Road woes and heroics at home set the Rockies on a course for dubious MLB history

The value of home field advantage is apparent in any sport, any game. 

Waking up between those familiar four walls the morning of the event, being surrounded by supporters and nestling comfortably within friendly confines of your arena gives any person those positive vibrations typically absent from unfamiliarity and being away from the most comfortable place in the world. Home.

All of which makes winning on the road a challenge that all teams face.

“I wish I had the answer,” manager Bud Black said regarding the discrepancy in play between Coors Field and everywhere else this season. “I just know, in general, there’s a comfort factor at home when you’re in your own ballpark… As it relates to our pitchers, our pitchers are mentally tough, especially our starters.”

Despite being an inexperienced club that traded its top offensive weapon this past offseason, the 2021 Colorado Rockies are leading the MLB in home batting average (.281), as well as RBI and runs scored at home. The 24 wins they’ve posted in LoDo is tied for most in the National League.

Not only have they averaged 5.8 runs scored per game at Coors Field, but the pitching has been even better than advertised. Headlined by Austin Gomber and his 0.95 ERA in five starts at home, Rockies’ starting pitchers have a 3.54 ERA at 2001 Blake Street. 

On the road, the numbers pale in comparison. Starters have actually been worse pitching at or near sea level (6.42 ERA). At the plate, they’ve averaged only 2.6 runs per game and were shutout 10 times across the first 58 games of the season.

The nadir of their road woes came on May 29 when they were shutout in both games of a doubleheader against the Pirates, something that had never happened to the Rockies in franchise history and something that Pittsburgh had not done since 1976.

As any fan of the Denver Nine can attest, this is nothing more than a common occurrence that has plagued the organization since its inception. However, the statistics this season have translated to a drastic disparity in their records at home and on the road the likes of which the franchise have never seen before. 

In the history of Major League Baseball, no team is on pace to have more drastic home/road splits than the 2021 Colorado Rockies. 

Since the start of the 19th century, only 11 clubs have ever been heroes at home and roadkill away from their local diamond to the tune of a difference in winning percentage of .300 or more.

By an incredible margin, the Rockies would blow away the previous record for split difference set by the 1945 Philadelphia Athletics.

It should be noted that the 1945 A’s did not play a 162-game schedule. As such, they avoided 100 losses. Had Philadelphia – led by 82-year-old manager Connie Mack – played at a .340 winning percentage for a modern day season, it would have resulted in a 55-107 record.

In addition, Mack’s team had the third-worst road winning record in modern history. With Colorado currently on pace (5-27, .156) to break that dubious mark set by 1935 Boston-NL club (13-65, .167), it seems strange to think they should be somewhat safe from a win total that starts with the number five. 

When taking a look at the current 11 teams with a split difference of .300 or more, no other team than those Athletics played with the .383 winning percentage required for 100 losses.

Two of the 11 teams shown, the 1987 Minnesota Twins and 1902 Philadelphia A’s, actually made the postseason despite others on the list, 1933 Chicago Cubs and 1949 Boston Red Sox, respectively, having better records and missing out on October jollies.

Those ‘02 A’s, managed by the same Connie Mack (he was a spry 38-years-old at the time), and 1949 Red Sox weren’t that bad on the road. Instead, they were incredibly talented at home, nearly joining just three teams to have ever gone .800 or better at home for a season.

Of course, the most recent team in MLB history to be plagued by such radical splits is the 1996 Rockies.

While it’s far from surprising to have such confirmation about the hangover effect regarding Coors Field, it is interesting to note that this is the only season in which Colorado was no-hit on multiple nights: once on the road by Al Leiter and the Florida Marlins and once at home against Hideo Nomo and the Los Angeles Dodgers. 

The prevailing thought is that Colorado can’t continue to struggle so badly away from home. Sweeping first division clubs like the San Diego Padres at Coors Field is also a highly unlikely scenario.

Should the Rockies somehow be able to bridge the gap a bit better they may be able to avoid the dreaded century mark in the loss column. 

If not, they’ll make history twice for all the wrong reasons.