“People used to say we were the integrity of the game, that the umpires held the integrity of the game,” former Major League Baseball ump Paul Emmel told me Thursday morning. “And the integrity of the game is being removed from the umpires.

“You want to bring the technology to make people be better, bring technology to help me be better. But in this instance, I’m not sure it accomplished that goal. I think it’s removing the integrity of the game.”

The Rockies lift the lid on their 2026 season Friday in Miami with a pinch of history on the side. It’ll be the first regular-season MLB game in Colorado history to use robotic umpires — or rather, to use robo-ump oversight.

Major League Baseball this year , in which batters, pitchers or catchers can instantly appeal a ball or strike call at home plate.

All calls will be checked by a framework that utilizes the 12 Hawk-Eye cameras that are universal to all MLB parks. According to Baseball Savant, MLB’s advanced stats page, ABS will judge balls and strikes from a zone with a width of 17 inches (same as home plate), with the top of the zone altered by batter to 53.5% of a player’s listed height without cleats, and a bottom set at 27% of the player’s listed height. Strikes/balls are judged when a ball passes the middle of the plate, not the front of it.

“But each player has a different strike zone,” said Emmel, who retired in July 2024 “I don’t know if anybody (who calibrates ABS) has ever seen Greg Maddux, who can miss the front edge of the plate and hit the back of the strike zone. I don’t know if they’ve ever seen Justin Verlander’s high curveball fall from 12 to 6, hit the high side of the strike zone and then hit the catcher in the legs.”

Emmel, 57, isn’t some fogey and telling the tech kids to get off his lawn. But he is proudly old-school by nature. And an even prouder Artificial Intelligence (AI) skeptic.

The Michigan native, who made his MLB debut in 1999 and worked a World Series, three League Championship Series, eight Division Series and two All-Star games over the next two-plus decades, has seen some … stuff.

Paul recalled to me how he worked a playoff tilt once and was in the locker room pregame watching Yankees-Blue Jays on TV next to Joe Torre and Jim Leyland. All of a sudden, the strike-zone box disappeared from the broadcast feed.

“I remember calls being made,” Emmel chuckled. “And I’m paraphrasing here, but the person on the phone said that the person who set the box on the TV got tired and went home.

“So, we’re looking around the room like, ‘What?'”

Which, in hindsight, is how one becomes an AI apostate.

Look, Emmel never professed to be perfect, which is also his point. He’s been good, though —

His peers, past and present, have been getting better, too. In 2025, according to MLB, umps recorded a 92.83% accuracy rate on ball/strike calls, the best percentage ever recorded by the league, and up more than three points from 2016 (89.31%). The umpires’ 10.88 missed calls per game were down from 16.58 misses nine years earlier.

“I get it in tennis,” Emmel continued. “But what’s next for baseball (once this) conversation (moves) down the road? Right now, the only things that are out there and subjective are check swings and balks. How do you take check swings and balks out of our hands?

“I called a balk , and I was wrong. And I was right for the wrong reasons. Are they going to be able to challenge check swings? Are they going to be able to challenge balks?”

Curious, I reached out earlier this week to a current MLB umpire I know to talk about ABS. Citing league policy, he respectfully declined to comment. Emmel told me he thinks the crews dealing with the new tech are “less than cautiously optimistic … I would say very skeptical” about ABS going forward.

“We’ve seen boxes move each game. If you’ve got Aaron Judge (who stands 6-foot-7) and Jose Altuve (5-6), you’re changing the box … I know in and out, up and down. How do I know where your boxes are?

“You’re always going to have a pitch (being missed) here or there. But (with) the statistics in baseball, it all washes out in the end.”

Like a lot of us, Emmel jumped into some deep convos about the pros and cons of AI these days. He’s got friends who run businesses. He’s got friends in the tech industry. He wrestles with AI usage with UMPS CARE, a nonprofit founded by MLB umpires of which he serves as vice president.

“And I find fault (in some CEOs’) arguments,” said Emmel, who’ll host “On one hand, you can’t turn a blind eye to something new that’s coming through the tunnel. On the other hand, God creates us to be human, and that human interaction and that human empathy — those are things that aren’t computerized.”

Being 100% right on calls, being 100% certain, absolutely matters, Emmel says. But once you’ve opened Pandora’s box when it comes to homogenization in baseball, he wondered, where does it end? Variance, human variance, quirky variance, has always been at the core of The Show.

Baseball used to be the only major North American sport that didn’t use a clock of some kind. It’s still the only major North American sport in which the dimensions of the playing field vary widely by city and venue. Although Emmel wonders how long that last one will last.

“The argument was that in baseball, there are all these (quirks) we’ve used to elevate this sport in culture, and all those things were good,” Emmel said. “But now all those things seem to be bad. They didn’t have this technology back in the ’70s, when they were playing two-hour games.”

Which is why Emmel’s not a fan of the pitch clock, either. He says it takes away from conversations. And that baseball has always been a conversational game — pitcher to catcher, catcher to umpire, hitter to umpire, first baseman to runner, shortstop to second baseman, third baseman to his coach.

“The game’s gone silent,” Emmel said. “And I don’t think that’s going to save the game.”

The other day, to decompress, Emmel took a lawn chair out to a park, cracked open a 6-pack and watched some local kids play baseball. Know what? He didn’t yell at a single cloud. Not once.

“And I don’t know that I would get the same enjoyment out of going to a big-league game anymore,” Emmel sighed. “I don’t understand where it’s going.”

Michael Lorenzen has lived the spectrum this spring.

He experienced the raucous World Baseball Classic — Team Italy provided caffeine shots in the dugout — and the fist-in-the-face reality of raising the Rockies from the ashes.

At 34, he is the right arm at the right time, embracing accountability and analytics at a time when new leadership attempts to solve the Rubik’s Cube of pitching at altitude.

“I wouldn’t say I am happy with the results of my career. But I am happy with what I have learned,” Lorenzen said Thursday. “They didn’t have to convey to me what they were trying to do here. I was conveying to them that I wanted to be here. This is another challenge to run towards. I didn’t sign in Colorado to win the Cy Young. I signed because I believe I can help.”

To understand why he chose to pitch in Denver — his $8 million deal is the most the Rockies have spent on an external free agent pitcher since 2015 — you have to understand Lorenzen.

He has been on a journey of failure and faith for nearly two decades. At age 16, spiraling from bad choices and a tough home environment in Southern California, the Bible and baseball saved his life.

