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Just to get this out of the way: Obviously, we know that the Rockies already have a mascot.
That mascot, of course, is Dinger. Dinger is a dinosaur. Dinger is decidedly not a tiny rabbit, for reasons that probably seemed obvious at the time. But on Friday night, the Rockies were visited by their very own Rally Rabbit, and Dinger has something to strive for, because this rabbit obviously gets results after inspiring an unlikely 8-6 Colorado triumph.
At the time camera operators spotted the rabbit that had wandered onto the warning track at Coors Field, the Rockies were trailing the Giants, 4-1, in the bottom of the eighth. On the away broadcast, Dave Flemming and Hunter Pence narrated its escape through a gap in the outfield wall after Rockies outfielder Troy Johnston reached via leadoff single.
That may seem like an excessive amount of detail, but the timing is important, because it was just two batters later that Ezequiel Tovar, who came into the game with a .305 slugging percentage, hit a two-run home run to bring the Rockies within a run. Just to drive home how unlikely this outcome was (even in Denver), the Giants’ pitcher who yielded the home run, Keaton Winn, came into the appearance with a 1.85 ERA and zero homers allowed in 24 appearances.
Almost unbelievably, the Giants, the lowest-scoring team in baseball, then answered with two runs in the top of the ninth, erasing that critical progress. But, again, we’re now living in a post-Rally Rabbit world, so the odds no longer mattered. Up, 6-3, the Giants brought in Caleb Kilian — 2.22 ERA, 0.99 WHIP, opponents hitting .146, you get the idea — and the Rockies lit him up, staging a five-run rally capped off by Tovar’s second two-run home run in as many innings (this one of the walk-off variety).
Those results speak for themselves, so in lieu of further comment, we instead have a recommendation for the Rockies organization: get that rabbit’s resume on file.
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