Wisconsin was No. 7 in the AP poll back in August. After getting embarrassed 38-7 by offensively challenged Penn State Saturday, the Badgers (5-2) aren't getting any love from the voters.

2. Like in the NFL, parity now rules college football. Any team can play with any team. And I don't care if it's a Division I-AA school vs. a Super Subdivision superpower (or whatever teams are characterized these complicated days).

Two Sundays ago Michigan fans were displeased with several aspects of the Wolverines' ugly 28-16 victory over Northwestern, which just two weeks earlier had lost to dismal Duke, giving the Blue Devils their first win over a major college team in 28 tries and their first road victory since 2003.

I had a different take on the win. Yes, it was as ugly as Drew Gooden's hair puff on the back of his neck. But it was a win. Take it and move on. The past few weeks have proved that now, more than ever, no games are played before they're, err, played.

As Chris Berman might say, "That's why you play the game."

Anything — like, say, Stanford winning at mighty USC — is plausible. Powerhouse teams can no longer show up at a stadium, get dressed and go whoop their opponent. Everyone — even Florida International and its NCAA-leading 18 consecutive losses — can win any particular game.

Don't believe me? Fine. Just wait until the next David stones Goliath. It'll happen, probably sooner rather than later. In this age of reduced scholarships and kids wanting to "prove" themselves and make a name for themselves at smaller, less talent-heavy schools, upsets are inevitable.

Will we have more Saturdays like the past three, ripe with upsets galore? Maybe not. It'd be hard to facsimile the craziness we've seen.

But the esoteric will happen. I'll bet my Rolex on that. Never like before, teams need to remain level-headed. Bulls' fans should leave the goalposts alone for now. Because before they know it, they could be straddled with two losses and back out of the rankings.

Just visit a cavernous sports bar next Saturday, stretch your neck, and witness the madness.

Week 6 NFL picks

ON FOOTBALL

I'm back. After a one-week hiatus, which was a time for me to refocus and gather my senses after a 5-8 week (37-24 overall).

I'm hoping my change in scenery will result in a better week. With that said, my prediction for "The Duel in Dallas," and — oh, yeah — those other games, too.

Tennessee (3-1) 17, at Tampa Bay (3-2) 13: Possibly the best game of the week outside of, well, you know. Bucs, down to their third-string RB, fall just short.

At Baltimore (3-2) 20, St. Louis (0-5) 7: Rams, minus their starting RB and QB, aren't getting that first win this week.

At Cleveland (2-3) 24, Miami (0-5) 14: Fins will tie the franchise record for worst start.

Cincinnati (1-3) 28, at Kansas City (2-3) 24: Must-win game for the Bengals. They better show up for this one.

At Chicago (2-3) 16, Minnesota (1-3) 10: Bears defense starts playing up to its potential.

Philly (1-3) 21, at NY Jets (1-4) 17: A win-or-forget-about-the-playoffs type of battle. Should be ugly.

Washington (3-1) 20, at Green Bay (4-1) 17: No one's really talking about these Redskins, but they're quietly becoming one of the NFC's best.

At Jacksonsville (3-1) 17, Houston (3-2) 16: Who would have thought the AFC South would be the NFL's premier conference?

At San Diego (2-3) 38, Oakland (2-2) 21: Yeah, the Chargers offense is heating up at the expense of the Raaaaaaaaaaaiiiiiders.

At Arizona (3-2) 27, Carolina (3-2) 13: Vinny Testaverde gets the start for the Panthers, and even the Cardinals are licking their chops.

At Seattle (3-2) 24, New Orleans (0-4): Obviously a must-win game for the Saints, but Seahawks always find a way to win home games late.

At NY Giants (3-2) 28, Atlanta (1-4) 14: Word has it the Falcons are devoid of their starting tackles. And the Giants had, like, 12 sacks against the Eagles a couple weeks back. This could mark the end of Joey Harrington's career.

New England (5-0) 31, at Dallas (5-0) 21: Pats win the DID basically because they have zero weaknesses. They'll make less mistakes than the 'Boys, and people will start discussing 16-0.

I'm out. Enjoy the DID, old quarterbacks and soon-to-be 0-6 teams.

Life on Tobacco Road

ON COLLEGE BASKETBALL

I arrived in The Triangle on Monday, but I wasn't officially welcomed until Friday night.

To the common person, Oct. 12 is just a normal Friday. The end of the work week. A time to relax, perhaps sip a few adult beverages and prepare for the weekend's activities.

In Chapel Hill, however — and, I'm sure, on other select campuses throughout the country — the night of Oct. 12 was special. The air was cooler, the intensity was palpable.

Yep, it was the first night of college basketball practice. The first chance for Tar Heels fans to see their beloved 'Heels.

There's an important football game in Chapel Hill Saturday — a matchup between rivals No. 7 South Carolina (led by locally hated Steve Spurrier) and UNC. There's been plenty of talk about it on the radio waves around here.

But even as just a five-day resident of Tobacco Road, it's become pretty clear to me just how important college hoops is — even more than three weeks before the first game that counts.