Hanging out at the pier and getting into trouble, he discovered faith through the words of an evangelist on the beach.

As he read scripture, he found solace on the diamond. The Tampa Bay Rays drafted him in the seventh round out of Fullerton (Calif.) Union High School, but Lorenzen chose to attend college. At Cal State Fullerton, he doubled as a center fielder and closer.

“I would just come in and kick my leg high as I could and throw hard,” Lorenzen said. “I was mad when I got drafted (again in 2013 in the first round by Cincinnati Reds) as a pitcher because I saw myself as a hitter.”

With Cincinnati, he was nicknamed “Michael Muscles” for his grapefruit-sized biceps. He was not Shohei Ohtani, but showed it was a possibility.

Lorenzen broke into the big leagues as a starter in 2015. He struggled to gain traction and spent the next six seasons coming out of the bullpen. In 2018, he posted a 3.18 ERA in 45 appearances and smashed four of his seven career home runs.

Could he be a two-way player for the Rockies?

“Maybe,” he said with a laugh. “We will see.”

Lorenzen returned to the rotation in 2022, where he remained almost exclusively for his last five teams. In 2023, he threw a no-hitter in his first home start for the Philadelphia Phillies after the Detroit Tigers traded him following an All-Star berth.

With his mother, wife and daughter in the stands, the night represented a personal zenith.

But it is not those moments that shape Lorenzen. It is how he has dealt with adversity — five losing seasons, his career a series of one-year contracts — and his willingness to experiment that make him a rudder for a rotation that posted the highest starters ERA (6.65) since it became an official stat in 1913.

Depending on the day, Lorenzen features seven or eight pitches that range from 82 to 94 mph: 4-seam fastball, curveball, cutter, sweeper, sinker, slider and changeup (which has multiple variations).

“It has become a big trend in the game. I think it����ap that much more important for us. A deep arsenal is hard on a hitter because you have to account for so many speeds and shapes,” Rockies general manager Josh Byrnes said. “That’s something that should translate at altitude. And it’s something we talked about with Michael and he embraces.”

Lorenzen walked into the Rockies clubhouse with eyes wide open. He has known new pitching coach Alon Leichman for nearly a decade, their paths crossing because of mutual interest in health and fitness.

With Rockies president Paul DePodesta empowering innovation, the pitcher and coach provide the right “open” mindset.

“You have to be your best coach, and you have to take ownership of your career. But that being said, having a group of like-minded people around me makes it way better,” said Lorenzen, who posted a 4.64 ERA in 141-plus innings for the Royals last season. “I think it will fast-track the learning curve at altitude. Going through what I have, I had to reverse engineer to build who I am now. The more comfortable I get with the information (analytics), the more I am able to share it. And I want my teammates to know I am always available to talk.”

Which brings us back to the WBC.

It provided a snapshot of Lorenzen’s value and humility. Lorenzen helped author one of the greatest upsets in tournament history, posting 4.2 scoreless innings in Italy’s 8-6 victory over Team USA.

He muzzled a lineup that included Aaron Judge, Bobby Witt and Kyle Schwarber, allowing two hits with a pair of strikeouts. He repeatedly took his foot on and off the throttle, while commanding all quadrants of the strike zone in 67 pitches.

“People ask why I wanted to throw against Team USA. Why wouldn’t I?” Lorenzen said. “That is exactly what I signed up for.”

A disappointing relief outing in the semifinals against Venezuela followed — four consecutive two-out hits resulted in three runs. This game painted a fuller picture of who Lorenzen is.

“The definition of a Christian athlete, the way I present that, is being willing to do anything necessary for the team. There should be no unselfishness. That is something I struggled with early in my career and regret,” Lorenzen said. “And that last game, I thought I was going to start, and they came and asked if I could throw out of the bullpen. I had just thrown the heck out of the ball, and, in my mind, I questioned it. It only took one outing to start thinking good about myself. It served as a reminder of where my heart needs to be.”

Now, in his 12th season, he is in Colorado. And it sure feels like it is exactly where he is supposed to be.

But just when you think society has no depth, there is Griffin Jax.

There is nothing manufactured about his patriotism. He lives “O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave” every day.

Jax is the first Air Force Academy graduate to play in the major leagues. He remains a captain in the reserves.

Last week, after watching the gold medal hockey teams in Italy, after listening to Aaron Judge’s inspirational speech, after looking down at the jersey on his chest, Jax had to pinch himself.

A man who works for his country in recruiting future cadets was representing his country in the World Baseball Classic.

“It takes me back to my heritage and what I used to do at Air Force,” Jax told The Post. “It����ap pretty humbling to come full circle in this moment.”

Monday, Jax, 31, took the mound in the eighth inning against Mexico in Houston.

With the United States clinging to a 5-3 lead, Jax stared down Alejandro Kirk, who represented the tying run. Jax fell behind 3-0 in the count, then went to work. He induced a double-play groundball to shortstop Bobby Witt.

Jax did not bother restraining emotion. Being draped in red, white and blue brought out a jubilant scream as he headed to the dugout.

“When Judge spoke to the team (on the first day of practice), it got us fired up. It kind of put it in perspective. You are not just doing it for yourself, your family and your team back home — it����ap for the whole country,” Jax said. “You got to see it with the hockey teams and how everyone was tuned in. The WBC is not on the same scale as the Olympics, but it is as close as we can get right now.”

The performance resonated beyond the outs recorded. Monday’s starting pitcher, Paul Skenes, who attended Air Force for two years and wants to serve in the military after he retires, and Jax hosted the Air Force baseball team at Daikin Park.

“It was frickin’ electric!” Air Force coach Mike Kazlausky said Tuesday as his club returned home from a weekend series against Baylor. “For both to pitch in the game with us in attendance and speak to our men after, (it was) powerful. I am so grateful that Griff and Paul remember their roots and where they came from. … They both said to our players that it was the biggest moment of their careers, going out to the mound wearing a Team USA jersey. It gives me goosebumps thinking about it. I am so proud of them.”

Paths to the big leagues are never identical, and rarely linear. Jax’s story is a testament to resilience and patience. His family, father Garth and mother Elizabeth, and twin brothers Carson and Parker, moved to Denver when Jax was in eighth grade.

It accelerated his baseball journey. He developed into a star at Cherry Creek High School, leading the Bruins to a 2012 state championship. He swung a powerful bat and anchored the pitching staff.

