DENVER -- Honestly, the Colorado Rockies would have been better off losing to Arizona in the National League Championship Series. The 2007 World Series definitely would have been better off. It's not like this thing could've been much worse.
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| The World Series may have been better had Colorado lost to Arizona in the NLCS. (AP) |
Both, says me.
In four games, the Red Sox outscored Colorado 29-10, bludgeoning the Rockies despite losing interest at various points of Games 1, 3 and 4. Boston's really freaking good. Read Scott Miller's thoughts on the Red Sox after Game 4, or mine from Game 3.
But Colorado's really freaking bad, at least as far as World Series teams go. The Rockies were failures on every level, on and off the field, embarrassing themselves days before the World Series began and continuing to do so for four games until Boston closer Jonathan Papelbon put them out of their misery by fanning Seth Smith for the final out.
Because the truth would be too difficult to explore, the universal take in the Colorado clubhouse was that the Rockies had run into the wrong team at the wrong time.
"We caught them when they were the hottest team around, just like a lot of teams caught us a few weeks ago when we were the hottest team around," said the Rockies' Game 4 starter, Aaron Cook. "If they had two more weeks to play, they'd probably keep on winning."
Especially if they got a few more cracks at Colorado.
The Rockies were unprepared for the first World Series appearance in franchise history, with manager Clint Hurdle unable to keep his team sharp after its 21-1 spurt was followed by an eight-day layoff.
In the meantime, the team's front office embarrassed itself with the shortsighted way it distributed tickets. Instead of rewarding area fans by giving them first crack, the Rockies made their tickets available on the Internet, ticking off the locals and creating a system where Boston fans were able to get tickets on their own or through Internet brokers. Colorado had a clear home-field advantage at Coors Field, but when Game 4 was finished there were close to 10,000 Boston fans chanting, "Yankees suck, Yankees suck."
In the meantime, the Rockies' online ticket system ultimately crashed from the traffic, with club officials lamely blaming an "external malicious attack."
Ridiculous. The only external malicious attack came from the Red Sox, who pummeled the Rockies with a historic offensive salvo. Boston put the World Series out of reach after three games -- all 23 teams to take a 3-0 lead have won the title -- by scoring 25 runs, the second-biggest outburst in World Series history. Only the New York Yankees of 1960, led by Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris, scored more runs through three games (30).
Colorado just about couldn't score at all. The Rockies scored once in Game 1. They scored once in Game 2. For Game 3, Hurdle benched leadoff hitter Willy Taveras, who hit .115 in the postseason. That didn't go over well with Taveras, who was 0-for-8 in the World Series but played the Placido Polanco card anyway.
DurdyDurden 
