Colorado Rockies
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| Colorado Rockies </br> Established 1993 </br> | |||
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| World Series titles (0) | None | ||
| NL Pennants (0) | None | ||
| West Division titles (0) | None | ||
| Wild card berths (1) | 1995 | ||
- For the National Hockey League team (1976-1982), see Colorado Rockies (NHL).
The Colorado Rockies are a Major League Baseball team based in Denver, Colorado. They are in the Western Division of the National League. The team is named after the Rocky Mountains which pass through Colorado.
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[edit] History
[edit] Creation of the Rockies
After failed attempts going back as far as the 1880's, by the early 1990's a major league baseball team seemed an imminent possibility in Denver: the Colorado Baseball Commission, led by banking executive Larry Varnell, was successful in getting Denver voters to approve a 0.1 percent sales tax to partly finance a new baseball stadium. Also, an advisory committee was formed in 1990 by then-Governor of Colorado Roy Romer to recruit an ownership group. The group selected was led by John Antonucci, an Ohio beverage distributor; and Michael I. Monus, the head of the Phar-Mor drugstore chain. Local and regional companies such as Erie Lake, Hensel Phelps Construction, KOA Radio and the Rocky Mountain News rounded out the group. On July 5, 1991, the National League approved Denver and Miami, Florida as the sites for two expansion teams to begin play in 1993. [1]
The Rockies joined the National League in 1993, along with the Miami franchise, the Florida Marlins. The Rockies' first pick in the expansion draft was pitcher David Nied from the Atlanta Braves organization. Nied pitched 4 seasons for the Rockies. The team's first home at-bat was a memorable one, as lead off batter Eric Young hit a home run for the Rockies.
[edit] First season
In their first season of 1993, Manager Don Baylor rehabilitated the career of Andrés Galarraga, realizing Andres' eye focusing problems were preventing him from seeing incoming pitches properly. He changed "the Big Cat's" batting stance from a fairly standard one into an open stance where Galarraga squarely faced the pitcher, then at the last instant would step back to a more standard position as he swung the bat. Galarraga responded by winning the batting title in 1993 with a .370 percentage.
[edit] Ownership issues
After a 1992 accounting and embezzlement scandal at Phar-Mor tarnished the reputation of Monus, both Monus and Antonucci were forced to sell their stakes in the franchise. Trucking company executive Jerry McMorris became head of the ownership group and served as the initial public face of management. His relationship with the other partners was somewhat poor, and his role in the leadership of the franchise dimished over time until he was finally bought out in 2005 (his situation was not helped by the 1999 failure of his trucking firm and subsequent related legal issues).
The team is currently controlled by chief executive officer Charlie Monfort (a former executive with his family's beef exporting firm and also with ConAgra), and his brother Dick Monfort, who both bought out McMorris' stake.
[edit] Great attendance
The team set attendance records in its days back at Mile High Stadium, and was the second team (Toronto was first in 1991) in the history of Major League Baseball to record over 4,000,000 fans in annual attendance. The 1993 Rockies still have the largest ever single season attendance, with 4,483,350 fans passing through the gates, and the team led the National League in attendance every year from 1993 to 1999.
In 1995, the Rockies moved into a new stadium, Coors Field, where they have played their home games ever since. That year, they made their first and, to date, only post-season appearance as the National League Wild Card team where they lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Atlanta Braves.
[edit] Power hitting team
In 1996, the team had three players who hit at least 40 home runs each, Andres Galarraga with 47, and Ellis Burks and Vinny Castilla with 40 each. Dante Bichette added 31. Burks and Bichette also collected more than 30 stolen bases each in 1996, only the second time ever that two players on the same team accomplished that feat in the same season. (The first was the 1987 New York Mets).
[edit] Blake Street Bombers
The first several years of the franchise provided a lot of excitement as the team stocked up in the early years on players with enough offensive firepower to create real problems for opponents, especially when playing at Coors Field. A local columnist coined the term "Blake Street Bombers" soon after Coors Field opened (on Blake Street in Denver) to describe the heart of the batting order, and the first several years at the new ballpark saw a lot of run production. Galarraga, Burks, Castilla, Bichette, and eventually Larry Walker all thrived at Coors Field during those years.
[edit] Strengths and Weaknesses
Since their inception, the Rockies have always tended to have a strong hitting squad and home record, which are offset by a weak bullpen and road record. This can be attributed to the conditions of Coors Field, whose thin air (due to the high altitude of Denver) makes hitting much easier, as the ball travels farther, and pitching more difficult, as the reduced air resistance makes breaking balls less effective than at sea level. As an example, the Rockies' career best in ERA is a mediocre 4.56 over 503 innings by Armando Reynoso. It is rare to see a Rockies pitcher with an ERA below 5.
