Manny being Manny, meet the Rockies being the Rockies.
Thirteen losses in 14 games to finish the season? Really? After winning 13 out of 15 early in September to get back in the race? Three words, ball fans: Only the Rockies.
“We usually stay in the thick of things and make it interesting,” shortstop Troy Tulowitzki said. “It’s a fun team to be on, a fun team to follow. Not only for the people who cover us, but other people have fun with us because you never know what you’re going to get. It could be real bad or it could be real good. . . . You have to go with the good and the bad and like us for what we are.”
The Rockies failed to make the playoffs, which was a huge disappointment given they were rated no worse than the co-favorites in the National League West. But give the Rockies this: Yes, they once again made it interesting. A look back at the Rockies’ 83-79 season that was:
High point
July 10: A 4-2 victory over fading San Diego at Coors Field moved them within a game of first place. A win the next day — the Rockies led late before Matt Belisle’s throwing error cost them the game — would have moved them into a tie with the Padres at the all-star break.
Low point
Post all-star break Lost in America Tour through Cincinnati, Florida and Philadelphia. The Rockies were within two innings of having tied San Diego for first at the break but limped home after this road trip eight games out, a hole that proved too big to crawl out from.
Most valuable player
Take your pick among the three terrific candidates: Carlos Gonzalez, Ubaldo Jimenez and Troy Tulowitzki. CarGo will probably finish highest in the MVP voting. Few if any other teams can claim to having three such dynamic players 26 or younger. Which reminds us: Happy birthday, Tulo, who turns 26 today.
CarGo’s arrival
“The most graceful player I’ve ever managed.” If Jim Tracy said it once, he said it a hundred times. Carlos Gonzalez’s confidence was soaring after a 10-for-17 performance vs. the Phillies in last year’s playoffs and he parlayed it into a career year: .336-34-117 with 26 stolen bases, one batting title and the most versatile glove of any outfielder in the major leagues. Your thoughts, Billy Beane?
Road woe-iors
The Rockies appeared to have turned a corner on the road in 2009, but it was all a mirage. They finished 1-11-2 on road trips in 2010, with their only winning trip coming in early September when they swept the Padres at Petco Park.
Unsung hero
Matt Belisle had a 5.52 ERA with the Rockies in 2009, when he spent part of the year in Triple-A. He was under pressure before he threw his first pitch of the season, what with Huston Street sidelined indefinitely, but he responded with a career year. He won seven games and compiled a 2.93 ERA with 91 strikeouts in 92 innings, the second-most relief innings in the majors.
Double the fun
Don’t look for these numbers to stay the same if second baseman Clint Barmes is not around next year: The Rockies led the majors in double plays, turning 182 to their opponents’ 125. The year before, those numbers read 146-142.
Losing the arms race
You figured the Rockies wouldn’t have five double-digit winners in the rotation again as they did in 2009. But two? That’s what happens when four-fifths of the rotation lands on the disabled list, including Aaron Cook, who suffered a broken leg, no thanks to a hot smash off Joey Votto’s bat, just as he appeared to be leaving one of his most frustrating seasons in the rearview mirror. Rox never found an adequate replacement for Cook in stretch run.
U the man
By now, the numbers are familiar: Ubaldo Jimenez was 15-1, 2.20 at the all-star break, but finished 4-7, 3.80 after it. Why didn’t Jimenez surpass 20 wins after such a historic start? No run support. He was 18-1 when the Rox scored three runs or more, 1-7 when they scored two or fewer. In the eight losses, his ERA was 2.62.
Revolving lineup
Tracy spent most of the season searching for lineups that would click. To wit: Seth Smith and Ryan Spilborghs started and hit everywhere from one through eight, and Melvin Mora hit everywhere but leadoff. Injuries factored here. The Rockies had one player, Carlos Gonzalez, start 140 games. Troy Tulowitzki was second with 122.
Helton goes south
Todd Helton never got on track, finishing at .256-8-37 in 398 at-bats. Helton had one home run by mid-June and later missed 23 games when his back flared up. With Helton getting most of the playing time at the position, the Rockies’ first basemen were seventh among the eight positions in home runs (14), RBIs (67) and slugging percentage (.382). Not exactly a formula for winning the West.
Close encounters
The Rockies finished 31-50 on the road. Now for the numbers behind the numbers: They played 28 one-run games away from Coors Field and lost 19. At home, they played 30 one-run games and won 19. Their 58 one-run decisions were the most in the majors.
Walk off, this way
The bullpen didn’t react well to late-inning pressure situations on the road, where the Rockies were walked off 10 times, twice as often as they were in 2009.
Not that the bullpen had a bad season. Despite the nearly three-month absence of Huston Street and Rafael Betancourt’s health issues early in the season, the bullpen finished with an ERA of 3.99, down a half-run from 4.49 in 2009.
Extra, extra
It wasn’t just that the Rockies hit a franchise-record-low .226 on the road. That was bad enough. They also didn’t hit for any power on the road. They had 198 extra-base hits on the road, six fewer than the Pirates, who won 17 games on the road.
Most emotional moment
April 25 may have been the most difficult day in franchise history. The Rockies attended a Coors Field memorial service for team president Keli McGregor, who passed away while on a road trip to promote the team. They then went out and beat the Marlins. A Rockies uniform bearing No. 88, McGregor’s number at CSU, hung in the clubhouse for every subsequent road game.
Most memorable inning
With apologies to a nine-run ninth inning against the Cardinals three weeks earlier, the Rockies’ 12-run eighth inning vs. the Cubs on July 30 at Coors Field broke more records than Disco Demolition Night at old Comiskey Park. The Rockies batted around twice and scored all 12 runs with two outs, thanks to a major-league-record 11 consecutive hits in an inning. Photo by Diego James Robles, The Denver Post
Go figure
If you can make any sense out of these stats, kindly call Dan O’Dowd and let him in on the secret:
40-32 Rockies’ record against teams with winning records
43-47 Their record vs. teams with losing records
.179 Batting average allowed by Huston Street in 27 appearances at Coors Field
.299 Batting average allowed by Street in 17 appearances on the road
65-60 Margin by which the Rockies outhomered the opposition on the road
31-50 Rockies’ record on the road this season
40 Number of runs driven in by Troy Tulowitzki in September
37 Number of runs driven in by Todd Helton from April through September
9 Number of runs scored by the Rockies in the ninth inning against the Cardinals on July 6
8 Number of runs scored by the Rockies in a six-game road trip to Los Angeles and Arizona on Aug. 17-22
