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Tulowitzki's Veteran Pressence
by Jorge Ortiz, USA Today
October 22, 2007
DENVER — The Colorado Rockies veterans waste no opportunity to
remind shortstop Troy Tulowitzki that for all his vaunted leadership skills,
he's still a rookie.
They bought him a T-shirt in a hideous color — "awful green,"
he says — with the word "Boston" on the front, when the
team played the Red Sox at Fenway Park in mid-June. It has become his
regular workout shirt.
They keep a running tally of his career hits, going back to T-ball, a
gag that began when the Rockies visited the Houston Astros in late June
and Craig Biggio was approaching his 3,000th hit. Pitcher Josh Fogg is
in charge of updating the numbers, which hang from a string in Tulowitzki's
locker.
The veterans also alerted Tulowitzki every time Milwaukee Brewers third
baseman Ryan Braun, his chief rival for rookie of the year honors, hit
a home run, and they placed bottles of Driven in his locker upon learning
he idolizes New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, who endorses the cologne.
"We like to kind of put him in his place and try to knock him down
a little bit and try to keep him humble," says Colorado third baseman
Garrett Atkins, one of the conspirators. "He takes it as good as
anybody."
But he won't take losing lightly, and that attitude has helped transform
the formerly sad sack Rockies into one of the hottest late-season teams
baseball has seen. Colorado has won 10 in a row — including sweeps
of the first two playoff series — and 21 of 22 games entering its
first World Series, which starts Wednesday.
Only three other teams since 1900 have enjoyed such a successful spell
after Sept. 1: the 1916 New York Giants (26-0, with a tie), the 1935 Chicago
Cubs (23-1) and the 1977 Kansas City Royals (23-1).
Tulowitzki has been front and center during the Rockies' run.
"He brought his own edge and he helped develop some edges on some
other people," manager Clint Hurdle says. "There were already
some pretty good players in here. It just seems he might have been a catalyst
to kick things into gear."
Tulowitzki, 23, will speak up when he feels someone's not playing the
game right. He'll visit the mound to settle down a pitcher. He'll take
over pop-ups in the infield.
When the Rockies fell to 18-27 on May 21, Tulowitzki publicly expressed
his disgust with how the team was playing, a daring move by a rookie who
was hitting .258.
"From Day 1 when I came into this club, even though being a young
guy, I made it a big thing that winning was important," he says.
"I don't know if they've had this in this organization before, but
there was a point in the season when we dropped some games, and I definitely
said some stuff."
The Rockies, who finished under .500 each of the previous six seasons,
had the second-best record in the majors after the All-Star break. Their
overall 90-73 was easily the best in their 15-year history.
Left fielder Matt Holliday's MVP-worthy season, Jeff Francis' development
as an ace and the emergence of a shut-down bullpen played significant
roles in the turnaround. So did Tulowitzki's take-charge demeanor.
" 'Tulo' is a natural-born leader," says reliever LaTroy Hawkins,
in his 13th season in the majors. "You could be in a room with 50
other athletes, and when he walks in the room, you realize he's somebody.
He's got that confidence about himself, the way he walks, head up high,
chest poked out."
Defense always is there
Tulowitzki hit .291 with 99 RBI while setting a National League
record for rookie shortstops with 24 home runs. His bat has been quiet
in the postseason — "I was terrible," he said after hitting
.188 in the NL Championship Series, following a .167 performance in the
Division Series — but he has sparkled with the glove.
In the 4-1 victory in Game 3 of the NLCS, Tulowitzki squelched an Arizona
Diamondbacks threat by taking a wide throw from second baseman Kazuo Matsui
while sliding his foot across the bag, doing a 360-degree spin and firing
to first to complete a double play.
In the clincher, Arizona had a runner on second base with two outs in
the ninth and speedy Eric Byrnes at the plate representing the tying run.
Byrnes hit a grounder into the hole, and third baseman Jamey Carroll,
a late-inning defensive replacement, pulled up and let Tulowitzki handle
it. The rookie gunned down Byrnes, setting off a raucous celebration.
"When a big play needs to be made, he's the one you look to make
it," says Fogg, noting Tulowitzki consults with pitchers on strategy
so he can position himself. "He's got a good idea where a ball is
going to be hit. I think that's what makes him such a good shortstop."
Tulowitzki was such a factor in helping the Rockies set a major league
record with their .98925 fielding percentage, there has been talk of him
becoming the first rookie shortstop to win a Gold Glove. He led all qualifying
shortstops in fielding percentage (.987), total chances (834), assists
(561), putouts (262) and double plays (114).
