The Research Department and my other friend from high school for whom I don't have an official Bad Altitude nickname -- let's just call him Ken, because that's his name -- were in Milwaukee tonight for Carlos Zambrano's no-no. I seethe with envy. There aren't many things I feel like I have to do before I die, but see a no-hitter in person is one of them. I've never gotten out of the eighth. My mother did call to remind me that I have been to two World Series games and the Research Department hasn't been to any, but it was little consolation.

I'm going to Coors Field for the first time in months on Tuesday, I guess to say goodbye to this year's collection of uninspiring talent. On one hand Colorado has shown growth in places where they need it this year -- Chris Iannetta's two-way catching, Taylor Buchholz's steady setup work, Ubaldo Jimenez's ability to occasionally find the strike zone. On the other they were league champs last year, and this season, just as expected, they never even made a blip. Hard not to say that they're going backwards.

The worrying thing is that management's "plan" going forward seems to be to wait for last year to happen again. Spend no money on pitching, play a lot of young guys, dredge up cheap starters from wherever they happen to drift, and hope the league stays down and the team gets really, really, really lucky again.

Sometimes you do get lucky. Like the no-hitter and last year's World Series, it's a once or twice in a lifetime thing at best. I would prefer the Rockies pursued sounder strategies.