[edit] Failed stars
The Rockies tried to mitigate the effects of mile-high pitching by signing high profile pitchers to large contracts, always ending in disaster for the pitcher and the ballclub. Free agents Bill Swift (signed after the 1994 season) and Darryl Kile (signed after the 1997 season) along with Bret Saberhagen (traded for in July 1995) all experienced ineffective pitching and injuries related to pitching in such extreme conditions. In 2001, the team signed top pitchers Mike Hampton to an 8 year, $121 million contract and Denny Neagle to a 5 year, $51 million contract to see if they could turn around the team's fortunes. However, the two went a combined 23-21 that season and Hampton was traded the next year after going 7-15. Neagle was granted free agency in 2004 after compiling a 19-23 record with the team. The experiment with the two pitchers was generally considered to be a disaster.
[edit] Notable Rockies
The Rockies have had a number of well-known players throughout the years, including Todd Helton, who came up through the club's farm system, Andrés Galarraga, Ellis Burks, Larry Walker, Andy Ashby, Darryl Kile, Dante Bichette, Mike Hampton, Preston Wilson, and Vinny Castilla.
[edit] The future
After years of futility with signing big names, in 2005 the Rockies adopted a policy of instead acquiring young quality prospects at all positions, and building through their farm system. 2006 was the first year the team held any expectations of seeing increased success because many of 2005's rookie players returned with a year of major-league experience under their belt, and the Rockies' farm system was generally regarded as well-stocked with more up-and-coming talented players.
The Rockies got off to a strong start over the first few months of 2006, being near first place. However, as the season continued into summer, Colorado slowed down. After losing eleven of twelve games in early July, the Rockies seemed to start focusing on 2007. Despite their current standing (as of September 12, 2006) in last place, the Rockies had some close games in the season (including a six-run rally against the San Diego Padres' closer Trevor Hoffman, resulting in a series victory against San Diego).
Another big story in the season was the Rockies' pitching, which, for a time, was the best in the National League.
[edit] 2006 Controversy over Religion
On June 1, 2006, USA Today[2] reported that Rockies management, including manager Clint Hurdle, had instituted an explicitly Christian code of conduct for the team's players, banning men's magazines (such as Maxim) and sexually explicit music from the team's clubhouse. The newspaper reported:
- Behind the scenes, [the Rockies] quietly have become an organization guided by Christianity — open to other religious beliefs but embracing a Christian-based code of conduct they believe will bring them focus and success.
- From ownership on down, it's an approach the Rockies are proud of — and something they are wary about publicizing. "We're nervous, to be honest with you," Rockies general manager Dan O'Dowd says. "It's the first time we ever talked about these issues publicly. The last thing we want to do is offend anyone because of our beliefs."
The article sparked controversy, including criticism in a column in The Nation by Dave Zirin[3], which stated:
- San Francisco Giants first baseman-outfielder Mark Sweeney, who spent 2003 and 2004 with the Rockies, said, "You wonder if some people are going along with it just to keep their jobs. Look, I pray every day. I have faith. It's always been part of my life. But I don't want something forced on me. Do they really have to check to see whether I have a Playboy in my locker?"
Soon after the USA Today article appeared, The Denver Post published an article featuring many Rockies players contesting the claims made in the USA Today article[4]. Jason Jennings, a Rockies' pitcher, said:
- "[The article in USA Today] was just bad. I am not happy at all. Some of the best teammates I have ever had are the furthest thing from Christian," pitcher Jason Jennings said. "You don't have to be a Christian to have good character. They can be separate. [The article] was misleading."
While the initial USA Today article caused some controversy, the main claims have been repudiated by the ballclub and its players in the subsequent Denver Post story.
[edit] Humidor Controversy
In 2002, a humidor was installed to store baseballs at the manufacturer's specification. Since the discovery of the humidor, it has cast suspicion in baseball of the Rockies talent, or lack thereof. Tampering with equipment, or more accurately, perceived tampering of equipment is an old phenomenon in baseball. That is in part why there is much discussion about the Denver humidor, and why Baseball has not stepped in on the situation.
Since the installation and discovery of the humidor in Coors Field, runs and high scoring games have since gone down in frequency. The Rockies do not deny this, however they point to the reason for balls flying out of Coors Field is not so much the altitude (5,280 feet above sea level), but the extremely dry air in Denver. They liken it to playing baseball with golf balls, as harder objects travel faster than softer objects when hit, like a baseball when kept at a humidity level recommended by the manufacturer. Columnists in Denver's newspapers also speculate that most players are stopping the use of steroids because of the increased testing and penalties, so fewer home runs are hit at Coors Field.
