Jason Bates was a key in the Rockies’ early desire to build from within.
As the new National League expansion franchise built its foundation, Bates was selected by the Rockies in the seventh round of the 1992 June draft. He and the rest of the original Rockies’ draft class went to Bend, Ore., where they played the first game and first season in the organization’s history.
The big-league team hadn’t played a game yet, so the rookies in the Single-A Northwest League gained a lot of attention. Bates played shortstop for the Bend Rockies after being drafted out of the University of Arizona.
Three years later, Bates was in a Rockies uniform, holding down second base for the club as the 1995 season got underway. Eric Young, the Rockies’ regular second baseman, started the season on the disabled list.
“It was a special year for a lot of reasons,” Bates said. “I played in the big leagues for the first time and we opened Coors Field.”
The Rockies went on to win the wild card and entered their first postseason, a best-of-five series against the touted Atlanta Braves.
“A lot of players are active for 20 years or more and never experience the postseason,” Bates said. “I was going to the playoffs in my first year. That was 12 years ago, but I still remember it as a special time.”
As it turned out, the Rockies lost in four games.
“What I remember most was that Chipper Jones beat us almost single- handedly,” Bates said. “He got the big go-ahead home run in the first game. He was playing third base at the time, and he made a great play on a drive down the line by Andres Galarraga that was going to be a sure double.”
Bates even thinks the series against the Braves could have been different if Rockies pitchers Bret Saberhagen and Bill Swift had been healthy.
“We caught both of them kind of at the tail end of their careers,” Bates said. “If those two had been healthy, I’d like our chances. We could have advanced to the next round.”
Bates relates it to what the Rockies have done this season.
“I had great teammates and those years were a special time of my life,” Bates said. “It’s nice to see the Rockies doing so well. I root for them.”