The Dean Smith Center was packed to capacity — that's approximately 21,750 fans decked out in sky blue — as UNC alum and popular "SportsCenter" anchor Stuart Scott MCd "Late Night with Roy (Williams)," the 'Heels comedic opening practice of the promising season.

Fans from courtside to the upper nosebleeds sat through three hours of entertainment, which began with some yawn-inducing skits by the women's team. But when the men's team was introduced one by one, with each player walking down an aisle to a rousing standing ovation, I got chills.

I thought to myself, How are these players able to stay level-headed with all the love heaped upon them? How do they deal with the pressure? Or the expectations, considering that many pundits consider UNC the No. 1 team in the country entering the season?

Coming from Ann Arbor, I know how attached a city can become to a college team. Heck, 110,000-plus fans pack Michigan Stadium for a game against cupcake Eastern Michigan.

But it's just a different feeling down here. These 19-year-old basketball players can't hide behind a helmet — or an offensive line. They're exposed on the court. Their names will be etched into UNC's fine history.

As Tyler Hansbrough, North Carolina's potential national player of the year, said during Thursday's media day, UNC's tradition is one of the program's key recruiting tools. Both UNC and Duke sell themselves. These programs don't recruit players who shy away from the spotlight.

Which explains why no Tar Heel was hesitant to perform goofy dances and skits on the Dean Dome's floor Friday night. There was shaking, strutting, joking and — finally — playing in the form of a rather dramatic 37-37 tie between the white and blue team.

Even though many of the fans had slipped out by the game's end, I found myself sitting on the edge of my nosebleed seat as Ty Lawson's final-second shot clanged off the back iron, icing the meaningless tie.

I couldn't help it. It may still be mid-October — what we call in Ann Arbor the middle of football season. In places like Boston, postseason baseball grabs all the headlines.

But down here, on Tobacco Road, people are already talking basketball. Seriously.

Which makes we wonder, What will the atmosphere be come March?

Thinking about baseball

ON BASEBALL

My trip down here to Tobacco Road, to the Research Triangle, provided me with a lot of thinking time.

Approximately 13 hours alone in my Honda Civic. As good as my Journey CD is, I couldn't listen to it 44 consecutive times. I had to put on my thinking cap.

And while baseball isn't more than an afterthought in this basketball-crazy environment, it consumed my mind for much of the trip.

Here are a few thoughts as we prepare for the league championship series:

Only in New York
So it is very likely Joe Torre will not be back as Yankees manager next year after 12 extremely successful years. The Boss said during New York's series with Cleveland that anything short of a series win would probably mean the end of Torre's tenure.

Crazy, I thought -- only-in-New-York crazy.

Let's see... Torre's Yankees have never missed the playoffs and won four World Series. Of course, it's a what-have-ya-done-for-me-lately society, but any other team in the majors would be happy with making the playoffs every year (not to mention winning the division every year except this year).

Poor Joe.

On a related side note, I recently finished watching "The Bronx is Burning," ESPN's original show about the flamboyant 1977 Yankees. The show, which received rave reviews, portrayed an inexorable George Steinbrenner constantly on the brink of firing quirky manager Billy Martin.

Martin barely held onto his job and went on to lead the Yanks to an improbably
world championship that year and the next. But The Boss wasconstantly breathing down his neck, questioning every personnel decision he made.

So maybe Torre didn't have it that bad after all. He's the longest-tenured
Yankees manager since Casey Stengel held the job from 1949 through 1960.

And Stengel didn't have to deal with a certain Boss running the show.

A good start for the Tigers
The Detroit Tigers got their very important off-season running in the right
direction this week by picking up the $13 million option on catcher Ivan Rodriguez.

Is "Pudge" worth $13 million at this stage in his career? No way. But name five catchers in the game better than Pudge right now -- especially defensively and calling games.

Tough task, isn't it?

The reason keeping Pudge was the right decision is because his replacement would undoubtedly be a downgrade. Detroit wants to win now. It's not building for the
future. It's got the pieces to repeat that magical run of a year ago, and Pudge (even with his putrid OBP of .294 this season) is one of the pieces.

The most telling number that demonstrates his importance to the Tigers is that the team's pitching staff's ERA was 1.00 lower with Rodriguez catching compared to Mike Rabelo catching.

The Tigers still have plenty of work to do before pitchers and catchers report. The most pressing issue now becomes finding an All Star-caliber shortstop to replace Carlos Guillen, who's moving to first base.

Atlanta's Edgar Renteria seems like a good bet if Detroit can pull off a trade with the Braves. And then there's Alex Rodriguez, or "A-Rod."

Many Tigers fans are quick to rule out trying to sign the soon-to-be American League MVP, but before they shun the idea, they should consider who exactly they're shunning.

Forget his playoff numbers. During the regular season, A-Rod is the best player in baseball -- hands down. If owner Mike Ilitch is willing to dole out hundreds of millions of dollars, the Tigers should pursue A-Rod, who is expected to opt out of his current Yankees contract.

