"The crossroads was, 'Could I make them play better?' If in fact I didn't, would that opportunity ever come along again? Because I definitely wanted to do this again," he explained.
He asked for 60 minutes to think about it. O'Dowd agreed and returned to his office at Coors Field. "But you can't have 61 because I've got to have somebody down in the dugout to manage tonight," he added before he left.
Tracy was sitting in the visitors' dugout at Dodger Stadium when he told that story last weekend so, obviously, he decided to take the leap. The fact that the Rockies will be the Phillies opponent in the National League Division Series beginning Wednesday at Citizens Bank Park suggests he made the right call.
It's always difficult to determine exactly the impact of changing managers in midseason. Even O'Dowd, even now, can't be sure.
"I don't think you can ever explain the dynamics of a managerial change," he mused. "Historically, it's one or two games in the standings or the won-lost record. I thought we were better than what we were. I never imagined when we made the change that we'd end up sitting where we are today. But baseball is like life. It's very unpredictable."
This much is certain: After the switch, Colorado took two out of three against the Padres, lost three straight at Houston then reeled off 11 straight wins. Following the All-Star break, the Rockies had the best record in the National League.
It's clear that something changed, though.
Before that first game against the Padres, Tracy called the obligatory meeting.
Point No. 1: Don't be passive.
