Black Brings Class To Moment Of Defeat

What took place in Denver, Colorado Monday night was nothing short of epic. It was one of the greatest games of the season, and probably the greatest game in Rockies history thus far. The 13-inning thriller symbolizes the type of ballclub that these Rockies have grown to become. There is absolutely no quit, even after having the wind knocked out of their sails and all-time saves leader Trevor Hoffman jogging in to close out a 2-run lead.

I don't think we can fathom the excitement, joy, exhaustion, euphoria that the players on the Colorado side are feeling at this point in time. After looking like they were moving on, to almost certainly going home tonight, to pulling off a wild win, will undoubtedly leave them breathless for a few hours. They must find a way to regroup before they head to Philidelphia to open up the NLDS on Wednesday.

We would not do this game, or this team of hungry ballplayers, justice if we tried to summarize this truly team-performance and place it in the context of great baseball games. I don't think that is possible, even as fans, writers, or merely bystanders, after the rollercoaster that has lifted us up, flipped us upside down, and left us free-falling from 5,000 feet until our stomach couldn't stand it anymore.

We must relish the fantastic baseball that we have just witnessed, and let those emotions marinate before we recap this game. The great thing about baseball is that it allows us to experience each moment to the fullest. There is time to get excited when Yorvit Torrealba blasts a homerun, and there is time to feel punched in the gut when Adrian Gonzalez hits a grand slame to give Jake Peavy and Co. the lead.

As the pressure mounts and the inning turns one later, we are no longer in a light-weight fight. Baseball brings out the heavy-weight class for late game rallys, led by Scott Haristons homerun. I thought Denevr was already short on oxygen, but boy it didn't seem like anyone was breathing in the ballpark after that.

After all that happened in this game, I stepped back and observed, and came up with the fact that Bud Black may be one of the classiest people around.

After a controversial call at the plate on whether or not Matt Holliday touched homeplate with his hand after his headfirst slide, you could sense that the story lines tomorrow morning will be about that play rather than the game itself. Replays were played over and over and it looked as if Holliday's hand may have been blocked off, but it was so close, that there is real no telling because he might of slipped a finger in there on his way by.

The important thing is that the homeplate umpire called him safe and the Rockies were moving on. Plenty of people were already questioning the call, leaving the umpire in a position to defend himself for the rest of the winter because it was his call that officially sent one team packing.

It would of been easy for Black to go to the postgame news conference and give some story about how his team got stubbed on that last play and how the wrong call was made. And you know what? It was so close that you probably couldn't make an argument against him. Plenty, if not most, managers would of made a comment somewhere along those lines and there would of been endless speculation about the game-winning play.

Black chose a different route. When asked whether Holliday touched the plate Black responded, "It looked to me like he did get it."

That was all that needed to be said to end the discussion. If Black hadn't of made the comment, you can guarantee this game would not live on without that infamous shadow lurking right behind it. That would of been completely ludicrous and would of taken away from the actual ballgame at hand. There is nothing worse than a team, who fought its butt off to get into the postseason, have some sort of controversy looming about how they got in. That does nothing but take away from their accomplishment as a team, almost to the point of saying that they needed help to get it.

But kudos to Bud Black to realize that his team got beat by a team that has just been on fire for the last month. He understands the game of baseball and its crazy ways. This was not about one call. It's all about the Colorado Rockies and how great of a team they have become. That is exactly the way it should be. Bud Black deserves more credit than he deserves for this extremely classy gesture. He is a baseball man who respects the game and respects the purity of competition.