For much of their 26-season history, many area fans have seen the Rockies as more of an entertainment outlet and less of a true baseball experience.
became the beacon for LoDo’s social butterflies. And even when Colorado churned out each of its four wild-card berths, including an improbable run to the 2007 World Series, the city’s expectations for on-the-diamond results have never been sky-high.
Until this year, that is, with Colorado coming off the excitement of a 2017 postseason appearance and — entering Tuesday night’s game against the — sitting in first place in the NL West later in the season than they have in more than two decades.
The fan base’s enhanced expectations were stoked by that tiny taste of last October, further legitimized by the team’s offseason spending spree on both the bullpen ($106 million) and locking up long-term ($108 million), and solidified by a rotation that’s putting up a historic year collectively.
“I thought they were getting close last year, and then with the offseason contracts — my expectations are huge this year,” explained Barbara Moore, 59, a die-hard Rockies fan who lives in Centennial. “They tried to fix the holes in the bullpen, and you see the talent they have with the starting pitching, which has gotten more seasoned. When you get that kind of talent, you just can’t waste it, because you don’t get it every year.”
Moore, who attends around a half-dozen games each year while catching the rest on TV, shares similar expectations as other well-versed Rockies fans, of which there are becoming more and more this season.
Some of those gung-ho expectations — about half of the 800-plus votes in a recent Denver Post online poll believe the Rockies will win their first division title this year — are also rooted in the realization of the team’s postseason window, as Moore points out that “we’re all worried about (Nolan) Arenado leaving, and DJ (LeMahieu) not getting another contract. The team could look a lot different next season, or the one after.”
The players themselves have heard, firsthand, the shift in fans’ thinking.
Just ask , who was booed mercilessly on numerous occasions early in the season as he struggled at the plate. Ask Bryan Shaw, and others in the much-beleaguered Colorado bullpen who have also been booed off the mound by the hometown crowd. LoDo may not be the Bronx by any means, but the recent uptick in booing is, perhaps, an indicator of how area fans are refusing to deal with the failure they once drank beer, contentedly, alongside.
“Now, there’s definitely an expectation here to be a playoff team year in and year out,” said catcher , who’s in his seventh season (and second stint) with Colorado. “The days where they’re OK with us just having a mediocre team, winning 80 games and falling short of the playoffs by five, six games are gone.”
Alas, winning, and winning consistently, can intensify a fan base quite quickly. The Rockies have done nothing but contend since manager Bud Black took the helm prior to the 2017 season, and Arenado believes “the fans understand that.”
“The group we have now is the right group. It fits our mold that we need to win,” Arenado said. “And I think (the fans) would agree. The brand of baseball that we’ve been playing recently has been a lot better than it has been in the past.”
And as Black’s recently cited ethos indicates, getting used to the pressure of playing meaningful September baseball — and the locals’ lofty annual hopes that come with that — is something the Rockies welcome.
“As this continues to happen to us, it becomes part of what we’re about,” Black said.
Looking ahead
Giants LHP Andrew Suarez (6-9, 4.19 ERA) at Rockies RHP Antonio Senzatela (4-5, 4.88), 6:40 p.m., ATTRM
and Chris Iannetta have taken Suarez deep before, and Colorado is hitting a collective .217 (10-for-46) against the left-hander. But Suarez has turned in two straight impressive outings, throwing seven scoreless innings against the Rangers on Aug. 25 before repeating the feat in a win over the Mets last week. All but one of the rookie’s 18 home runs given up this season have come to right-handed hitters, as have the vast majority of opposing RBIs. Meanwhile, Senzatela is coming off six strong innings of one-run ball in San Diego, and tossed seven shutout innings against the Giants in Colorado’s win at Coors Field on July 3.
Thursday: Off day
岹:Dodgers LHP Clayton Kershaw (6-5, 2.40) at Rockies RHP Jon Gray (11-7, 4.70), 6:40 p.m., ATTRM
Saturday: Dodgers LHP Walker Buehler (6-4, 2.92) at Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (13-7, 2.96), 6:10 p.m., ATTRM
Sunday: Dodgers LHP Alex Wood (8-6, 3.37) at Rockies LHP Tyler Anderson (6-7, 4.80), 1:10 p.m., ATTRM
