Major League Baseball

Tracy thriving in third managerial stint

Published Jun. 29, 2009 6:20 p.m. ET

foxsports

Jim Tracy tries to be diplomatic, but it isn't easy.

He is managing the Colorado Rockies, having taken over when Clint Hurdle was fired a month ago, and Tracy admits his third time as a big-league manager has extra meaning.

And the fact the Rockies have been the hottest team in baseball since Tracy began filling out the lineup card only adds to the feeling of redemption for Tracy, particularly after what became a two-year nightmare in Pittsburgh.

"After Pittsburgh, I felt I had something to prove," he admitted. "It was a personal thing. There never was a question about my ability to run a game. I relish having the opportunity to do it one more time and to have the weapons to work with where you know the program you put together is going to work."

Things are certainly working well for Tracy so far in Colorado. The Rockies have won 22 of 29 games since he became manager, and fresh off a weekend sweep in Oakland, they arrive at Dodger Stadium on Monday night having won 20 of their last 23 games.

Having enjoyed a sweep of the Pirates at Coors Field the weekend of June 19-21, now Tracy gets to sit across the field from the other team he once managed, the Dodgers, and has every reason to feel the Rockies will be a much better team than one that lost eight of nine games against the Dodgers earlier this season.

The recent Rockies, after all, have won six of their last seven series, including sweeps at St. Louis, Milwaukee and Oakland, as well Pittsburgh and Seattle at Coors Field. With three games remaining to be played against the Dodgers, the Rockies' 20 wins this June have equaled the franchise single-month record set in September of 2007, when the Rockies went 20-8 en route to the first World series appearance in franchise history.