From Todd Helton to Troy Tulowitzki to Jason Jennings and more, Drew and Patrick take a look at the greatest Colorado Rockies rookies of all time.
The list of players to have hit .400 is short and illustrious. Wee Willie Keeler. Ty Cobb. Rogers Hornsby. Fourteen Hall of Famers, all of whom managed to bat .312 or above in their career, including Cobb’s career .366 batting average, decorate the list of the most elite hitters to play the game of baseball. The most recent and memorable…
Following a magical Major League debut that saw the rookie hit two home runs, few could have expected Trevor Story to keep relative pace with prodigious power totals throughout the start of his career. Yet, when one looks atop the leaderboard of all-time shortstop for least amount of games needed to hit 100 homers, Story’s name is highest among the…
The link between the Montréal Expos and Colorado Rockies is substantial and will forever be strongest when discussing the relative impact of the recently elected Hall of Famer Larry Walker. Considering the last active member of Montréal – Ian Desmond, a 2004 3rd round pick of Les Expos – plies his trade in the Centennial State, numerous connections between the…
Before Game 163, when Matt Holliday hustled home on a shallow sacrifice fly ball to help clinch Colorado’s first spot in the postseason in eight years, the star left fielder did a lot for his club in 2007 leading up to the controversial play. Holliday’s value that season was prevalent through the 162 games leading up to the critical matchup…
Over the last couple of weeks, we have been compiling a 25-man roster comprised of prime-of-their-career-and-health Colorado Rockies. In a field of dreams, these are the players that we would select from the history of the organization to take the diamond and play against the ghosts of other organizations. That meant that at times, we had to choose ultimate peak…...
May of 2000 was the month Todd Helton officially planted his flag on first base at Coors Field to stake his claim as one of the finest ballplayers of his generation. After two consecutive seasons of incredible offensive production, the entirety of MLB turned its eyes to Denver during the fifth month of the new century. A pair of multi-hit…
Following a disappointing 1999 season, the Colorado Rockies were set to undergo a seismic shift. Having already traded Ellis Burks in the summer of ’98, Dante Bichette was next to be dealt away in late October to the Cincinnati Reds; finally, Vinny Castilla was shipped to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Of the original five members of Blake Street Bombers…
In the nearly 120 seasons of modern professional baseball, there exist some incredibly prestigious clubs. Of players who have hit 500 or more home runs, there are but 27. Only 23 have pitched a perfect game. And a mere 16 have won the Triple Crown. Troy Tulowitzki of the Colorado Rockies is among an even more rare exclusive fraternity thanks…
Rockies fans fondly remember Yorvit Torrealba as the catcher who helped lead Colorado throughout the 2007 season and hit .500 in the playoffs on the way to the club’s first and only World Series. As a 13-year veteran in major league baseball, the Venezuelan-born backstop has been a valuable member to several contending organizations during his time, including five postseason…
On April 5, 1993, the Colorado Rockies played a baseball game in Queens against the New York Mets at the now-gone Shea Stadium. They lost 3-0. Colorado recorded four hits, all from players who would become early faces of the young franchise: Dante Bichette had the first, Eric Young had another, and Andres Galarraga tallied two. Starting pitcher David Neid…...
Greatness can be defined as having the quality of being unusual or considerable in degree. Going into the game in Atlanta on April 17, 2010, the Rockies had yet to experience anything more than a lone one-hitter during their 16-plus seasons of MLB play. Though four more one-hitters have been added – one for each year from 2016 to 2019…
In a 14-4 drubbing of the Diamondbacks in 2004, the performance of one Rockies player may have gone overlooked in a box score filled with crooked numbers. The onslaught on Arizona starter Elmer Dessens lasted for four innings and nine runs, culminating with two innings and four runs against knuckleball reliever Steve Spark. Five players recorded two or more hits on…
In the wake of the 1994 players’ strike that caused the cancellation of the World Series, part of the collateral damage for the small market Montréal Expos was the need to cut costs on what was already the second-lowest payroll in MLB. After trading closer John Wetteland to the New York Yankees, even more Expos players, including three All-Stars, moved…
Outside of the delayed start to the 1995 season, April 6 has been the latest any Colorado Rockies season has welcomed an Opening Day. With Clint Hurdle at the helm, the Rockies opened the 2009 season only a year removed from winning the National League Championship. While they would return to the playoffs by season’s end for the second time…
When Charlie Blackmon’s name was penciled into the lineup by new Colorado manager Bud Black on Opening Day 2017, it marked the fourth straight season Mr. Nazty began the year atop the lineup. Stepping to the plate at Milwaukee’s Miller Park, Blackmon broke the tie with Walt Weiss for the franchise record in batting leadoff in game one. (He has since…
With three Opening Day celebrations on this date, only one did not result in a win. Although Colorado would lose 8-6 to the Diamondbacks in the first game of 2007, the year would be the most successful in franchise history. Even after the 8-6 loss at the hands of Arizona to begin the season, Colorado would enter play on May…
With six Opening Days on this date, April 1 has been the starting point for more seasons than any other on the calendar: 1997, 2002, 2003, 2008, 2011 and 2013. While Colorado is 15-12 on Opening Day all-time, only one of those April 1 openers has resulted in a win. Even more sadly, just one of the aforementioned years produced…
A rudimentary internet search reveals the first game played at Coors Field took place April 26, 1995. Dante Bichette stepped to the plate in the bottom of the 14th inning and launched a three-run walk-off homer into the night to christen the new stadium in the grandest way possible. However, that’s not entirely accurate. Before the delayed start of the…
DENVER – On Saturday night, the Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) held it’s 22nd annual banquet and at the center of the festivities was a small reunion of the Colorado Rockies’ team that went to the 2007 World Series. Close to 200 packed the Super Suites at Coors Field to hear keynote speaker…...