On Colorado Rockies Fanhood

Let me start by saying I am extremely annoyed by the All Star voting this year. Nolan Arenado, the best third baseman in baseball, is fourth in the voting for National League third basemen. DJ LeMahieu, the man with Gold Glove defense and owner of the seventh best batting average in all of baseball, doesn't even crack the top five in voting for NL second basemen.

Oh, and eight Kansas City Royals are currently slated to start the All Star Game for the American League.

As a baseball fan, this infuriates me. As if the All Star Game doesn't have enough issues already, the fans have finally gone and screwed it up a little more. For years we've gotten by without us fans totally ruining the Midsummer Classic, but if this result holds and we end up watching the Royals versus the National League, it should usher in some changes to the fan voting process.

But that aside, can we take a step back and acknowledge how phenomenal the Kansas City fans are? I spent yesterday upset that this could happen for the Royals, but the Rockies fans couldn't even get Arenado, who certainly deserves to start the All Star Game, near the top.

And then it was compounded by a few minutes spent on the Rockies Facebook page and scrolling through some of the fan comments there. I know, I brought it on myself. It's a toxic zone over there, with a constant stream of "The Monforts need to sell the team" (good luck with that) and "Trade Tulo for pitching" (Yeah... I'm sure Bridich hasn't ever had that thought), but one comment stood out to me last night as a great summary of the attitude (and ignorance) of the Rockies Facebook fan base.

Oh, dear. So many things wrong with all of that. Let's take a quick look at each of his statements.

How do you lose to the Astros?

Well, considering they lead their division and own the third best record in baseball this season, I'd say they were the heavy favorites, especially in their home park. Perhaps a better question would be "How did the St. Louis Cardinals, with baseball's best record, drop an entire series to the Rockies last week?"

BECAUSE IT'S BASEBALL. Anything can happen on any given night.

Rox could have been 'no hit' tonight!

Yes, they could have. And they could get no-hit next week. Or tomorrow. Or really any time BECAUSE IT'S BASEBALL. Anything can happen on any given night.

Astros ace Dallas Keuchel was perfect through five last night, and we really shouldn't be surprised by that. He has turned into a star the past two seasons, and he's flirted with no-hitters in the past. But let's not pretend it was an abysmal offense performance for Colorado. Two runs on five hits isn't stellar, but it's also not embarrassing, even if it took a few innings for the bats to show any life.

This offense is pathetic!

The Rockies' hitters have their issues, sure. But are they pathetic? As a team Colorado is fourth in batting average, ever so slightly ahead of the American League All Star Team Kansas City Royals. So before we go condemning the offense, perhaps we should take a step back and realize that in spite of several imperfections, this team is second in total bases, sixth in hits, eleventh in runs, seventh in homers and RBIs, etc.

Need to replace Blackmon at leadoff!

Here is last night's Colorado lineup:

I know he's back in the leadoff spot today, but that's all I'm going to say about that.

I'm not trying to single out this one gentleman on Facebook. He's frustrated. We all are. And changes certainly need to happen to allow this team to succeed. But as a fan base we need to be a little better.

Of course, Kansas City fans have it easy right now. They made a trip to the World Series last year and currently sit atop the AL Central standings. So in spite of the frustration and lack of success in Denver these past few years I think we can learn something from Royals fans. We don't have to make a push for every single position player to be a starting All Star, but we should be pushing for guys like Arenado, LeMahieu, and even Tulowitzki and Hundley to at least be in the conversation.

My point is this: let's be a little better informed, a little more positive, and most especially a little more loyal.