The Phillies drafted him in the 12th round in 2013. With only a few weeks to decide on a professional career or college, Jax headed to Colorado Springs.

“He played third base and had a great slider. And he had all the leadership qualities,” said retired former Bruins coach Marc Johnson. “When I think of Griff, what stands out is who he is. As a person, he is as good as gold. He didn’t go to the Air Force to be a professional athlete. He didn’t know if that would happen. He went there to make a difference.”

Truth is, Jax began preparing for life after baseball following his first two seasons with the Falcons. He posted a 6-18 record with a 5.49 ERA.

“I didn’t really know what pro ball looked like or might look like when I went to the Air Force. The rule was you could go play, but I wasn’t as good as I thought I was. I got humbled very quickly in Division I baseball,” Jax said. “I remember calling my parents all the time, saying this might be it for me, that it was time to plan for a full-time career in the military.”

Following his sophomore year, Jax played for the Eau Claire Express, a collegiate summer team based in Wisconsin. The Northwoods League featured top players from around the country. In a new environment, Jax learned from teammates and began to view baseball through a different lens. In his junior year, he was named Mountain West co-Conference Pitcher of the Year, going 9-2 with a 2.05 ERA and 90 strikeouts after harnessing command of his off-speed pitches and demonstrating “competitive fire that I have never seen from anyone I have ever met at The Academy,” Kazlausky said.

The Twins took Jax in the third round, fully aware of the commitment Jax owed the Air Force after graduation. He started sparingly in the minors in 2017 and 2018 and after a breakout season, COVID-19 hit in 2020, and he did not pitch.

Giving it one last season before leaving the sport, Jax prospered and made his big league debut on June 8, 2021. He eventually transitioned from a starter to a trusted reliever for the Minnesota Twins before they traded him to Tampa Bay last summer.

“My road has been pretty rocky,” said Jax, whose father played 10 years in the NFL with the Cowboys and Cardinals as a linebacker.

“But I never stopped loving it. Baseball was always the sport I was drawn to the most. It’s what I remember playing with my buddies growing up. You learn something new everyday and it keeps you young.”

Jax remains tethered to The Academy. His wife, Savannah, is a captain in the Air Force and his brothers are pilots. They were part of a flyover before the Twins game on Sept. 11, 2024, with Parker in a F-35 Lightning II jet and Carson throwing out the ceremonial first pitch to Griff.

Jax transitioned to the reserves in 2019 and works remotely from Phoenix, recognizing he is better suited to help with his feet on the ground.

“I answer questions from kids about what life as an officer looks like, what school looks like,” Jax said. “I did get a ride in an F-16 during my sophomore year. It felt like I ran a marathon. I was wrecked for like three days. I threw up. Lost weight. It was the coolest thing ever. But I don’t know if I could handle that. It is not as glamorous as ‘Top Gun.'”

Jax laughed as he told the story. Then, he looked up. He was standing on a back field at Papago Park watching Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber and Judge take batting practice.

The sun was beaming. And there was not a cloud in the sky.

“When (Team USA manager Mark) DeRosa called in October to ask me to do this, it was the quickest yes of my life,” Jax said. “It is crazy to think about. The 10-year-old boy in me would be so eyes wide and mouth open, not believing it.”

The third overall pick in the 2024 draft wants to make his major league debut this season and believes it’s possible.

“I think about that a lot,” the Rockies’ No. 2 prospect and potential first baseman of the future said last week as he settled in to his first big-league camp.

“But it’s not what I’m worried about, it’s not what I’m playing for,” the softspoken product out of Georgia continued. “I’m trying to play the best baseball I can. But every guy in this locker room, and the guys in the (minor league) locker down the hallway, wants to get to Denver and help the Rockies win up there.”

Several of the players drafted before and after Condon in the first round have already made their marks, or are about to. Condon might not keep track of such things, but sportswriters do:

• Second baseman Travis Bazzana, the No. 1 overall pick out of Oregon State, finished last season with Triple-A Columbus after a painful summer, but word out of Guardians camp is that his major league debut is on the horizon. Bazzana played just 84 games in 2025. First, he suffered a right oblique strain in May while playing with Double-A Akron, missing almost two months. Then he missed the final week of Columbus’s season with a left oblique strain. Bazzana ended up slashing .245/.389/.424 with 17 doubles, five triples, nine homers, 39 RBIs over 374 plate appearances.

• Right-hander pitcher Chase Burns, selected second overall by the Reds out of Wake Forest, debuted last season, going 0-3 with a 4.57 ERA in 13 games (eight starts). He’s in the mix to break camp as part of Cincinnati’s starting rotation.
• The big winner of the ’24 draft, at least so far, was the Athletics, who drafted first baseman Nick Kurtz with the fourth pick out of Wake Forest. On his way to being named American League rookie of the year, Kurtz hit 36 home runs with 86 RBIs in 117 games, joining superstars Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani as one of only three players with at least 400 plate appearances to post an OPS over 1.000.
• Konnor Griffin, picked ninth overall by the Pirates out of Jackson Prep High School in Jackson, Miss., is just 19. He’s currently the top prospect on almost all of the charts, and he’s being talked about as a generational player. He has a real shot to break camp as Pittsburgh’s starting shortstop.
• Of course, there are cautionary tales, too. Jac Caglianone, picked sixth overall out of Florida, debuted last season and played 62 games with the Royals. After a sizzling start, he posted a .157/.237/.295 slash line with seven homers.

However, Caglianone was sensational in the minors, slashing .337/.408/.617 in 66 games between Double-A and Triple-A last year until his season was curtailed by injuries.

Which brings us back to Condon, who could debut this season, though not likely until the second half. His infant career has been slowed by injuries, and initially, he had a tough time adjusting to pro ball.

In 2024, at High-A  Spokane, he tried to play through a left-hand injury before shutting down late in the season, finishing with 35 games played. He hit just .180, with one home run and 34 strikeouts in 109 plate appearances.

Then, last year, Condon broke his right wrist diving for a ball in his first minor league spring training game and missed all of April. He worked his way through the Arizona Fall League before debuting with Double-A Hartford on July 2. In 35 games for the Yard Goats, he hit .235 with 11 home runs.

“My first quarter of pro ball wasn’t what I wanted or what anyone thought it would be,” Condon said of his time at Spokane. “And then I was really excited last year at this time, to show up and show the true version of myself. I felt really good and then the broken wrist happened.”

It was, he admits, a huge blow.

