The Diamonds in a Season of Cubic Zirconias

Though the Colorado Rockies 2008 season wasn't exactly full of feel-good Dennis Quaid-like moments, you might be shocked to hear that the year wasn't all bad. There were epic affairs, back and forth contests, and prime-time performances that temporarily kept the Rockies die-hards from peeking at the team's place in the standings. Here, my friends, are the top five Rockies games from the past season.

1) April 17 vs Padres, Won 2-1 in 22 innings
In the longest game in Major League history since 1993, the Rockies were able to outlast the Padres in a sloppy contest typified by missed opportunities, strikeouts, and a few 7th inning stretches. Here are just a few of the oddball stats to come out of this Citizen Kane of a baseball game:

-The game took 6 hours and 16 minutes to be played, ending about 4:30 in the morning eastern time, which is where I was watching the game out at Kenyon College in Ohio. Screaming obscenities at my computer while watching the game, I repeatedly woke up both my girlfriend and roommate. Needless to say, I slept on the couch the next night.
-The Rockies struck out a franchise-single-game-high 20 times, leading Willy Taveras to try and match that number single-handedly in every game that followed during the season. His apparent rationale: We struck out 20 times and won; why can't it happen more often?
-Taveras also had 10 at bats, another Rockies single-game record. If I had my way, he wouldn't have gotten 10 more at bats the rest of the season.
-Kip Wells got his only win of the season.
-Tulo ran his early season slump to 1-26 before singling in the 20th and then doubling home the winning run in the 22nd. The 2-8 day actually raised his average to .167.
-It was the only game in baseball this season with a 21st inning stretch.

2) May 23 vs Mets, 6-5 win, 13 innings
This game was all Matt Holliday's. Though he only finished the day 2-7, his two hits were the key knocks that led the Rox to this extra-inning victory. Trailing 5-4 in the 9th, the Mets brought in their flame-throwing lefty Billy Wagner to close out the game. Unfortunately for Billy, it wasn't meant to be and for Mets fans, it was a sneak peek at how your ballclub would once again perform a September unraveling. With one out, Big Daddy launched a fastball into the centerfield bleachers, tying the game. Then, in the 13th with two outs and the speedy Johnny Herrera on 2nd, Matt lasered an Aaron Heilman two-seamer into right field to send the Rockies to their first walk-off victory of the year.

3) July 3 vs. Marlins, 6-5 win, 11 innings
This was the first game of back to back fireworks night at Coors Field to celebrate America creeping one year closer to early retirement. The stands were packed with nearly 50,000 fans each night and boy, were they ever treated to some kind of show...and that was even before the skies lit up with the bombs bursting in air. In a back and forth contest that saw both teams hold the lead multiple times before all was said and done, the Rockies had the last at bat and the last laugh as Spilly smacked a bases loaded single with one out in the 11th inning to send the raucous Rockies faithful home happy. But this wasn't all the drama the Rockies would provide on this Fourth of July weekend as the next night would prove to be even more unbelievable.

4) July 4 vs. Marlins, 18-17 win
In this seesaw game that saw the Marlins jump out to a 13-4 lead in the 4th inning, many of the 50,000 red, white, and blue clad Rockies fans were resigned to drink their beer and wait for the fireworks spectacular. The Rockies, however, figured they would play out the last five innings and just see what happened. Fortunately for them, America was on their side and Uncle Sam chose to shoot off his fireworks in a celebratory setting. The comeback began with seven runs for the Rockies in the 5th and 6th innings to cut the lead to 13-12 including a concourse-pounding moonshot from Chris Iannetta. In the 7th, the Marlins seemed to regain control of the game with four runs to pad the lead to 17-12. The Rockies would storm right back in the bottom half the frame when Matt Holliday tattooed a 3-2 fastball from Logan Kensing into the left field bleachers for a grand slam to once again trim down the Marlins lead to one at 17-16. That set the stage for the bottom of the 9th. With the Marlins closer Kevin Gregg on the hill who had absorbed the loss the night before, once again struggled with his control and loaded the bases in a tie ballgame with Chris Iannetta stepping to the plate. With one out and a drawn-in infield, Chris singled through the hole on the left side to score Matt Holliday with the winning run to send the Rockies to their second straight walk-off victory in front of their two biggest crowds of the season. It was the biggest comeback in club history. Fireworks indeed.

5) Aug 24 vs Reds, 4-3 win, 12 innings
This game wasn't one of the best of the year because it was the longest or most exciting. I've already dissected those games already. This extra-inning walk-off win was for the little guy. You know the guy. He comes into work every day, does his business without much fanfare, never complains about contracts or playing time, and is always ready when his number is called. Jamey Carroll fulfilled this role for the Rockies last season and this year, the light-hitting, slick-fielding, utility infielder role was held by Omar Quintanilla. Omar will never set the world on fire with his bat but he can make the routine play as well as the spectacular one in the field. In this game, the Rockies clawed their way back with two runs in the 9th to tie it up. The game went to 11 and Omar, the last man on Clint Hurdle's bench, stepped to the plate facing righty Brad Lincoln. He got a low fastball on the inner half of the plate and the little lefty crushed it over the scoreboard in right for his first career walk-off homer and only the second of his career.

So while this season wasn't all pretty, there were definitely some moments to remember.