Vindication

I watched the All-Star game last night, not so much because I wanted to see the All-Stars (most coming from teams with huge fanbases, but because Clint Hurdle was the manager. Clint earned the honor by managing the Colorado Rockies to their first World Series last year.

So why is it "vindication"? The American League beat the National League in 15 innings by a score of 4 to 3. The American League has won 12 straight. Where's the vindication?

Last fall the Rockies finished the year with the best fielding percentage EVER! Not one of their players earned a Gold Glove. Shortstop Troy Tulowitzki led all rookies in 9 offensive categories and finished 2nd or 3rd in 8 others. Yet he loses the Rookie of the Year award to Ryan Braun of Milwaukee, who had a great first half of the season, but faded, along with the Brewers, in the 2nd half. Todd Helton ends the season with a .999 fielding percentage and doesn't win the Gold Glove? Clint Hurdle leads the Rockies to the World Series when his team is picked to finish 4th or 5th in their division? Okay, enough griping.

I watched the All-Star Game to see how Hurdle manages, Matt Holliday plays and Aaron Cook pitches. I was not disappointed. AL manager Terry Francona ran out of position players in the 10th, while Hurdle saved a starting pitcher. That proved crucial when the game went into extra innings. Matt Holliday hit a home run in the fifth inning for the first score of the game and Aaron Cook should have won the MVP for the brilliant pitching in a 10th inning that saw 2 errors in a row by NL 2nd baseman Dan Uggla. Bases loaded, nobody out and Cook gets three ground balls to escape the inning. Same brilliance in the 11th.

The Rockies' players performed well on the national stage, and though they didn't win or get any awards, today I feel vindicated!