Coors Field an enjoyable baseball experience

Denver — We thought the guy outside Coors Field was playing some sort of joke on us on Monday night. Surely, he was kidding when he offered my brother, my college roommate and me free tickets to the Colorado Rockies-Arizona Diamondbacks game.

Initially, we paused and then told the guy we were going to buy the cheap $5 tickets and be on our way. Before we could turn away, however, the guy stressed that he was holding club-level seats. He wasn't trying to make an extra buck. He was simply nice enough to give three tickets away to random baseball fans two minutes before game time. His one condition: We buy him a beer.


The baseball gods were smiling down on us.




Seats were incredible. Our complimentary tickets took us inside some glass doors and into the club level. Barely had to wait in a line for the concession stand or bathroom. It was a pretty chilly night — I'd estimate it was in the mid 40s by the third or fourth inning — but we watched some of the action comfortably from the warm club level.



I walked away from the game (Arizona won, 5-3) in an extremely jolly and thankful mood. The guy who hooked us up with the tickets — Art was his name — was an honest man who enhanced the baseball experiences of three close friends.

I can't say I blame us for initially being skeptical. There's a plethora of ways to screw people over at ballgames in the modern age. Fake tickets. Scalping. Who knows. This guy was a stranger who approached us out of the blue. Surely, we thought, he had ulterior motives. But he didn't, and for that, I thank the guy.



It was clear when the three of us entered the club level wide eyed and giddy, he was glad he gave us the tickets. Several times, he told us he was glad we were having a good time.

Coors Field is a solid, modern-aged stadium with a relaxed and happy-go-lucky atmosphere. The seats were comfortable; the field was beautiful; the scoreboard was nice.





Game-wise, I had a few observations:

• Dan Haren is a free-throwing pitcher who isn't afraid to attack the strike zone. He gave up a first-inning home run to Carlos Gonzalez, but that didn't stop his aggressiveness. Haren went eight strong innings, struck out 10 and only walked two on a pitch count of 115. I think he hit 92-93 MPH on the gun, but I may have missed a few fastball readings.

• Troy Tulowitzki is a fun player to watch. I attended the game in a Tulo shirt-jersey I bought earlier in the day from the Rockies store at the 16th St. Mall (one of my favorite blocks in the country). I had to support my fantasy baseball shortstop. He only went 1-for-4 at the plate and struck out twice, but I liked following him on the field.



• Arizona closer Chad Qualls continues to be shaky. The guy hit a max of 92 MPH and doesn't appear to have overpowering stuff. Colorado had the winning run at the plate in the bottom of the ninth after Haren dominated the entire game.

• Justin Upton has all the tools. The Arizona right fielder is legit. I've read about him and noticed he's been rated in the Top 20 in fantasy drafts this year. Seeing him in person was awesome. He only went 1-for-3 with an RBI single and a walk, but I was really impressed when he stole second base. There isn't much that guy can't do on the field.



All in all a great night. It was made even better when you consider where my brother lives. We timed how long it took from when we left our seats in Coors Field to when we stepped inside his Lodo apartment.

Final reading: 4:59.4.



It took us under five minutes to walk back. Forget traffic! My brother lives in a sweet part of town.

And don't worry, we took care of our new buddy Art with some refreshments. It was the least we could do after such an unselfish act of kindness.

Starting pitchers early report card

Denver — Texas Rangers starting pitchers have produced quality starts in exactly half of their games this season.

The Rangers have nine quality starts in 18 outings. Texas is 8-10 and last in the AL West, but only three games back of division-leading Oakland.

Texas needs more quality starts to contend for the west crown. If it doesn't start happening with a few starters, the Rangers have Derek Holland and Brandon McCarthy pitching well in Triple-A Oklahoma City. General manager Jon Daniels has already shown with the promotion of Justin Smoak that he's not afraid to call up some talent from OKC.

