Field Trip

I just arrived last night in Denver, Colorado home of the Colorado Rockies. My first welcome to the great state of Colorado was by a heavy set man wearing a bright yellow t-shirt that read I Beat Anorexia. This was the first of many paradoxes to come in my first hours in the Mile High City. I arrive at the hotel where the 20 year old behind the desk tells me that they hired chefs to prepare the free breakfast every morning. Paradox #2 Prestigious chefs for a free breakfast. Paradox #3 It's May 15th and it's 35 degrees. Paradox #4 I read that Denver has more sunny days than San Diego, it's foggy.

Breakfast was a buffet with Styrofoam plates and plastics utensils. First time seeing biscuits and gravy at breakfast, my arteries clogged looking at it. The hoard of conference goers and visiting college athletes stormed the buffet line and stuffed their faces with the free breakfast prepared by hired chefs. The word free seems to bring out the worst in people, it's like a mandate to indulge and acquire as much of the free good/service as possible.

As the temperatures hit a Rocky Mountain low, I wandered what was the coldest game played in the history of recorded baseball. In October 2009, the NLDS was played at Coors Field. The Rockies were playing the Phillies and the game time temperature was . . . . 35 degrees. This tied the post season record set back in 1997 in Cleveland.

I'm attending the 2 game Rockies-Giants series at Coors Field starting tomorrow. Yesterday the Giants only needed to play 7 innings to win and in very similar weather. The Giants went up 3-0 on throwing errors and the game was called in the 7th due to rain. The Giants ace in the hole, Ryan Vogelsong, was credited with a complete game. Drafted in 1998 by the Giants, Vogelsong has pretty much been a career minor leaguer jumping from team to team and playing in Japan. Thirteen years later the Giants offered him a minor league contract and with Zito's pop bunt foot injury he is now a starter. Vogelsong is 3-0 with a 2.36 ERA.

Questions are now swirling in the Giants blogger universe about Zito's return. Upon return should Zito be automatically granted his spot in the starting rotation? Giant fans and bloggers are loving the emergence of Vogelsong, if anything to spite the $126m elephant in the rotation. He is the Rudy of the Giants staff. (it's on TV right now, this entire blog has been written to the soundtrack of the movie) Vogelsong fits in with this team that is mixed and matched with veterans, rookies, has beens, over the hills, and what have you. Giants have shown over the past couple years that camaraderie takes a team far and that statistics only tell part of the story. Vogelsong's future in the rotation is uncertain but Giants fans would certainly like Sabean and Bochy to give him a chance. The argument among the beat reporters has been that Zito can't be in the bullpen so he has to come back to the rotation thus sending Vogelsong to the bullpen or back to the minors.

Giants ownership and management have certainly taken substantial risks over the past two years. Bringing up Posey and Bumgarner. Getting rid of Molina. Signing Burrell, Huff, Ross, etc. These risks paid off. I know the fans would like one more. Will the veteran be replaced by the career minor leaguer? This Vogelsong has yet to be sung.