Dodgers need to take World Series notes

Ned Colletti couldn’t bring himself to do more than “glance here and there” as the Rockies romped through the playoffs and into the World Series.

“I don’t need to watch Colorado,” the Dodgers’ general manager said with a laugh.

“I’ve seen enough of them.”

Enough that the Rockies should send the Dodgers a share of the World Series check they’ll start earning against the Red Sox starting Wednesday at Boston.

Enough to reaffirm Colletti’s belief that the Dodgers are doing things the right way by taking time to refine their young players.

For 140 days this season, the Dodgers were ahead of the Rockies in the NL West. That lead vanished on Sept. 18, when the Rockies swept a doubleheader from the Dodgers at Denver and pulled even with them.

The Rockies left the Dodgers in the dust the next day and went on to sweep the teams’ four-game series. A few days later the Rockies swept a three-game set at Dodger Stadium, fueling the 21-1 surge that has carried them to their first World Series berth.

Colletti said he had a feeling early in the summer that the Rockies might be contenders, even when most speculation about the NL West centered on the Dodgers, Padres and Diamondbacks.

“I told some writers in June, ‘You cannot forget about that club. If they gain some confidence, with their talent, you don’t know what they can do,’ ” he said last week.

Just before the trade deadline, he said, “I started to see a great confidence in them that they hadn’t had in the past. By the time we saw them in September, they were tremendously confident.”

Remember, the Rockies in 2005 were 67-95 -- the same record as in their debut season of 1993. Last season the Rockies were 76-86 and finished 12 games out of first.

Switching their focus to pitching and defense, which they had traditionally downplayed in favor of bashing the ball through the thin Rocky Mountain air, began to pay off this season. They still have plenty of big bats, but they also have a pitching staff that -- unlike the Dodgers’ -- was able to withstand several key injuries this season.

At various points the Rockies lost starters Aaron Cook, Jason Hirsh and Rodrigo Lopez, but 23-year-old rookie Ubaldo Jiminez and 21-year-old Franklin Morales kept them going and have seemed immune to late-season pressure.

“Their run is probably unprecedented,” Colletti said. “At some point you just have to tip your cap and say they’ve done a great job.”

Although Colletti couldn’t bear to watch the Rockies roll, he’s taking heart from the methods they’ve used to build a winner.

In looking at the Rockies he sees validation of his plans and reason to believe the Dodgers will be rewarded if they’re as persistent with their young players as Colorado General Manager Dan O’Dowd and Manager Clint Hurdle were with their young talent.

The Rockies had 15 homegrown players on their roster for the NL Championship Series, but several weren’t instant success stories.

Most-valuable-player candidate Matt Holliday, the NL batting champion and runs batted in leader, spent six-plus seasons in the minor leagues. Third baseman Garrett Atkins, who had 111 RBIs this season, didn’t become a regular until he was 25 and had spent parts of six seasons in the minors. Right fielder Brad Hawpe, whose 116 RBIs ranked sixth in the NL, didn’t become a fixture in the lineup until he was 26.

Holliday, in his fourth major league season, is 27. Atkins, after three full seasons, will soon be 28. Hawpe, finishing his third full major league season, is 28.

“Danny and Clint were patient with the development of their players,” Colletti said. “You tie that to what we’re trying to do, and it’s why we try to stay the course.

“Our young players are not at the stage of Holliday and some of their other players, but the Rockies waited a while for those guys to get there. You can’t usually get that overnight.”

Colletti pointed out a trend during the playoffs in that three of the final four teams had an average age of about 28, with only the Red Sox exceeding 30. The Dodgers’ average was over 30, a roster with an often uneasy split between veterans and kids and minus the productive stars in their late 20s who are the heart of the Rockies.

Can the Dodgers become next season’s Rockies?

They’d have to make a huge improvement on defense and develop more pitching depth. Colletti believes their future will depend on the maturity and hunger of the entire team, not just the youngsters, but the young guys may be showing signs that they’re ready to lead the way.

Colletti said he had talked to some of them during the playoffs and asked what they’ve thought. The consensus, he said, was that the Rockies were “having a lot more fun than what we went through.”

He was delighted to hear it.

“I told them to remember that,” he said.

Only if they do will the Dodgers have a chance at their own October to remember.

--

Helene Elliott can be reached at helene.elliott@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Elliott, go to latimes.com/elliott.