To the contrary, skeptics will say that any tampering of the equipment would create an advantage for the home team, and if it did not, then the changes might never had been made. These accusations arrived again through the course of the 2006 season, as the Rockies had their best year since 2000 (however this doesn't account for the fact that none of the Rockies four seasons over .500, including a playoff berth in 1995, came before the installation of the humidor, as well as their 2nd worst season in franchise history in 2005). There does not seem to be any real end to the controversy in sight, when the Rockies play is poor, it is not an issue, and when they win, the humidor casts a shadow of doubt on their success.
[edit] Other controversies
Not all Major League baseball teams have similar revenue streams, which contributes to a disparity of "haves" and "have-nots" amongst franchises. Major League Baseball franchises average spending 48.9% of every revenue dollar on player payroll while the Rockies spend 28.1% of team revenues on player payroll.[citation needed] Only one team in all of MLB spends a lower proportion of team revenues on player payroll than the Rockies. [citation needed]
[edit] Season record
| Season | Won | Lost | Win % | Games Behind | Finish | Attendance | Average | Playoffs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National League West Division | ||||||||
| 1993 | 67 | 95 | .414 | 37 | 6 | 4,483,350 | 55,350 | |
| 1994 | 53 | 64 | .377 | 6.5 | 3 | 3,281,511 | 57,570 | |
| 1995 | 77 | 67 | .535 | 1 | 2 | 3,390,037 | 47,083 | Lost NLDS 1-3 to the Atlanta Braves |
| 1996 | 83 | 79 | .512 | 8 | 3 | 3,891,014 | 48,037 | |
| 1997 | 83 | 79 | .512 | 7 | 3 | 3,888,453 | 48,005 | |
| 1998 | 77 | 85 | .475 | 21 | 4 | 3,789,347 | 46,782 | |
| 1999 | 72 | 90 | .444 | 28 | 5 | 3,481,065 | 42,976 | |
| 2000 | 82 | 80 | .506 | 15 | 4 | 3,286,773 | 40,577 | |
| 2001 | 73 | 89 | .451 | 19 | 5 | 3,163,821 | 39,059 | |
| 2002 | 73 | 89 | .451 | 25 | 4 | 2,740,585 | 33,834 | |
| 2003 | 74 | 88 | .457 | 26.5 | 4 | 2,334,175 | 28,816 | |
| 2004 | 68 | 94 | .420 | 25 | 4 | 2,338,071 | 28,865 | |
| 2005 | 67 | 95 | .414 | 15 | 5 | 1,914,389 | 23,634 | |
| 2006 | 76 | 86 | .469 | 12 | 5 | 2,104,558 | 25,982 | |
| Totals | 1025 | 1180 | .465 | 44,087,149 | 41,159 | |||
[edit] Quick facts
- Founded: 1991
- Began play: 1993 (National League expansion)
- Uniform colors: Black, Purple, Silver, and White
- Logo design: Purple mountain with baseball
- Team motto: R you in?
- Team mascot: Dinger
- Playoff appearances (1): 1995
- General Manager: Dan O'Dowd
- Victory Song: Rocky Mountain Way by Joe Walsh
- Local Television: FSN Rocky Mountain, KTVD-20
- Spring Training Facility: Hi Corbett Field, Tucson, AZ
[edit] Baseball Hall of Famers
- none
[edit] Retired Numbers
- 42 Jackie Robinson, retired throughout Major League Baseball
[edit] Current roster
[edit] 40-man roster
Last updated on December 1, 2006
[edit] Championships
| National League Wild Card Winners | ||
| Preceded by: None (First) | 1995 | Succeeded by: Los Angeles Dodgers |
[edit] Minor league affiliations
- AAA: Colorado Springs Sky Sox, Pacific Coast League
- AA: Tulsa Drillers, Texas League
- Advanced A: Modesto Nuts, California League
- A: Asheville Tourists, South Atlantic League
- Short A: Tri-City Dust Devils, Northwest League
- Rookie: Casper Rockies, Pioneer League
- Rookie: VSL Rockies, Venezuelan Summer League
[edit] See also
- Rockies award winners and league leaders
- Rockies statistical records and milestone achievements
- Rockies players of note
- Rockies broadcasters and media
- Rockies managers and ownership
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Colorado Rockies official web site
- Current records and standings
- Monfort buys out McMorris' ownership stake
- Profile of the ownership of the Rockies
| Colorado Rockies Franchise | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| AAA | AA | A | Rookie |
| Colorado Springs Sky Sox | Tulsa Drillers | Modesto Nuts Asheville Tourists Tri-City Dust Devils | Casper Rockies |
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Categories: Articles with unsourced statements | Major League Baseball team rosters | Articles lacking sources from November 2006 | All articles lacking sources | Major League Baseball | Colorado Rockies | Major League Baseball teams | Sports in Denver | Sports clubs established in 1993 | Cactus League
