Rockies Journal: White Sox series is a history lesson for reeling Colorado

Rox vs Sox Sox vs Rox A rock em sock em showdown with infamous implications The Rockies entered the Fourth of July weekend series against the White Sox at Coors Field with a - record on pace to lose games Last season the White Sox lost games setting baseball s modern-era record for ineptitude surpassing the Mets led by Marvelous Marv Throneberry and Choo Choo Coleman who lost games The Sox were - after games four games better than the current Rockies but the Sox s worst was yet to come Beginning with the second challenge of a doubleheader against the Twins on July through an Aug loss to the Athletics Chicago lost consecutive games tying the longest losing streak in American League history I requested several Rockies if they were aware of the historical implications of this weekend s matchup They didn t bite Their general theme was We let you guys in the media worry about that stuff We re just trying to win baseball games We ve got other things to think about OK then I ll think about it When all is explained and done and the Rockies play their final contest on Sept at San Francisco I think the White Sox s infamous record will be safe The Rockies are not going to lose games Maybe but not Shortstop Ezequiel Tovar will be back soon second baseman Thairo Estrada is playing well catcher Hunter Goodman is an All-Star and left fielder Jordan Beck is coming into his own Surging right fielder Tyler Freeman might be a real find Plus interim manager Warren Schaeffer has the unit playing hard and has the players attention and respect The atmosphere in the Rockies clubhouse is not toxic unlike Chicago s which reportedly was poisonous for much of last season So the Rockies aren t going to lose games unless they deal third baseman Ryan McMahon starters German Marquez and Austin Gomber and possibly others leaving the club to play in August and September with kids and journeymen Then is back on the table Related Articles Kyle Freeland brushes off bad luck gives Rockies six solid innings Rockies hang on beat Astros behind Thairo Estrada s big day Jose Altuve passes Jeff Bagwell on Houston s all-time hit list as Astros beat Rockies Astros slam Rockies Chase Dollander hang on for - win Rockies hoping Yanquiel Fernandez s power prospective plays out Not that the Rockies should avoid making roster moves to save face Three consecutive -loss seasons demand change Does owner Dick Monfort truly see that Will he act Will he empower his son Walker who was lately promoted to executive vice president to make key changes to the front office One thing is sure The Rockies can learn lessons from the debacle in Chicago For example Dick Monfort requirements to take a hard look at his tendency to promote from within the organization Longtime White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf fell into the same trap and his crew is still trying to crawl out of the abyss The Sox entered the weekend with a - record worst in the American League and games behind Detroit in the AL Central In August Reinsdorf promoted assistant general manager Chris Getz to GM and senior vice president Getz replaced GM Rick Hahn whom Reinsdorf fired Needless to say the in-house move did not go over well in the Windy City Reinsdorf s search for a new general manager began and ended at Sox Park wrote longtime Chicago Tribune baseball writer and columnist Paul Sullivan He ignored the advice of longtime front office personnel to go outside the organization and find an up-and-coming analytically bent executive who could bring the Sox into the modern age Instead he turned to assistant GM Chris Getz nine days into his search saying he didn t want to waste a year with someone new having to learn the organization Sound familiar Rockies fans This weekend s star-spangled series is not a litmus test for Colorado though getting swept at home by the lowly Sox would be an embarrassing low point in an already low season We know that the Rockies are a bad association in need of a new identity and new direction The question is Will the Rox learn from the Sox and do something about it Want more Rockies news Sign up for the Rockies Insider to get all our MLB analysis