“I felt like I had put myself in a really good spot to cruise through camp, put up some good numbers and then roll into the season,” he said. “Then something like that happens. So, you have to slow yourself down and think things through. I guess it was really just a test of patience and a test of being able to be in your shoes wherever you are.”

But it took some time to grasp that kind of insight.

“It’s way easier to speak about it that way now, in hindsight,”  he said. “There was definitely that first week after I broke my wrist where I wasn’t in the best spot mentally. I was upset about what happened, and I wished I could go back and change it. But there was obviously no way to do that.”

Now he can only move forward.

“I have faith in my abilities, I know what I can do,” he said. “Now I get a chance to show what I can do in my first big-league camp.”

So, call me surprised when, at last week’s winter meetings in Orlando, several fellow scribes approached me to talk about the Rockies in a semi-positive way. The common theme? “At least they’re doing something different!”

Under the guidance of executive vice president Walker Monfort, Colorado hired Paul DePodesta as the president of baseball operations and Josh Byrnes as general manager. Owner Dick Monfort is no longer steering the Rockies’ future.

There is, genuinely, a fresh outlook taking hold in LoDo. Talking with DePodesta, Byrnes, and manager Warren Schaeffer, it was tempting to let optimism override my cynicism.

Until one national writer, who has intense disdain for the way the Rockies run their show, quipped: “Hey, maybe they won’t lose 100 again.”

See, I told you we’re a cynical bunch.

Schaeffer, one of the least cynical people I know, fired off the prime quote of the Rockies’ offseason when he said, “The ultimate goal is to bring consistent winning seasons to this organization. You’re going to see winning baseball in Denver a lot sooner than you think.”

Refreshing, for sure. But for a team coming off three consecutive 100-loss seasons, capped off by 119 losses in 2025, that’s a reach. Keep in mind that the New York Mets lost 100-plus games in five of their first six years of existence, including four in a row from 1962-65. The ’25 Rockies were every bit as bad as those Mets.

It’s impossible to forget that Colorado’s run differential was minus-424. Here, I must

“No team had been outscored by that many runs in a season since the infamous 1899 Cleveland Spiders, an outfit that lost 134 games. Because baseball’s modern era is considered to have begun in 1900, that means the Rockies just broke the modern-era record.

“Except that ‘broke’ doesn’t even begin to describe this. “Obliterated” feels more like it. So let����ap put what they did into a better perspective.

“The previous modern record for worst run differential was minus-349, by the 1932 Boston Red Sox. That one held up for 92 years. Then these Rockies blew past it by 75 runs. That����ap the equivalent of Aaron Judge or Cal Raleigh breaking Barry Bonds’ single-season MLB home run record (of 73) by hitting 89.”

Stark didn’t even mention that Colorado’s rotation posted a 6.65 ERA, the worst for a starting staff since ERA became an official stat in 1913.

Which brings us to the second-best quote of the Rockies’ offseason.

“I’ve used this phrase before, but I’m a bit of a sucker for a challenge,” DePodesta said at last month’s general managers’ meetings in Las Vegas, shortly after he was hired.

And Colorado’s Mount Everest of a challenge is fixing their pitching. If the Rockies want to make progress in 2026, here’s what they must do during the offseason.

Acquire at least one, preferably two, experienced starting pitchers. We’re not talking Paul Skenes here; we’re talking about No. 4 or No. 5 starters — innings eaters — who could provide the team with some stability and slow down the losing treadmill.

Veterans would also give Colorado’s young prospects a chance to mature. Because, in retrospect, Chase Dollander, the Rockies’ most talented pitcher, was not ready for the majors in 2025.

“First and foremost, probably like everybody, we’re looking for starting pitching,” DePodesta said at the winter meetings. “That����ap an area of focus. It����ap an area where we need to improve, certainly off last year’s club. We’ve got some depth, because we have some younger guys that are making their way through the system.

“I also believe, hopefully, with some of this pitching leadership we hope to bring on board, that we’ll get even more out of some of those guys. But certainly being able to acquire a couple starting pitchers is on our to-do list — not necessarily in the next 48 hours maybe, but certainly offer the course of this offseason.”

But to get something good on the mound, the Rockies will likely have to give up something good in the outfield. That could mean trading two-time Gold Glove center fielder Brenton Doyle, as painful as that might be.

Doyle’s an intriguing player, and teams asked about him at the trade deadline in July. He has four years of arbitration eligibility remaining, and his 2026 salary will likely be $3 to $3.5 million. Despite his struggles at the plate last season, he’s an attractive player with a big upside.

In the past, the Rockies would probably not even be open to trading Doyle, but if they want to bring winning baseball to Denver “sooner than we think,” they might have to.

Nine months later, it appears to be the best thing to happen to both parties.

ESPN has a reworked deal that includes out-of-market streaming rights while NBC and Netflix will air games as part of a new three-year media rights agreement announced by MLB on Wednesday.

“I think it����ap really important that we manage to continue a relationship with ESPN. They’ve been kind of the bedrock of our broadcast program for a long time,” baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said.

NBC/Peacock will become the new home of “Sunday Night Baseball” and the Wild Card Series while Netflix will have the Home Run Derby and two additional games.

The three deals will average nearly $800 million per year. ESPN will still pay $550 million while the NBC deal is worth $200 million and Netflix $50 million.

How ESPN benefits

ESPN, which has carried baseball since 1990, loses postseason games and the Home Run Derby but gains something more valuable for its bottom line by becoming the rights holder for MLB.TV, which will be available on the ESPN app.

ESPN also gets the in-market streaming rights for the six teams whose games are produced by MLB: San Diego, Colorado, Arizona, Cleveland, Minnesota and Seattle.

Even though ESPN no longer has “Sunday Night Baseball,” it will have 30 exclusive games, primarily on weeknights and in the summer months.

“We’re excited to have a midweek package back out there,” Manfred said. “This is an evolution of a relationship. Long relationships go through these things, and it����ap an evolution that I think is significant. I think it is consonant with ESPN’s focus on streaming going forward.”

Baseball is the second league that has its out-of-market digital package available in the U.S. on ESPN’s platform. The NHL moved its package to ESPN in 2021.

Welcome back, NBC

NBC, which celebrates its 100th anniversary next year, has a long history with baseball, albeit not much recently. The network carried games from 1939 through 1989. It was part of the short-lived Baseball Network with ABC in 1994 and ’95 and then aired playoff games from 1996 through 2000.

