By Danny Powell

The people at Coors Brewing Company must be on to something. There really must be something special in that ice cold Rocky Mountain Water. How else could anyone explain the Colorado Rockies unlikely run into the history books?

Regardless of the situations that arise, in the end the result seems to be the same for the Rocks, another notch in the win column. A red-hot Phillies team featuring three-MVP candidates and one of the game’s best young arms? No problem. The National League West champion Arizona Diamondbacks with their timely hitting, stellar bullpen, and outstanding ace Brandon Webb? The Rocks just kept on rolling.

After Game 2 of the National League Championship Series, Diamondbacks left fielder Eric Byrnes claimed that Arizona had outplayed the Rockies in the series, despite trailing two games to none. Colorado put that notion to bed by playing outstanding baseball in their home park in Games 3 and 4 to complete the sweep of their divisional foe. Rocktober at Coors Field seems like it may be too much for opposing teams to handle, with its sub-40 degree temperatures and its reenergized fans.

So thanks to brilliant defense, timely hitting, and outstanding pitches from unlikely candidates, the Rockies find themselves in the World Series for the first time in the franchise’s 15-year history. As bandwagon fans continue to jump on the “Rock-Pile,” it is hard to imagine that a team that won 14 of its last 15 regular season games and all seven of its first postseason games is going to cool down any time soon.

Unfortunately for Rockies fans, whoever comes out of the American League is going to stop streaking Colorado right in their tracks. All year long, we have heard about how much better the AL is than the NL and there is no reason to think that is going to stop in October.

Both the Cleveland Indians and Boston Red Sox boast a deeper bench than the Rocks as well as much better pitching. It is hard to believe that Colorado’s unheralded staff, which came into this postseason without a single game of playoff experience among, is going to hold up against the more talented staffs of the Indians and Red Sox. Though ace Jeff Francis is the best starting pitcher you’ve never heard of, it is real hard to trust the likes of Josh Fogg and two kids under the age of 24 with just 28 career starts between them, including this year’s postseason.

As for that American League Championship Series, it appears that Boston, the favorite entering these playoffs, will all but certainly be eliminated by the Indians after Cleveland took a commanding three games to one lead with Tuesday night’s win. So as October draws to an end with two Cinderella’s playing for the World Series championship, expect Cleveland to beat the Rockies with great pitching from studs C.C. Sabathia, Fausto Carmona, and crafty veteran Paul Byrd, who continues to find a way to win in these playoffs. The Indians will also win the battle of the bullpen as Rafael Perez, Rafael Betancourt, and Joe Borowski with help from Aaron Fultz and Aaron Laffey will outpitch Colorado’s Brian Fuentes and Manny Corpas, the only consistent relievers on the Rockies roster.

Around the League

While the games still being plays are certainly most important, there has been plenty of baseball news off the field this October.

ESPN analyst Dusty Baker has rejoined the managerial ranks, taking the helm in Cincinnati. While the Reds have plenty of young talent, they have been plagued by inconsistency, failing to notch a winning season in the last seven years. Baker could be just the guy to turn things around, however, as he was last seen leading a young, but cursed, Chicago Cub team to the brink of the World Series in 2003 before the infamous Steve Bartman incident. Karma may also be on Cincinnati’s side next year; the last time the Reds hired a manager from outside of the organization was when they hired Lou Piniella prior to the 1990 season. That was also the last time the Reds won it all.

The fate of Yankees skipper Joe Torre has also been a hot topic of late. While speculation has been that the longer this drags on, the more likely Torre is to keep his job, make no mistake, Joe must go. Even if owner George Steinbrenner’s first choice to replace Torre, bench coach Don Mattingly, is not ready to manage, Torre did some of his worst managing in this year’s postseason.

Torre played left fielder Hideki Matsui over rookie Shelley Duncan, who mauls southpaws, in Game 1 against the Indians, despite the fact he was 0-7 lifetime against the left-handed Sabathia, explaining “you stick with what got you there.” Matsui went 0-4 with two strikeouts that night, as Duncan was 1-2 with a run scored off the bench.

Torre than contradicted his own mantra in Game 4, opting to start Chien-Ming Wang on three days rest rather than hand the ball to veteran Mike Mussina. Wang was awful, costing the Yankees the game as he surrendered four runs in one-plus innings. Mussina, a good big-game pitcher, was much sharper in his relief appearance than Wang was as the starter. One would think Torre, who tends to trust his veterans above all, would have known Mussina on full-rest was better than the 27-year-old Wang on short rest.

It’s been a great 12 year run for Torre in the Bronx, but it is time to hand the team over to a manager who is willing to trust young players to play a bigger role and someone who won’t abuse the bullpen the way Torre has in his tenure. For more than a decade, Torre has been nothing short of brilliant, but all good things must come to an end; it’s time for the Yankees to move past the Joe Torre era.