By Danny McCann

The leaves are turning, the weather is changing, and playoff baseball is here. More importantly, the Rockies are here, deep in the trenches of playoff baseball. The Rockies have swept the nation, the Phillies and the Diamondbacks all the way to the World Series. As if winning isn't a good enough reason to rally behind this team, here are some others. With all of the negative publicity in sports these days...through the roof payrolls..."me first" players...and "money first" owners it is nice to see a team who knows where the line is, and holds fast to it. The Colorado Rockies have the second lowest payroll in the National League West Division, sixth lowest in all of Baseball; they play like a team, and tout Christian values as a foundation for players and the front office.

The Rockies have spent the last three to four seasons growing a team the old fashioned way: bringing players up from the minors, not just purchasing champions. Eighteen out of the 25 active roster players are under the age of 30. This is unheard of for a playoff team, let alone a team competing to be the best in the world.  Particularly satisfying for fans, is the fact that, during their record-breaking end of the season winning streak, a different player has stepped up every night to be the "hero" of the team. 

Two of the other national spotlights, Troy Tulowitzki and Matt Holliday, have both come up through the organization. Tulowitzki is up for Rookie of the Year honors and has made watching the Rockies exciting all season long. Rarely has there been a shortstop with his fielding and batting ability at such a young age. He has played a key role in leading the Rockies to the post-season, as well as giving the team the best fielding percentage in major league history (.989).  Holliday is up for MVP honors and has been equally enjoyable to watch. His continual clutch hitting has come through again and again, most recently in game 4 of the National League Conference Series (NLCS). Matt hit a three-run home run to blow the game open against the Diamondbacks. That being said, Holiday has also been a spiritual leader of the team. He holds prayer meetings, along with a handful of other Rockies players, displaying his commitment to keeping Christian values in the forefront of his mind.

This values-driven mentality starts at the top. The CEO (Charles Monfort), the Vice Chairman (Richard Monfort), President (Keli McGregor), GM (Dan O'Dowd), and the manager (Clint Hurdle) all spoke in the USA Today article about how important their Christian beliefs are to them. The article states "it's not unusual for the front office executives to pray together." Clint Hurdle was quoted as saying "We're not going to hide it. We're not going to deny it. This is who we are." Dan O'Dowd was quoted as saying "You look at things that have happened to us this year. You look at some of the moves we made and didn't make. You look at some of the games we're winning. Those aren't just a coincidence. God has definitely had a hand in this." It is inspirational to hear players, managers, and owners that understand that there is much more to baseball and sports than publicity and paychecks.

Hopefully character-driven teams are a trend that will begin to invade our society, as franchises begin to understand the publicity value of feel-good stories about teams playing like teams, athletes who CAN be role models, and teams that BUILD champions instead of BUYING them.