"I think we have a good team. I think we have talented guys and they're willing to lay it on the line."
And then it started. At the end, you could only watch in awe. In the bottom of the 13th inning, down by two runs with closer Trevor Hoffman on the mound for the Padres, the Rockies still managed to win their way into a wild-card playoff berth against the Phillies with a 9-8 victory.
The story will be told and re-told. To start the inning, Kaz Matsui banged a double to right-center off Hoffman and scored when rookie shortstop Troy Tulowitzki followed with a double of his own. Then Holliday, the Rockies' MVP candidate, clubbed a triple to rightfield that scored Tulowitzki. Then, after an intentional walk to Todd Helton, Jamey Carroll lofted a sacrifice fly to rightfield, with Holliday just beating the throw to the plate.
At the moment of the collision, there was a kind of suspended animation taking place. Plate umpire Tim McClelland made no initial call. Nearby, Holliday lay sprawled and not moving. Then it became clear that Padres catcher Michael Barrett did not hold on to the ball. That's when McClelland called Holliday safe. That's when Coors Field erupted.
"I don't know," said Holliday, whose chin now features a raw, bright red welt. "The umpire just called me safe. That's all I know, and then these guys were pounding on me. I don't even know.
"I was in a daze. I hit my chin pretty hard. I don't even know. But it feels all right. I'm better now."
And you can only shake your head and wonder.
What a rocket they are riding to Philadelphia.
They are not mirror images, the Phillies and the Colorado Rockies, but there is more than a passing resemblance. It is what Phils manager Charlie Manuel and Rockies manager Clint Hurdle talked about the last time they saw each other.
"You know what - I don't see things the way a lot of other people see them, I guess," Hurdle said.
