Jim Tracy didn't even need a whole season to earn the NL Manager of the Year Award, or to earn a three-year extension.
Tracy, who took over for fired Clint Hurdle in late May, became the second manager to win this award after taking over a team in the middle of the season. The other was Jack McKeon, who took over the Florida Marlins early in 2003 and led them to a World Series title.
Shortly after Wednesday's announcement of the Manager of the Year award, the Rockies announced that Tracy had signed an extension through 2012, which had been expected for a few weeks.
Tracy was picked first on 29 of the 32 ballots submitted, from two writers in each NL city. On a 5-3-1 voting system, Tracy earned a total of 151 points, easily outpolling Cardinals' manager Tony La Russa, who got two first-place votes and 55 points. Dodgers manager Joe Torre finished third, collecting the remaining first-place vote and 33 points. In all, eight managers were named on ballots, and none of them were listed on all 32.
The Rockies and manager Jim Tracy are nearing a three-year extension, the Denver Post is reporting, though an official announcement on an extension will likely wait until after the World Series. Tracy took over for Clint Hurdle after Hurdle was fired on May 27 and led the Rockies to a 74-42 record and the wild-card berth in the National League playoffs.
When Tracy took over, the Rockies were 18-28 and 14 games behind the Dodgers in the NL West. Under Tracy, they challenged L.A. for the division title. That sprint to the playoffs makes this extension more or less a foregone conclusion. What team in their right mind wouldn't extend the interim manager that had his team playing at a 103-win pace over a large chunk of the season?
Let's start by looking at two stat lines. Some of you have probably already guessed where I'm going with this, but bear with me.
Player A: .319/.395/.691, 1 HR/11.56 plate appearances Player B: .207/.298/.356, 1 HR/37 plate appearances
If you haven't already figured it out, both of those players are Ryan Howard. "Player A" is Howard against righties in 2009 and "Player B" is Howard against lefties in 2009. To simplify, Ryan Howard is Albert Pujols against righties and David Eckstein against lefties. So why does no one question Jim Tracy's decision to leave right-hander Huston Street in the game to face Howard with the Rockies' season on the line?
SAN FRANCISCO -- Hours before the Giants and Rockies met on a baseball field for the final time this regular season, Rockies manager Jim Tracy was comparing the matchup to a bout with a couple fighters slugging away at each other.
Lots of blood, but no knockout.
The game on Wednesday night fit right in with the pattern, although the Giants are now perilously close to being down for the count. The Rockies' 4-3 victory, a game that ended only after the Giants had scored three times in the ninth and put the tying run on third, gave the Rockies a 3 1/2-game lead in the National League wild-card race.
From the Windup is Matt Snyder's extended look at some aspect of America's pastime each Thursday -- it's running Friday this week.
Earlier this week, Brad Lidge's nightmare 2009 season continued, when he allowed a walk-off homer to Andrew McCutchen. Ed Price covered the outing the following morning. The abysmal performance by the Phillies' closer underlines the only weakness of the defending World Series Champions.
Aaron Cook left Friday night's game early with soreness in his shoulder. He had given up four earned runs and walked two in just three innings before being pulled. The extent of the injury is unknown at this time.
He'll be re-evaluated Saturday but at the minimum will miss his next start, manager Jim Tracy said.
He [Cook] said the team doctor was cautiously optimistic he wasn't seriously injured but that he wouldn't know for sure until the swelling subsides.
"Hopefully it's just one of those things that came on real quick and we can get rid of it real quick," said Cook.
Even though Cook had won ten games this season, his 4.47 ERA has kept his fantasy baseball ownership at low level. But, 42% of fantasy GM's did have Cook on their roster. Let's talk about what to do now.
Starting Five is our wrapup of the previous day's baseball action, with a quick nod to what is ahead.
You Oughta Know ... Jamie Moyer can still win games.
Moyer bristled when the Phillies demoted him to the bullpen in favor of Pedro Martinez, and when a rain delay Tuesday forced Martinez from his start against the Diamondbacks, Moyer took over when play resumed in the fourth inning for his first outing since the decision.
He went the rest of the way, allowing two hits and striking out five in six scoreless innings and earning his first relief win since May 15, 1996, for the Red Sox. (That day he worked two innings in relief of Tom Gordon.)
Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in Baseball Brunch.
Now that the hands are dealt -- expect for one or two more this month -- we can examine the pennant races to come.
There wasn't much point in assessing the races until after Friday's non-waiver trade deadline, when we know what we're dealing with. Some important pieces will change hands after they clear waivers this month, but they probably won't be difference-makers.
Before we get to the predictions, though, let's talk about one trade that didn't happen.
NEW YORK -- When Jim Tracy took over as Rockies manager on May 29, he told Troy Tulowitzki two things:
• Stand up straight
• I'm standing by you.
An adjustment to his batting stance, and the knowledge he is going to play every day, have enabled Tulowitzki to take off. His 14 homers since June 8 are more than anyone but Derrek Lee and Albert Pujols.
"I think the biggest thing is just confidence," Tulowitzki, 24, told FanHouse. "I think when you're going good you've got confidence and believe in yourself."
The real story here, of course, is that the win statistic suddenly seems a little trivial. Baseball experts across the board have always agreed that wins are the definitive pitching statistic. ERA? WHIP? Maybe those nerds at the acronym factory are on to something, because a zero-pitch win just doesn't seem right. Then again, Embree was up against the Nationals, and everyone wins against the Nationals.
Jim Tracy didn't even need a whole season to earn the NL Manager of the Year Award, or to earn a three-year extension.
The 
Let's start by looking at two stat lines. Some of you have probably already guessed where I'm going with this, but bear with me. 
SAN FRANCISCO -- Hours before the 
Starting Five
Every Sunday, MLB FanHouse empties out its notebook in 
NEW YORK -- When 
On Tuesday night's game between the 