Its first game will be on March 26 when the defending two-time champion Los Angeles Dodgers host the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The 25 Sunday night games will air mostly on NBC with the rest on the new NBC Sports Network. All will stream on Peacock.

The first “Sunday Night Baseball” game on NBC will be April 12 with the next one in May after the NBA playoffs.

The addition of baseball games gives NBC a year-around night of sports on Sunday nights. It has had NFL games on Sunday night since 2006 and will debut an NBA Sunday night slate in February.

NBC will also have a prime-time game on Labor Day night.

The Sunday early-afternoon games also return to Peacock, which had them in 2022 and ’23. The early-afternoon games will lead into a studio Whip-Around Show before the Sunday night game.

NBC/Peacock will also do the Major League Futures game on the day before the Home Run Derby and coverage of the first round of the amateur draft on the Saturday heading into the All-Star break.

Netflix and baseball

Netflix’s baseball deals are in alignment with its strategy of going for big events in a major sport. The streamer will have an NFL Christmas doubleheader this season for the second straight year.

Besides the Home Run Derby, Netflix will have the first game of the season on March 25 when three-time AL MVP Aaron Judge and the New York Yankees visit the San Francisco Giants. It also has the Home Run Derby and the Field of Dreams game at Dyersville, Iowa, on Aug. 13, when Minnesota faces Philadelphia. Netflix will stream a MLB special event game each year.

Don’t forget the others

The negotiations around the other deals were complicated due to the fact that MLB was also trying not to slight two of its other rights holders. MLB receives an average of $729 million from Fox and $470 million from Turner Sports per year under deals which expire after the 2028 season.

Fox’s Saturday nights have been mainly sports the past couple years with a mix of baseball, college football, college basketball and motorsports.

Apple TV has had “Friday Night Baseball” since 2022.

The deals also set up Manfred for future negotiations. He would like to see MLB take a more national approach to its rights instead of a large percentage of its games being on regional sports networks.

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AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum contributed to this report.

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AP MLB:

It is one thing to insist the Avalanche and Nuggets should win another championship, and it is another thing for them to show us.

The connective tissue binding these two teams was on full display this week.

Thursday night, the Avs clobbered the Sabres. Gavin Brindley illustrated the depth without Valeri Nichushkin, and Mackenzie Blackwood hinted of the emergence of a two-headed goalie monster. But Gabe Landeskog’s goal at the 18:11 mark pulled the curtain back on the chemistry in the room. Martin Necas passed up a hat trick to pass to the captain for the empty netter. He retrieved the puck after his miss and put it on Landeskog’s stick.

This is the type of stuff that matters in title runs, where respect and caring about teammates matter more than personal stats.

Which brings us to Nikola Jokic.

He poured in 55 points in a win over the Clippers, marking the first time Denver has won when he reached 50. So what makes this special? The fact that he did not want to do it, and the efficiency (18 of 23 from the floor). Jokic could score like this every night. He is inevitable, if not unguardable. But he is an all-time great — and will be in the top 10 after another MVP award this season — because he plays the right way. Motion. Hit the open man. Get the ball to the streaking player in transition. He only poured 55 in Los Angeles because it was required with Cam Johnson (elbow) and Christian Braun (ankle) injured and the Clippers guarding him one-on-one.

His style reflects the Latin phrase coach David Adelman placed in the practice facility that reads, “Age quod agi.” Translated it means, “do well whatever you do.” It is a reminder to players to be present, to enjoy the moment, to play for one another.

Nobody wins a title in November. But the actions of Necas and Jokic are the bread crumbs we can follow to a downtown parade.

No Justice: The Yankees’ Aaron Judge won his third American League MVP award. He was an offensive monster. But this was a swing-and-miss by voters. Cal Raleigh deserved it. Everything about his season screamed special. He paced the AL in home runs and RBIs, set a new dinger record for a switch hitter and led the Mariners to their first division title since 2001. Did we mention he is a catcher? The metrics did not love him this season, but he was the platinum winner a year ago and was certainly functional. That has more value than an outfielder playing half his games in a stadium smaller than Williamsport . Judge won. Congratulations. History will show the trophy should have gone to Raleigh.

Bye George: Rick George going bye George, transitioning from his athletic director’s post to an advisory role at CU, bears watching. He is the sole reason that Deion Sanders is the Buffs coach. It is fair to assume the pressure will increase on Coach Prime to get the program back on track under a new boss. Most people believe Sanders answers to no one. That might be true. But he will be answering to someone if his fourth season in charge looks like his first and third ones.

Moneyball: Dick Monfort revealed this week that he saw “Moneyball” around the time the movie came out in 2011. But not for the character Paul Brand, but the man playing him. “I am a big Jonah Hill fan. I liked it just because I loved Jonah. I knew later that it was Paul.” That would be Paul DePodesta, the Rockies’ new head of baseball operations. Former general manager Dan O’Dowd vetted many of the Rockies’ candidates, and he signed off DePodesta. That carried a lot of weight with the Monforts, Dick and son Walker. It might not work. But an outside hire was always the right choice.

10 of the ’25 Rockies’ gnarliest numbers

The 2025 Rockies put up some ugly statistics on their way to the worst season in franchise history. Here are 10 of the gnarliest:

Minus-424: Run differential, the worst in Major League Baseball’s modern era, and the worst in Rockies history by a wide margin. The 2024 Rockies were outscored by a “mere” 247 runs.

.237: Lowest team batting average. Last year’s club hit .242, which had been the worst.

.679: Team OPS, the lowest in franchise history, eclipsing the ’24 team’s .704 OPS. The six worst OPS numbers in team history have come in the last six seasons.

1.582: The 2025 pitching staff gave up a lot of hits and walks, but its WHIP is only the fourth-worst in team history. The 1999 staff had the highest at 1.705.

3.69: Runs scored per game, the fewest in club history. Four of the five lowest-scoring seasons have come since 2022.

6.65: Starting pitchers’ ERA, the worst, by far, in club history. The 1999 rotation posted a 6.19 ERA.

18: Times the Rockies were shut out this season. The old record for being blanked was 16 times, last done in 2021.

251: Home runs allowed by Rockies pitchers, the second most behind the 2019 staff that served up a record 270 homers.

1,021: Runs scored against, second only to the 1999 club, which saw opponents score 1,028 runs.

1,531: Strikeouts for hitters this season, fourth-most in franchise history. The 2024 club whiffed a team-record 1,607 times.

