(perhaps the only occasion where the guy on the far right will have worse things said about him than the persons to his left)

As the Rockies began to put up prodigious offensive numbers this month that resembled Coors Field hosts of old, Giants broadcaster Jon Miller hinted there was more behind the outbursts than Jim Tracy’s steely leadership. To which the Denver Post’s not-at-all-homeriffic Troy E. Renck replies, “until the Giants have proof, their accusations make them look small.”

“There’s a feeling that the Rockies are doing something with the humidor-stored baseball, and sometimes late in games when the Rockies need help, that some non-humidor baseballs slip into the mix,” Miller said. “Nobody has been able to prove it. . . . But to me it’s something that baseball needs to address.”

Suspicions are rooted in the fact that the Rockies didn’t tell Major League Baseball about the humidor until The Denver Post broke the story early in the 2002 season. But since then, the Rockies have had to monitor the device and file weekly reports with the MLB office. Also, the game balls are given to the umpires to be rubbed down, leaving them out of the Rockies’ control once the game starts. That punches a hole in Miller’s argument.

Miller wants MLB to investigate, and suggested that the simple solution would be to keep a bag of game balls behind home plate in full view. Transparency in Barry Bonds’ training would have been nice too.