4/15/09 - COL 5, @ CHI 2 - "Rockies 1, Limbaugh 0"

I’m a superstitious sort, as those of you who followed any of my old blogging already know and those of you who plan to follow this blog will find out. One of my superstitions is that if I happen to wear any Rockies gear – hat, shirt, jersey, whatever – and the team loses, I will make a point not to wear it until they win again. I wore my Troy Tulowitzki t-shirt jersey last Saturday, and the Rox got beat. So I’d gone without any purple and silver in the wardrobe since that day.

Today, I got home from work as the Rockies were leading the Cubs 5-1 in the 8th inning. I changed out of work clothes and threw on an old purple Rox t-shirt. As I went back to sit on my couch, I watched in horror as Huston Street gave up a home run, a walk, and a single in succession. (George Frazier theorized that he may have not been loose, or worse, that he may be injured.)

And that’s how it came to pass that I watched Jason Grilli record the final three outs of the game shirtless. (No, lady readers, that’s not nearly as sexy as it sounds.)

It was a good win, Street’s difficulties notwithstanding, as the Rockies got to Rich Harden early and got a big insurance run off a pinch-hit double by Dexter Fowler (who, I must confess, I’ve developed such a man-crush on that it’s slowly approaching ‘love that dare not speak its name’ territory. I’m that big a fan. I can’t wait to watch him for the next 10 years in the center garden at Coors.) Jason Marquis stuck it up the ass of every Cub fan that booed the guy for the crime of… I don’t know, not throwing a no-hitter every time he pitched? He’s not only been the Rox best starter thus far, but he’s got three hits and three RBI. Maybe he ought to start at second base on his off days.

***

Five Pitchers I Don’t Know How Anyone Gets A Hit Off Of, Ever:

1. Rich Harden
2. Roy Oswalt
3. Ubaldo Jimenez
4. Matt Cain
5. Felix Hernandez

***

Took a call on Tuesday afternoon at the office that really brightened my day. I work for a company that owns two radio stations in Worland, Wyoming. The AM station is our news/talk/sports station. When we aren’t airing sporting events – local high school, UW Cowboys, Denver Broncos and the Rockies – we carry talk programming, most of it politically oriented. As you can imagine in a state that’s as capital-r Red as Wyoming, all of that political talk is slanted rather to the right.

So in the afternoon – 10 to 1 local time – we carry Rush Limbaugh. Now I’m not writing this blog to talk politics, but even leaving those aside I’m not sure how anybody finds Limbaugh entertaining. His parody songs and advertisements are generally unfunny and always overplayed – for God’s sake, he runs one that makes fun of Ron Artest’s rap career. What is this, 2007?

But hey, the guy’s got a following. And one of his loyal fans (by the tone of his voice I’m guessing mid-40s, owns some farmland, and probably thinks President Obama isn’t from the United States) was surprised on Tuesday to hear Jeff Kingery and Jack Corrigan as the noon hour approached instead of his beloved Rush. (Not sure where the guy’s outrage was when we cut off the last half hour of Rush last Monday and Wednesday.) So he called the radio station. I picked up.

“Yeah, hi, who am I speaking to?”

“This is Dan. How can I help you?”

“Yeah, I wanna know what happened to the Rush program?”

I’m already excited about this conversation.

“We are carrying Rockies baseball this afternoon!” I say, as chipper as I can possibly be.

“Are you kidding me?” He says this as though I’ve taken his car away, not his favorite talk show.

“No sir, I’m not.”

“You mean to tell me more people in Worland care about some baseball game (imagine contempt dripping from his voice as though baseball were a thoroughly unworthy pursuit) than care about Rush?”

I bite my lip to keep from laughing. You see, I know this to be true. Whenever we have satellite trouble and lose the Rockies broadcast feed, we get MULTIPLE calls wondering where the game is. When we carry an early-season Broncos game in lieu of the Rockies – again, multiple calls. The only time I’ve heard of anyone calling to complain about Limbaugh being preempted was during the high school basketball regional tournament, when an afternoon Worland Warrior basketball game prompted a caller to tell us “I don’t think high school sports are as important as what Rush has to say.” (That guy is lucky I didn’t take his call. Lucky anybody in town didn’t take that call, either – Warrior athletics are a BIG deal.)

But, not wanting to sound like a total jackass, I just say, “Well, sir, you’re the only call of complaint we’ve had. We have aired Rockies baseball for quite some time on our air and we’re excited to carry all 162 games this season!” Again, really laying on the enthusiasm as thick as I can.

The caller mutters, “Unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable. Well, thanks for nothing.”

“Enjoy the game!” I said as he hung up.

So, to conclude – even in Worland, a town that might be unable to field a Legion baseball team this year due to lack of interest, baseball takes precedence over punditry. Makes me proud to be an American, where at least I know the game is on the air.