Colorado Rockies Baseball Tickets Available
Based in Denver, Colorado?the Colorado Rockies are a Major League Baseball established in 1993. They play in the West Division of the National League. The team is named after the Rocky Mountains, the mountain ranges that pass through Colorado, just west of Denver. Their home games are played at Coors Field in downtown Denver. In 2007, the Rockies won the National League pennant for the first time in franchise history.
Important moment and accomplishments:
In 1990, Denver voters approved a 0.1 percent sales tax to help finance a new baseball stadium. This happened after many previous failed attempts to bring the Major League Baseball to Colorado. The action was through the efforts Colorado Baseball Commission led by banking executive Larry Varnell. There was also an advisory committee frmed in 1990 by then-Governor of Colorado Roy Romer to recruit an ownership group.
On July 5, 1991, Denver along with Miami, Florida, was approved as the sites for two expansion teams of the National League that will begin to play in 1993.
On April 5, 1993, the first ever game in Rockies history was played against the New York Mets at Shea Stadium. David Nied, the Rockies’ first pick in the expansion draft, was the starting pitcher. The Rockies lost, 3-0. Four days later, the franchise played their first home game at Mile High Stadium. It was also the first their time to win in franchise history, 11-4, over the Montreal Expos.
Just like any expansion team, the Rockies struggled in their first year but the team was able to finish season with 67 wins to set a record for a National League expansion franchise.
On April 4, 1999, the Rockies made history as they played their Opening Day game at Estadio de Beisbol Monterrey in Monterrey, Mexico against the defending National League champion San Diego Padres This marks the first time Major League Baseball opened the regular season outside the United States or Canada. The Rockies beat the Padres, 8?2, in front of a crowd of 27,104 people.
Pitchers in the current roster:
Aaron Cook
Jorge de la Rosa
Jeff Francis
Liv?Hern?ez
Jason Hirsh
Ubaldo Jim?z
Franklin Morales
Greg Reynolds
Colorado Rockies recent news:
After trailing the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Arizona Diamondbacks and the San Diego Padres for most of 2007 Major League Baseball season, the Rockies bounced back with a steady series of wins, eliminating the Dodgers from playoff contentions in the process. The Rockies finished the regular season with a 90-73 mark, a franchise record. They were tied with the Padres for the National League wild card spot in the playoffs. On October 1, the two teams played a wild card tie-breaker game at Coors Field to determine the wild card. With the score tied at 6-6, the Padres got two runs off of a Scott Hairston home run. The Rockies came back in the bottom of the 13th by scoring three runs off of closer Trevor Hoffman to win 9?8. The Rockies? victory came with the fifth greatest regular season comeback in Major League Baseball history.
The Rockies ended up the 2008 season finishing third place in the National League West with a record of 74-88.
We will see more of Colorado Rockies? exciting games as they take on more challenges and set more records in the next season.
The Baseball Swing
The Baseball Swing
Hitting a baseball is the hardest thing to do in sports. You have to hit a round ball with a round bat, squarely. And that round ball is often dancing, tailing into you, cutting away, curving, splitting, sinking, knuckling, or sliding. You have a split second to decide whether you should swing at it, take it, or get out of its way. So how do big-leaguers do it? How does Manny Ramirez make it look so easy? How does Ichiro collect 200-hit seasons as if they are baseball cards? How does Chase Utley consistently hit line drives you can hang your laundry on? They all have great swings.
The baseball swing is made up of a few key components.
Grip
The grip is important because it’s the only physical contact you make with the bat. Hold the bat in your fingertips, not your palms. When you hold the bat in your palms, you restrict your swing. When you hold your bat in your fingertips, you can swing freely and easily, with maximum range of motion.
Stance
When you step into the batter’s box, stand with your feet no more than shoulder width apart. Stay relaxed and bend your knees. Hold your hands in a comfortable position, right around shoulder height.
Stride
When the pitcher is about to deliver the ball, take a short, balanced stride, no more than 2-3 inches straight toward the pitcher. Some players, like David Wright, just pick up their front heel and put it back down. When you stride, it is important to keep your head level. If you don’t, the ball will appear to bounce up and down on its way to home plate, because that’s exactly what your eyes are doing.
Load
The load is the trigger of your swing. When you throw a punch, you don’t just move your fist forward, you coil it backward first. The same applies to the baseball swing. This coiling action serves two purposes:
· Generates power
· Helps you time the pitch
To load, make a slight movement, like picking up or dropping your hands, or coiling your front shoulder back. Avoid dramatic movements, like the sledgehammer waggle of Gary Sheffield. It works for him, but for most players, it can only slow the swing down.
Power Turn
Move the barrel of the bat directly to the ball. Don’t loop, or “uppercut,” and don’t cast the bat as if you were casting a fishing line. Lead with your hips, rotating them toward the pitcher. Keep your hands back until you finish your hip rotation. This will help you adjust to different kinds of pitches and different locations. Most of all, maintain your balance and keep your head level, and looking right at the ball, throughout the swing.
Follow Through
After contact, extend the bat toward the pitcher, then let the barrel swing around you naturally – it’s important to finish your swing.
Practice
Of course, practice makes perfect when it comes to baseball hitting. Hitting drills in baseball can help you master the swing. In addition, there are tools available to help you practice with a purpose.
One of the most important aspects of the swing is balance. Tools are available from companies like A-Game Technology (www.agametechnology.com) to help you maintain your balance. The Batter’s Edge training tool, for instance, teaches you to take a straight stride, stay balanced, and keep your head level. By standing on its narrow platform, you have to stay balanced. The Batter’s Edge is one of the most useful tools among baseball training equipment.
So, remember to stay balanced, keep your head level, move the barrel of the bat directly to the ball, and follow through. And most of all, practice. Before you know it, you’ll be taking your game to a new level.