A dreadful three-year run for Rockies baseball

The 2025 Rockies lost 119 games in 2025. It marks the third consecutive season that the Rockies topped 100 losses — the worst three-season stretch in franchise history. As bad as that three-year run has been, it doesn’t rank among the top 10 worst in Major League Baseball’s modern era (since 1901). Here’s how the 2023-25 Rockies compare.

Rank	Seasons	Team	Record (Win %)
1	1915-17	Philadelphia Athletics	134-324 (.293)
2	1940-42	Philadelphia Phillies	135-323 (.295)
3	1962-64	New York Mets	144-340 (.295)
4	1939-41	Philadelphia Phillies	138-320 (.301)
5	1919-21	Philadelphia Athletics	137-310 (.306)
6	1938-40	Philadelphia Phillies	140-314 (.308)
7	1909-11	Boston Doves/Rustlers (Braves)	142-315 (.311)
8	1937-39	St. Louis Browns (Orioles)	144-316 (.313)
9	1925-27	Boston Red Sox	144-315 (.314)
10	1952-54	Pittsburgh Pirates	145-317 (.314)
	2023-25	Colorado Rockies	163-323 (.335)

Source: Baseball Reference.

In trouble from the start

The 2025 Colorado Rockies’ starting rotation was statistically one of the worst in baseball’s modern era (since 1901). The following are the top-10 worst rotations, ranked by ERA:

Rank	Team	Season	ERA	Record	Win %	HRs	Avg.
1	Colorado Rockies	2025	6.654	22-93	.191	152	.307
2	Detroit Tigers	1996	6.643	29-80	.266	153	.303
3	St. Louis Browns	1939	6.34	33-93	.262	85	.314
4	Texas Rangers	2003	6.24	47-65	.420	147	.296
5	Colorado Rockies	1999	6.19	49-65	.430	159	.301
6	Philadelphia Phillies	1930	6.15	42-85	.331	107	.336
7	Minnesota Twins	1995	6.11	35-69	.337	135	.294
8	Philadelphia Phillies	1929	6.03	52-66	.441	90	.321
9	St. Louis Browns	1937	6.01	36-93	.279	111	.313
10	Texas Rangers	2001	6.00	51-58	.468	142	.304

Source: Opta Stats/Colorado Rockies/Baseball Reference

Scoreboard tells the story

The 2025 Rockies set the record for the worst run differential in a season during Major League Baseball’s modern era (since 1901).

Year	Team	Run differential
2025	Colorado Rockies	minus-424
1932	Boston Red Sox	minus-349
1915	Philadelphia Athletics	minus-344
2023	Oakland Athletics	minus-399
2003	Detroit Tigers	minus-337
2019	Detroit Tigers	minus-333
1954	Philadelphia Athletics	minus-333
1962	New York Mets	minus-331
1936	Philadelphia Athletics	minus-331
1916	Philadelphia Athletics	minus-329

Source: Baseball Reference

The Top 10 worst teams in modern Major League Baseball history

A look at the 10 worst teams in modern MLB history by number of losses, a list that includes the 2025 Colorado Rockies.

1.  

Record: 41-121 (.248)

Chicago topped the Mets’ longstanding record, losing 21 straight at one point and posting an ungodly 35% save percentage.

2.

Record: 40-120-1��(.250)

The first-year Mets had a roster of cast-offs from the expansion draft. Seven years later, New York won the World Series.

T-3.

Record: 43-119��(.265)

The Tigers won five of their final six games to avoid passing the Mets. But the rebuild worked, leading to a pennant in 2006.

T-3.

Record: 43-119 (.265)

Colorado had a club-record 13 rookies, set an MLB record for worst run differential and spent $27 million on an injured Kris Bryant.

5.

Record: 36-117-1��(.235)

With the lowest winning percentage of any modern team, all-time winningest manager Connie Mack’s squad hit just 19 homers all year.

T-6.

Record: 47-115��(.290)

The O’s tore down their roster at the trade deadline to launch a rebuild and finished 61 games out of first place in the AL East.

��-6.��

Record: 38-115��(.248)

Babe Ruth played 28 games for the Braves in his final season, batting just .181; Boston had 14-game and 15-game losing streaks.

8.

Record: 47-114 (.292)

The Tigers were an awful offensive club, racking up 1,595 strikeouts with just 149 homers; team was plagued by injuries after a 7-3 start.

9.

Record: 38-113-6 (.252)

Led by two player/managers, first catcher Malachi Kittridge and then outfielder Patsy Donovan, the Senators were shut out 27 times.

T-10.

Record: 50-112 (.309)

In the A’s worst season since moving to Oakland in 1968, the team had the lowest batting average (.223) and fewest runs (585) in MLB.

T-10.

Record: 50-112-2 (.309)

Slightly better than the ’62 team, the Mets lost 43 games after leading, were shut out 22 times, and had a .259 road win percentage.

T-10.

��𳦴ǰ���:��42-112-1��(.273)

The Pirates were a career low for Hall of Fame executive Branch Rickey. They started and finished poorly; lost 35 games by five-plus runs.

Top 10 most embarrassing losses of the Rockies’ worst season ever

The Rockies set the modern record for worst run differential. Here’s a look at their 10 most embarrassing losses of 2025.

Padres 21, Rockies 0

Date: May 10 at Coors Field

The carnage: In the season’s worst loss, San Diego blasted Colorado starter Bradley Blalock for 12 runs in three-plus innings, including a five-run opening frame. Colorado mustered five hits to the Padres’ 24, and San Diego hit five homers as the Rockies became the sixth team in the modern era to lose by 21 or more runs in a shutout. The next day, the Rockies fired manager Bud Black.

They said it: “You never want to be in that position as a team, unless you’re winning,” catcher Jacob Stallings said.

Date: July 26 at Camden Yards

The carnage: In Baltimore’s largest shutout win in franchise history, the Rockies were already down 8-0 when the Orioles reeled off nine runs in the seventh. Colorado only had two hits while Baltimore had 18. Zach Agnos and Nick Anderson were both shelled in the seventh as Baltimore batted around in the frame, and then some. The Rockies got just one runner into scoring position.

They said it: “It����ap kind of one of those nights. I feel like everybody for the most part put good swings on the ball,” interim Baltimore manager Tony Mansolino said.

