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I do not know exactly what it's like to be a Cubs fan, but I'm beginning to empathize.  The Colorado Rockies' futility doesn't begin to approach the Cubbies', but only because the Blake Street Bumblers have only been around since 1993.  Both home ballparks are fantastic venues for taking in a game.  Coors Field smells better.  But, at least at Wrigley Field, most of the fans in the stands are Cubs fans, with Cubs gear.  Look at the crowd when the Phillies or Red Sox or Yankees or Cubs come to Denver.  Though there was next to nothing to cheer for at Tuesday night's game, if you are a Rockies fan, there was plenty of cheering going on because Phillies starter, and winner, Kyle Kendrick held the Rox to 4 hits in eight strong innings while the Phillies scored 5 runs on eight hits.  Philadelphia 1B Ryan Howard continued to show off his power stroke with two home runs and the Rockies failed to advance a runner past second base as they were shut out at home in a game that felt a lot like the Rockies have quit on the 2011 season.  Colorado starter, Aaron Cook left the game after 4 innings with a stiff neck, perhaps explaining why he was ineffective, again, in a very disappointing 2011 campaign.

Up and down the lineup, Rockies batters are displaying a consistent series of befuddled and inept at-bats.  Seven strikeouts, four with bats on shoulders, the Rockies are a tired and confused bunch, with slow bats and bad plate discipline.  I don't think it's Carney Lansford's fault.  These guys just don't listen, as former hitting coach, Don Baylor, discovered.  I listened to a brief interview with general manager Dan O'Dowd during Sunday's game, after the Jimenez trade was less than 24 hours old.  He was very frank about one subject that I first brought up in May.  The Rockies are a soft team, with no edge, nobody on the team that gets visibly upset when things don't go their way.  He said that, at first, when he let it be known that Ubaldo was maybe available in a trade, that it was more a motivational ploy.  Perhaps it was an attempt to kick-start a mediocre ace, or perhaps a wake-up call to the rest of the team that if they don't start winning, the team would be disassembled.  In any case, as offers started to formulate from interested teams that were still in contention, O'Dowd had to listen to the real possibilities that the best pitcher in Rockie history could be a tool to rebuild a weak roster of future major league arms.  O'Dowd even acknowledged that the scouting and developmental history of the Rockies had been sub-par, especially in the pitching talent and position player evaluation.  Let's see.......pitching and position players, what else is there?  The Rockies' scouting and drafting has been successful in exactly what area?  Most of the home-grown pitching prospects seem to be coming from the Latin America developmental organization, not the draft.  Jhoulys Chacin, the departed Ubaldo Jimenez, Juan Nicasio, Edgmer Escalona, Esmil Rogers.  The Rockies have pretty much whiffed on drafted pitchers.  Which is the biggest reason why O'Dowd had to trade Jimenez.  To restock the organization with three arms to compensate for bad decisions on recent drafts.  The Jimenez trade bought O'Dowd and manager Jim Tracy and pitching coach Bob Apodaca another two years, probably.  And that's too bad.

I am grateful that I have Direct TV and the Major League Baseball Network, and the YES Network.  At least every night I can watch Yankee games and highlights of really good baseball being played throughout the Major Leagues each and every day.  A typical Rockies game takes up about 3% of the space on my DVR's hard drive.  Now there's more room to save Entourage, Breaking Bad and Curb Your Enthusiasm episodes, and all those Japanese Iron Chef shows.  It has been too painful to watch most of the games in totality.  I am a diehard baseball fan, but I am a dying Rockie fan.  Wednesday's game against the Phillies features Roy Halladay, as the Rockies try to avoid a sweep against the best pitcher in the National League.  This Saturday, my Mom has wrangled six Monfort box seats next to the dugout for the game against Washington.  With the Coors Clubhouse premium buffet.  Sweet.

The season is lost, all's left is to see how the pitchers that we got for Ubaldo pan out.  CarGo should be back in the Rockies lineup next week, Chris Iannetta still may become a Pirate, Ian Stewart might be designated soon, banished to the Garrett Atkins rubbish heap, we shall get a look at Wilin Rosario, the next great hope at catcher.  So, there are still some things to watch for.  The Rockies are closer to last place in the West than first,  as the Diamondbacks have tied the slumping Giants, and the Dodgers are only a half-game behind our Rox.  We watch the race as we ponder why it isn't our Rockies contending this year.  No need to wonder.  As long as the franchise on Blake Street continues to draw 2.5 million fans year after year, and O'Dowd and Tracy and Apodaca remain, we are destined for mediocrity.  Go Broncos.  When's Nugget camp open?