Here's my early report card on the Rangers' starters after nearly a month of baseball:

Scott Feldman: C+

The 6-foot-7 Feldman was easily our best pitcher last year, racking up 17 wins, a 4.07 earned-run average, and 113 strikeouts (versus 65 walks) in 189.2 innings.

In 2010, it's been a bit of a roller coaster. Feldman, who has two quality starts in his four outings, began the season with consecutive seven-inning performances. I thought he looked good, with seven strikeouts against only one walk, after the first two outings.

His last two starts were dreadful, however. Feldman went 2.1 innings in his third start and 3.2 innings in his last start, giving up eight earned runs in that span.

I realize Feldman will never be an overpowering ace that strikes guys out, but he has to get his precision back. I've seen Scott in the zone numerous times, and when he's dialed in, he's locating his array of pitches, throwing to contact and keeping his pitch count way down. When Feldman is at his best, he doesn't have to be overpowering because he's extremely efficient.

Rich Harden: D

Harden is the opposite of Feldman. He's been an overpowering pitcher in the past, but only in glimpses. He's never sustained it for a full season.

This season, Harden has tossed a quality start once in his four outings. For what we're expecting of him and paying him ($6.5 million this year), he's been a disappointment so far.

I never know what to expect when Harden takes the hill. He's shown that he can still strike guys out (20 K's in 17.2 innings), but he's also shown that his control is nowhere near where it needs to be (18 walks).

What's interesting to me is Harden's best start to date, in which he lasted six innings at Cleveland on April 12, he only struck out two. What this tells me is he needs to pitch more to contact and trust the Rangers solid defense. This would help bring the pitch count down and maybe he could stay in the game past the fourth inning.

C.J. Wilson: A

Wilson has been the most reliable Rangers pitcher in the first month. The lefty's tossed quality starts in all three of his outings, and is 1-1 with a 1.37 ERA, 16 strikeouts and seven walks. He should be 2-1. Texas blew a 1-0 lead early in the season when Frank Francisco allowed three runs to the Blue Jays in the final inning.

If Wilson pitches like this for the remainder of the season, I'd be more than satisfied.

Colby Lewis: B

Lewis only has one quality start in his four outings, but he's been surprisingly effective. Lewis has struck out considerably more batters than originally anticipated (28 in 23.2 innings), but his walk total (12) is too high. That's why he doesn't have more quality starts.

Lewis has, however, been durable. Maybe those two years in Japan, where he displayed a natural ability to strike out hitters, has truly paid off. I loved how he recovered in Sunday's game against Detroit with 16 consecutive outs after allowing four runs in the first two innings.

Lewis has room for improvement with better control, but his unexpected power surge (two separate starts with 10 K's) has been a welcome sign in the first month.

Matt Harrison: B-

Had it not been for one bad start against Boston, Harrison's grade could have been approaching a high B or maybe even a low A.

I'm not expecting sterling numbers from the lefty. He's our fifth starter. His 4.24 ERA is decent, his 10 strikeouts to five walks is decent, and his two quality starts in three outings is decent. I have no major complaints on Harrison. He's been a solid No. 5 guy so far.

Too early?

I think, for now, it's a bit premature to replace Harden with Holland in the rotation. Each of the starters deserves a few more starts. No one's done anything catastrophic to lose their spots.

It's comforting, however, to know that Holland, McCarthy and Tommy Hunter are in Triple-A, should we need them. One of them (the guess here is Holland) will undoubtedly see the majors this season for reasons of injury or ineffectiveness.

There's a luxury in pitching depth the Rangers haven't been able to enjoy in the last decade or longer.

Concert in waiting: HIM and Dommin in Denver

Kansas City, Mo. — I'm getting ready to leave Kansas City for Denver to visit my brother Dave for the next few days.

The best part of the Kansas City airport is the wireless internet that is made available. Always makes it easy to hook up to the Internet and waste some time before the flight.

I'm heavily anticipating seeing HIM in concert on Tuesday, April 27 in Denver. Dave's seen them once before, and I'm really curious to see what they sound like live in concert. There are a few bands I listen to that do a great job of keeping their image in tact throughout the years. Avenged Sevenfold and AFI instantly come to mind. That's kind of what I like about HIM. They are really solid with keeping true to their love metal image.