Blue Jays 20, Rockies 1

�ٲ��ٱ�:��Aug. 6 at Coors Field

The carnage: In a showdown between Colorado products Kevin Gausman (Grandview) and Kyle Freeland (Thomas Jefferson), the Rockies went up 1-0 in the first on Ezequiel Tovar’s RBI double. It was all Blue Jays from there as they racked up 24 hits and posted eight runs in the ninth. It capped a one-sided sweep in which Toronto set a modern MLB record with 63 hits in a three-game series.

They said it: “Pretty absurd,” Gausman said of Toronto’s hit total in the series.

Blue Jays 15, Rockies 1

�ٲ��ٱ�:��Aug. 4 at Coors Field

The carnage: In the opener of that historically lopsided series, Bo Bichette summoned his Blake Street Bombers bloodline with two homers and six RBIs. It was 9-0 by the time the Rockies got their run in the fifth, and eight of Toronto’s nine starters had multiple hits. Colorado starter Tanner Gordon was pummeled for seven runs through two plus innings; the bullpen didn’t fare much better.

They said it: “I just tried to make quality pitches, but they put the ball in play,” Gordon said. “… I’m sure that the bullpen doesn’t like me right now.”

Brewers 17, Rockies 2

�ٲ��ٱ�:��April 9 at Coors Field

The carnage: In a defeat that was an omen for the rest of the season, the Rockies didn’t stand a chance against Milwaukee. The Brewers rocked Antonio Senzatela early, then Seth Halvorsen late, and Colorado made four errors, including errors by Gold Glovers Ezequiel Tovar and Brenton Doyle in the same game for the first time.

They said it: “They hit the ball out of the ballpark,” Senzatela said. “Huge mistakes by me. I have to keep the ball down.”

Braves 12, Rockies 4

�ٲ��ٱ�:��June 13 at Truist Park

The carnage: The Rockies had a 4-1 lead entering the sixth inning, but the bullpen unraveled. Jake Bird and Victor Vodnik were both pegged for three runs apiece; Ryan Rolison allowed five runs. Colorado made four errors, tying a season high. The team was 4 for 14 with RISP as part of a season-long trend. The next day, the Rockies set a season-high with 19 strikeouts.

They said it: “We’ve got to get the job done — execution-wise — when runners are aboard,” interim manager Warren Schaeffer said.

Yankees 13, Rockies 1

Date: May 24 at Coors Field

The carnage: The game was tied 1-1, then the wheels fell off. In a 10-run fifth inning — the most runs allowed in a frame by the Rockies all year — the Yankees blew it open in front of a heavy pro-New York crowd. A Kyle Freeland throwing error jump-started the big inning, which also featured a weird play where second baseman Adael Amador’s glove flew off in the direction of a line drive.

They said it: “Life is like baseball. You can have a really good game and then follow it up with a really bad one,” Amador said. “It����ap a normal feeling, but not a great one.”

Tigers 11, Rockies 1

�ٲ��ٱ�:��May 8 at Coors Field

The carnage: After Detroit rolled to a 10-2 win in the first game of a doubleheader, the Tigers stomped Colorado in the second game, too. The minus-18 run differential tied a franchise record for the largest negative run differential in a doubleheader sweep in franchise history. Colorado didn’t have an extra-base hit in Game 2, made two errors and reliever Tyler Kinley got lit up.

They said it: “We’re playing a bad brand of baseball, all the way around,” Kyle Freeland said after Game 1 of the doubleheader. “Pitching, fielding, hitting. It����ap bad.”

Mets 13, Rockies 5

�ٲ��ٱ�:��June 8 at Coors Field

The carnage: The Mets put on a home run clinic in LoDo, mashing six homers, including a pair off prized rookie right-hander Chase Dollander. It was a performance that underscored Dollander’s inconsistent season — especially at Coors. The six long balls given up were tied for the second-most at home in franchise history.

They said it: “To be honest with you, I’m not really doing my job right now,” Dollander said.

Dodgers 9, Rockies 0

�ٲ��ٱ�:��Sept. 10 at Dodger Stadium

The carnage: The Rockies managed just eight hits over the three-game series in L.A., including nearly getting no-hit in the opener. The Dodgers won the season series 11-2, and in the Sept. 10 thumping, Colorado notched only two hits and struck out 17 times as Blake Snell dominated.

They said it: “The changeup got us from Snell,” interim manager Warren Schaeffer said. “Spin got us last night, and spin got us the night before that. So, overall, it was a tough series for us.”

5 weird moments from Rockies’ bizarre lost season

The Rockies’ 2025 season wasn’t just about the mounting number of losses; it was about weird moments, games, innings, and trends. Here are five of them:

Slip of the glove

Date: May 24

Synopsis: The Yankees bludgeoned the Rockies, 13-1, on a Saturday afternoon at Coors Field. In the Yanks’ 10-run fifth inning, Rockies second baseman Adael Amador threw his glove at Paul Goldschmidt’s line-drive, run-scoring single to right field. Amador’s glove didn’t come close to hitting the ball, but if it had, Goldschmidt would have been awarded three bases.

They said it: “I didn’t have the glove tight on my hand. When I jumped up, the glove slipped off.” — Adael Amador

Purple pain

Date: June 25

Synopsis: Rookie right-hander Chase Dollander blanked the Dodgers for five innings at Coors, but in the top of the sixth, lightning crashed and the sky opened up. With two on and two out, Max Muncy hit a sky-high pop-up to the right side of the infield, where Colorado second baseman Thairo Estrada was ready to make the play. But Estrada lost the ball amid the rain and lights and covered his head. First baseman Michael Toglia covered his head, too, and was startled when the ball landed a few feet from him. Dalton Rushin and Shohei Ohtani scored easily, giving the Dodgers a 2-0 lead. After a lengthy rain delay, the Dodgers cruised to an 8-1 victory.

They said it: “You can’t control Mother Nature, you can’t control a bunch of things.” — Chase Dollander

Wild night in LoDo

Date: Aug. 1

Synopsis: The Pirates scored nine runs in their first at-bat and led 16-10 after six innings, but the Rockies roared back with five runs in the ninth, winning the 3-hour, 37-minute score-a-thon on Brenton Doyle’s two-run homer. Colorado’s 17-16 victory at Coors marked just the 13th time in baseball’s modern era (since 1901) that a team allowed 16 runs and won. The Rockies also did it on July 4, 2008, beating the Marlins 18-17 at Coors.

