"'Cause the Rocky Mountain way is better than the way we had ...", Joe Walsh, Rocky Mountain Way

Here in New York all the baseball talk is obviously about the Yankees and their truly awesome offense that was on vivid display this past weekend against the second place Red Sox. The Yankees will most likely cruise the rest of the season and enter the playoffs as prohibitive favorites to make the World Series with only the Angels likely posing a serious obstacle.

Perhaps the most satisfying aspect to the Yankees' domination has been the stellar play of Derek Jeter, who in his 14th full season seems ageless in his consistency and just all-around Yankeeness. As the baseball universe seeks to recover from the permanent and odious stain of the Steroid Era, players like Jeter provide a link to more glorious and gracious times.

But I digress. Sometimes we in Gotham - fans and especially the media - need to step back from the myopia that is ever-present in our country's most (self) important city and take a glance at the rest of the league. And without question, the most compelling storylines continue to issue forth from the National League West.

Several weeks back I wrote about San Francisco Giants pitcher Tim Lincecum and the obvious delectation he gets from participating in our nation's pastime. Indeed, he has been a desperately needed antidote for the Giants as the organization seeks to further distance itself from the Balco controversy. And speaking of links to the past, it's healthier for the sport when a team as old and storied as the Giants (they have more players in the Hall of Fame than any other team) perform well.

But now the attention in the NL West has shifted away from the Pacific, eastward to the mountains and the Colorado Rockies. The Rockies' sudden emergence as a threat to the Dodgers (the Rockies lead the Wild Card race and are currently just three games out of the division lead) after a terrible start to the 2009 campaign comes as a surprise to most observers.

It should not have.

Short memories are becoming an increasing problem in sports and this has been most decidedly true when discussing the Rockies. In 2007, the team put on one of the great late season runs in the sport's history when they won an unreal 14 out of 15 games to end the season, including the one game playoff against the San Diego Padres. The Rockies then went on to sweep seven straight playoff games before succumbing to the Red Sox in the World Series, four games to none.

Though they had a brutal sophomore slump in 2008 and ended up a disappointing third place, the Rockies retained the key players from that 2007 squad and added much needed pitching before the start of the 2009 season. And most important was the controversial trade that sent powerful hitting Matt Holliday to the Oakland A's for reliever Huston Street. Street had struggled mightily with blown saves with the A's and the organization pretty much gave up on him even though he's still so young.

Still, the Rockies once again got off to a sluggish start this year, finishing May with a terrible 20-29 mark. But even in May there were signs that this team was bound to perform at a higher level.

Most notably, thanks mainly to the closer Street, the Rockies were beginning to win the close, one-run games. And then in June, everything started to click for the team and the squad went on a tear, winning 17 out of 18 in one stretch with Street saving eight of those games. Through last night, Street has saved 33 of 34 chances this year. And to think he was being cast off just months ago.

Though he only turned 26 this month, it seems that Street has been around for a decade or more and in some ways he has - he's pitched in over 300 games at such a tender age. He showed brilliance with the A's after a spectacular college career followed by a remarkably brief foray into the minor leagues, Street also blew a high percentage of saves. This is the reason he was one of several players dealt to the Rockies for Holliday - the frugal A's obviously didn't think he had any future left in the Bay Area.

In addition to Street, the rest of the Rockies pitching - almost always the team's weakness throughout their 17 year history - has become a force. Though the Dodgers and Giants are first and second, respectively, in team ERA the Rockies have their own accomplishments to brag about. Consider - the team is second only to St. Louis in walks allowed and most importantly, the team has the highest percentage of saves per opportunities - obviously thanks to Street. Additionally, Jason Marquis leads the league in victories and young Ubaldo Jimenez has won five consecutive games, including yesterday's match-up against the best pitcher in the game, Tim Lincecum.

As the tired saying goes, these are not your father's - or older brother's - Rockies. You know, the team that used to put up a dozen runs routinely but would allow a baker's dozen to the opposition.

Which is not to say the offense isn't there. Todd Helton - Denver's Jeter as I like to call him - is having another .300 season and anchors a steady - if unspectacular - lineup which includes clutch hitting Brad Hawpe, Troy Tulowitzki, Ryan Spilbourghs among others.

What is truly astounding in this peripatetic time in sports is that the entire starting lineup in Sunday's game against the Giants have never played for another major league team. How can one not root for them?

And for Huston, Marquis and the others who are recent newcomers to Colorado, the Rocky Mountain way is indeed better than the way they had.