You just never know what might happen.

There's still baseball
Because of how quickly the first round series were completed, we've experienced this three-day window devoid of games and filled with speculation. Fortunately, this period is almost over.

Colorado-Arizona begins Thursday and Cleveland-Boston commences Friday.

Have the playoffs lost a little spice with the quick exits of the Yankees and Cubs? Sure, they have. But these two series appear very competitive (then again, I would have said the same about the first-round matchups).

As is usually the case in October, pitching ruled the first round. The Rockies shut down the Phillies' high-octane lineup and the Indians pitchers were able to limit the
damage caused by the Yankees. So forget the bats for a moment -- these two series will be decided by pitching.

Which is why I'll take the Diamondbacks and Indians in two series that stretch six or seven games.

While no one will argue that Colorado has more punch in its lineup than Arizona, the D'Backs -- led by Brandon Webb -- have the pitchers to quiet the Rockies bats (even at Coors Field).

Cleveland and Boston's top two starters are a wash, but I like Cleveland's Nos. 3 and 4 guys over Boston's, and the Indians' middle relief has proven more steady of late.

So I'll take Arizona in 6 and Cleveland in 7.

Giving the D'Backs a chance to win two World Series in seven years (while the Yanks have none during that period) and the Indians an opportunity to win their first championship since 1948.

Yes, minus the Yanks and Cubs, there are still myriad storylines left in October.

Stay tuned...

Dear Readers,
It is transition time. I am departing Thursday morning for Durham, N.C. and a new life. Due to a three-day stopover in Washington, I'll be taking a brief hiatus from writing.

However, I will return next week with plenty to write about — the playoffs, a big weekend in college football, Week 5 of the NFL and, of course, any other interesting developments in the sports world.

Until then, so long. Next time you hear from me I'll be a southerner.

MLB should consider instant replay

ON BASEBALL

Padres fans, I'm sure, were fuming after their team's 9-8, 13-inning loss to Colorado Monday night, which officially ended their season.

Not only did their all-time saves leader, Trevor Hoffman, blow his second consecutive save opportunity — giving up three runs in the final inning — but the game-winning run didn't actually score.

Replays showed that the Rockies' Matt Holliday didn't touch the plate after diving in headfirst to send Coors Field's spectators into a Rocky Mountain frenzy. As Padres catcher Michael Barrett, who originally dropped the ball on the throw from right fielder Brian Giles, moved to tag the lying-face-down Holliday, home plate umpire Tim McClelland made a delayed safe call.

Game over. Rockies fly to Philly. Padres go home.

San Diego fans, however, have no beef this morning. The safe call was justice for a Rockies team that had to play four more innings than it should have. That's because another call was blown way back in the bottom of the seventh inning.

With Colorado leading 6-5, Garrett Atkins blasted a fly ball to deep left field which appeared — thanks to numerous slow-motion replays — to sail above the fence then ricochet off a wheelchair and back onto the field. The umpires failed to originally rule the hit a home run, and a few minutes of deliberation didn't change their minds. San Diego got out of the inning unscathed and tied the the score 6-6 an inning later.

The final score should have been 7-6 Colorado in nine innings. The Rockies shouldn't have had to use 10 pitchers in the winner-take-all-playoff less than 40 hours before Wednesday's first round game at Philadelphia.

Which is why I suggest for upcoming seasons a replay review system.

This would be nothing like the system used by the NFL or college football. You wouldn't see Joe Torre throwing a red flag out of the dugout (as much as he'd enjoy that, I'm sure). What I suggest is a system similar to the one used in the NBA, in which buzzer-beating shots are reviewed as well as 3-pointers that like like they might be 2-pointers.

I don't advocate reviewing balls and strikes or close plays at first base. The only plays that should be reviewed are those like the home run Monday and the final play at the plate Monday:

— Umpires can review any fly ball that is a borderline home run.

— Umpires can review whether a fly ball down a foul line landed fair or foul.

— Umpires can review any close play at home plate that ends a game.

— Reviews are asked for by the substitute umpire present at every game.

Those are three instances that happen very rarely. The majority of games will happen without an umpire review. The games will not be significantly lengthened.

But players — not to mention, teams — won't be robbed of home runs by umpires who are several hundred feet away from the fence, and games won't end on a missed call by the home plate umpire.

I know that umpires are very proud men who dislike being questioned. It seems that with each passing year their tolerance for players arguing with them lessens. They won't be in favor of an instant replay system.

But a system as suggested above wouldn't take the game out of the umpires' hands. Still 99.99 percent of the calls would be at their discretion, and reviewed plays wouldn't be instigated by managers, but rather by the substitute umpire.

Thankfully on Monday it was an eye for an eye. The Rockies got robbed, only to have their merchandise returned to them.

But what would people be saying right now had Hoffman not blown the save? I'm sure people in Colorado would be complaining about the missed call instead of celebrating the Rockies' first playoff appearance since 1995.

All that's needed is a small fix.