"He has a strong offensive game, but defensively, he's unbelievable,"
says Hall of Fame shortstop Cal Ripken Jr., a TBS commentator during the
playoffs. "He really thinks about the position, all aspects of the
game. I love that about him."
The 6-3, 205-pound Tulowitzki is often compared to Ripken (6-4, 225 in
his playing days) because of their size and unusual combination of power
and agility at a position usually manned by smaller players.
There's yet another parallel, one that contributed to their mobility;
both excelled at basketball. Ripken, who has a regulation-length court
at home, could hold his own with college players. Tulowitzki averaged
22.6 points as a senior at Fremont High in Sunnyvale, Calif., a suburb
of San Jose.
Michael Smith, then the school's infield coach and now its head baseball
coach, recalls Tulowitzki as a confident, competitive player in any sport
he undertook.
"He was a shooting guard, although you could take away the word 'guard.'
He wasn't shy about shooting," Smith says, chuckling. "He was
the kind of player who always wanted to take the last shot in a close
game. He was willing to take the blame if it didn't go in."
Tulowitzki's father, Ken, a field-service driver for an electronics company,
coached him for 10 years until just before high school. He
emphasized enjoying the game but also playing it right and winning.
That's one of the reasons Tulowitzki admires Jeter, who owns four World
Series rings.
"He's always been competitive in everything," the elder Tulowitzki
says. "You give him a board game, he wants to win. Play cards, he
wants to win. You play video games, he wants to win. If he doesn't win,
he's not happy. He wants to play again."
Temper has been an issue
Tulowitzki says he never has played for a losing team. That competitiveness,
though, sometimes gets the best of him.
He was a two-time All-American at Long Beach State, and the Rockies picked
him seventh overall in the 2005 draft. While polishing his physical skills
at the school, he also had to learn to control his temper.
Coach Mike Weathers once benched him to make that point. Tulowitzki finally
addressed his fits of temper with the school's sports psychologist, Ken
Ravizza.
"That still becomes an issue sometimes," Tulowitzki says. "Every
time I make an out, I'm mad. I need to realize there's some good players
in this league, and I'm going to get out a lot more times. It's something
I'll probably always deal with."
Yet Tulowitzki has displayed uncommon maturity in separating offense and
defense, not letting struggles at the plate affect his fielding. When
he hit .185 through the first three weeks of the season, his defense remained
steady — on April 29 he completed the 13th unassisted triple play
in major league history — and that has remained true in the postseason.
Rockies special assistant Walt Weiss, the starting shortstop on the Oakland
A's teams that made it to three consecutive World Series from 1988-90,
says Tulowitzki helped changed the culture in the Rockies clubhouse.
"I don't think it took very long. It happened early. He's just got
that thing," Weiss says. "When he comes to the park, all he's
thinking about is beating you. He doesn't care about all the other stuff
that comes with it. He's showing up to beat you, that's it."
WISH FINALLY ANSWERED
DENVER - Troy Tulowitzki was one of the most effusive Rockies celebrating
the franchise's first National League pennant after Colorado completed
a sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NL Championship Series last
week.
As a rookie, he had not endured a decade of frustration like first baseman
Todd Helton. Nor had Tulowitzki spent an up-and-down career bouncing from
team to team, as 37-year-old reliever Matt Herges did.
But by reaching the World Series, Tulowitzki finally attained a major
goal after a series of near-misses.
As a sophomore at Long Beach State, Tulowitzki's 49ers (also known as
the Dirtbags) came within a victory of advancing to the College World
Series in 2004, losing in the super regionals to Arizona.
In his senior year at Fremont High in Sunnyvale, Calif., Tulowitzki's
basketball team made it to the state playoffs before it was eliminated
in the semifinals.
In 1997, when Tulowitzki was 12, his Sunnyvale National Little League
team reached the West Region championship game, with the winner advancing
to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa.
Sunnyvale lost 2-1 to the South Mission Viejo (Calif.) team led by Ashton
White (the son of former Heisman Trophy winner Charles White), who struck
out 11.
"It's all worth it now and you can erase all that, because now he's
in the ultimate" competition, says Tulowitzki's father, Ken, a coach
on the Little League team. "As Todd Helton says, 'I don't think he
knows any better. He thinks he should be here for the next 15 years.'
"
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