The song I'm most eagerly anticipating is probably 'Funeral of Hearts' off the Love Metal CD. My favorite HIM album is 'Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights,' but I'm not expecting them to play any song from the album. Certainly wouldn't mind if they did, though.

The new album, 'Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice' is really growing on me. 'Scared to Death' is quickly becoming one of my favorite HIM songs ever. Really hope we get that live.

Dommin, who is set to open for HIM, should be a blast to watch as well. They have a really similar sound to HIM, so it should be a great night of music.

Time to board the flight!

Promoting Smoak makes sense

After Thursday's 3-0 victory over Boston, the Rangers announced the promotion of Justin Smoak from Triple-A Oklahoma City. As a result, first baseman Chris Davis will be sent down to the minors.

I like it.

Look, what's the worst that can happen? At age 24, it's not too early to bring Smoak to Arlington. Plus, Davis was hitting .188 with no home runs, one RBI and 17 strikeouts. It's not like we were getting any offensive production from that spot.

I realize Davis is well above average defensively, but Smoak is supposed to be gifted in that area as well.

What this offense needs is some spark. Some pop. Anything. Maybe bringing Smoak up will inject some life into the offense. Maybe Julio Borbon will wake up a bit in the 9 spot. Perhaps Ian Kinsler's return will bolster the lineup a bit. Getting Jarrod Saltalamacchia back will be a big upgrade offensively over Taylor Teagarden, who can't hit anything right now. Matt Treanor deserves to stay on as a backup catcher.

When everyone returns, the lineup could look like this:

1. Andrus
2. Young
3. Hamilton
4. Guerrero
5. Cruz
6. Kinsler
7. Smoak
8. Saltalamacchia
9. Borbon

Not nearly as many holes as in previous weeks. At least that's the hope.

I also like the idea that Smoak is a switch hitter. I felt like every time Davis stepped to the plate against a lefty, it was an automatic out. I felt like every time Teagarden steps to the plate, it's an automatic out. In fact, he's now 0-for-22 on the season, so that's literally true.

Thursday night's victory in Boston salvaged a miserable road trip. The Red Sox don't appear to be a solid team this year, and we quite honestly could have swept them.

6-9 isn't the end of the world. C.J. Wilson looked terrific. The bullpen pitched better. We must continue getting quality starts. The last thing I want right now is a worn out bullpen from a group that isn't spectacular to begin with.

We begin a four-game series Friday against Detroit, and avoid Justin Verlander during that stretch.

Let's make something happen.

Not the start I anticipated

So here we are, more than two weeks into the season, and the Texas Rangers are 5-9.

Not the start I anticipated, to say the very least.

I thought this was the year we were supposed to break through and challenge for an AL West crown. High expectations were put on this team, sure, but not on a national level.

Is it too early to press the panic button? I don't want to simply give up, but I'm concerned for a variety of reasons.

• First, the offense isn't producing like it should.

The guys are taking walks, but the situational hitting with runners on base/in scoring position hasn't been good.

Aside from Nelson Cruz, the Rangers have lacked a power hitter. I know this is a new era in Rangers baseball — speed, defense and pitching are emphasized over power — and I'm onboard with it. We're not going to win many games, though, without feared hitters at the plate. Perhaps Ian Kinsler's return in a week or so will help.

• The bullpen has blown leads (and games).

Frank Francisco has blown two saves and has an earned-run average of 12.60. The rest of the bullpen has been OK. Neftali Feliz can't pitch every night.

• What's going on with Rich Harden's control?

I cringe every time this guy takes the mound. The 15 strikeouts and 14 walks haven't exactly helped. Two of three starts, Harden hasn't escaped the fourth inning. The pitch counts are way too high.

Baseball seems to be a game of streaks, and I'm hopeful the Rangers have a winning streak coming.

Sure is a painful way to start the season, though.