Opportunity Of A Lifetime

As the rain began to fall hard in Denver, it was only appropraite to see the Diambondbacks season get dampened even more. The Colorado Rockies came out to play baseball in football weather and took a controlling 3-0 lead of the best-of-seven series with a 4-1 vicotry over the Arizona Diamondbacks Sunday night at Coors Field.

With a constant rain-- fought with endless bags of Diamond Dry-- throughout the ballgame, the wind chill carried the temperature down into the low 30s. There is officially nothing in this hemisphere than can cool down the play of the Colorado Rockies. With the win, the Rockies improve to 20-1 in their last 21 games, and incredible feat especially when done at the end of the season and into the playoffs.

The Rockies seem to get a different hero every night who shows the team the way to a win. Josh Fogg turned in 6 very solid innings before handing the ball over to the Rockie bullpen which has been nothing short of outstanding. Fogg, who is the epitome of a number 5 starter, keeps running his avergae fastball and decent changeup over the plate and making this postseason pressure thing look like a walk in the park.

Matt Holliday got the offense rolling like many tims this year, but he was not the one to deliver the hardest blow. That came with Yorvit Torrealba's 3-run homerun, knocking the wind out of the D'backs.

With their season on the line, Arizona will most likely turn the ball back over to Game 1 starter Brandon Webb. Micah Owings was the scheduled Game 4 starter, but manager Bob Melvin probably did not expect to be in a win-or-go-home scenario.

So who do the Rockies look to to carry their team to the World Series for the first time in franchise history?

How about rookie southpaw Franklin Morales. The kid has not made even 10 starts in the big leagues, yet manager Clint Hurdle continues to show confidence in his young players by handing the kid the ball in undoubtedly the biggest game of his life.

Many kids go through chilidhood dreaming about these moments. Pitching in the major leagues would be dream number one, let alone pitching with the chance of going to the World Series.

In what has truly become a Cinderella story with this Colorado ballclub, the idea of Morales delivering a World Series birth to the city of Denver is completely fitting.

Baseball buffs paint these portraits, pen these novels, and turn these scripts over to film producers. How lucky are we to have the opportunity to possibly watch one of the great stories of the season, and possibly of recent memory, unfold right infront of us in October?

Of course, October is suppossed to bring us these moments, one would say. If that is as far as you allow yourself to delve into this game, then you are cheating yourself of the baseball experience and the passion that underlies each time nine men in uniform line the field.

It is absolutely necessary to take a step back when we have great stories proposed to us like this one, and ponder what may happen, or what has happened in similar games in the past. Yankee Stadium isn't the only arena of mystique. Baseball itself brings its hallowed past to October ballparks, new and old.

Franklin Morales will live a boyhood dream of many tomorrow night. This was certainly meant for fans of all ages to enjoy.