They said it: “That����ap got to be the most incredible game I’ve ever been involved in, hands down, with all the stuff that went into it.” — Manager Warren Schaeffer

Catcher in the raw

Date: Aug. 6

Synopsis: With the Blue Jays leading 12-1 entering the ninth, Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer waved the white flag, sending catcher Austin Nola to the mound. Four consecutive doubles, two homers and eight runs later, the Blue Jays had a 20-1 lead. The Blue Jays swept the three-game series, outscoring the Rockies 45-6 and hitting 13 homers. Colorado pitchers gave up 63 hits — the most ever compiled in baseball history over a three-game series. Austin Nola, whose brother is Philadelphia pitcher Aaron Nola, played the role of the good soldier.

They said it: “I’m sure I’m gonna get a text from Aaron. I’ll just blame it on (the hitter-friendly altitude of) Colorado or something.” — Austin Nola

Subject to ejection

Date: Sept. 2

Synopsis: Two batters and eight pitches into the game, Rockies left-hander Kyle Freeland served up a towering, two-run homer to the Giants’ Rafael Devers. After Devers dramatically flipped his bat and began a slow-motion trot, Freeland screamed some choice words, telling Devers to quit showboating. What started as a war of words quickly evolved into a bench-clearing fracas. Freeland was ejected, San Francisco third baseman Matt Chapman was suspended one game for shoving Freeland, and the Giants’ Willy Adames and Devers were fined. The Giants won, 7-4, handing the Rockies their 100th loss of the season.

They said it: “Extremely disrespectful to show me up like that in the first inning after hitting a home run. Standing there, watching it, taking your sweet time getting down to first base.” — Kyle Freeland.

Tuesday’s game featured the lowly Miami Marlins against the historically bad Rockies. Storm clouds were building, and lightning was crackling. But Marion didn’t care. He was ready to watch his 75th game of the season.

“I just love baseball,” explained the 32-year-old transplant from Long Island, N.Y. “It’s a struggle, but I keep showing up. At the end of the day, you still see some great baseball, even if it’s by the other team.”

The lifelong Yankees fan transferred his loyalty to the Rockies when he moved to Denver eight years ago. He’s a season-ticket holder, but he’s having second thoughts after watching the Rockies bumble their way to their third straight 100-loss season.

“It’s frustrating, it really is,” said Marion, who wore a Brenton Doyle Rockies jersey to the game. “And it’s tough to justify renewing my season tickets again. I’m still on the fence about it.”

“On the fence” should make Rockies owner Dick Monfort nervous, because cracks are appearing in his team’s bulletproof attendance record. The club was averaging 29,386 fans per game, entering the weekend series vs. the Angels, still remarkable for a team on pace to lose 117 games.

Following the weekend series, the Rockies’ total attendance at Coors Field finished at 2,404,613, an average of 30,058 per game, the worst home attendance since 2007. In 2018, the last time the Rockies had a winning team and made the playoffs, they averaged 37,233 per game.

“It’s a team in complete disarray,” said Bill Brown, who sat one row ahead of Marion. “The team is in trouble.”

Brown, 68, lives in Littleton. He came to Colorado 45 years ago. He buys his tickets from friends who are longtime season-ticket holders. Brown and his wife, Judy, have gone to six games this year.

“We used to go to 12 or 15,” Brown said. “It’s hard to find games that my wife will come to when the Rockies have maybe a 40% chance of winning. This is pretty much rock bottom. We brought our son to a game earlier this year, and it looked like all of the Rockies on the field were making the league minimum.”

Judy chimed in, “It’s pretty sad. I would like us to be competitive again; give us at least a 50-50 chance of winning. They just don’t invest enough in this team.”

On Tuesday night, in front of an announced crowd of 22,764, the Rockies lost, 6-5. The game was interrupted by a 1-hour, 1-minute rain delay. By the time the game ended, soggy and cold Coors was practically a ghost town.

Afterward, veteran starting pitcher Kyle Freeland, who did not pitch well, was asked what his message is for disgruntled fans. Freeland, a Denver native and graduate of Thomas Jefferson High School, didn’t hold back.

“I’m from Denver, so I hate this,” he said. “It’s hard to send a positive message out to fans right now. Three straight 100-loss seasons, sniffing an MLB record this year (for the most losses). Not a lot has gone correctly for us, and what has gone right has been mostly in the second half.

“We have been playing much better baseball lately, but the consistency is still not there. I really don’t know what to say to the fans right now. This is a very rough time for Colorado Rockies baseball. We’re not out here trying to lose. We want to win games, we want to be in the playoff hunt, we want to be in a division hunt, but we’re not. You can’t snap your fingers and make it happen.”

Interim manager Warren Schaeffer, who wants a chance to turn things around next season, is trying to send a positive message to the fans who have witnessed seven consecutive losing seasons.

“First of all, thank you so much for sticking with us through this tough time; this elongated tough time,” he said. “I hope they have seen progress over the year. I really do. There is a core group of young players being formed on a daily basis. Hopefully, they can see that.”

Schaeffer’s right, fans have stuck with the team. Sort of.

A three-game series with the Yankees in May drew 128,776 fans, an average of 42,925 per game. Of course, Derek Jeter, Aaron Judge and Mickey Mantle jerseys were ubiquitous.

Though the Rockies entered the weekend with an ugly 23-55 record at Coors, the worst team in baseball ranked 17th out of 30 in attendance. That’s pretty amazing when you consider that the Detroit Tigers, leaders of the American League Central with an 85-68 record, have averaged 29,587 fans, only slightly more than the Rockies.

Then there is this: the 2024 Chicago White Sox, who lost a modern-era record 121 games, averaged only 17,046 fans last season, 27th in the majors.

Part of the Rockies’ allure lies not in the team but in the ballpark itself.

“You can’t beat this,” said 21-year-old Jessica Raymond as she stood, sipping a cocktail on the Rooftop high above right field on Thursday afternoon.

Raymond was joined in the area commonly known as the “Party Deck” by several friends. The temperature was 73 degrees. To the west, there was a coat of fresh snow on the mountain peaks. Below, the Rockies were losing, 9-7 to the Marlins.

“Baseball’s fine, but I come here mostly to hang out,” she said. “I think this is my fifth or sixth game this year. I can’t remember if the Rockies won or lost.”

In section 106, above the manual scoreboard in right field, 27-year-old Sherman Atkins was paying much closer attention. He wore a No. 17 jersey in honor of Rockies Hall of Fame first baseman Todd Helton.

“I’m a hardcore fan, for sure,” he said. “I first came when I was in diapers. My dad (Sherman Atkinson Sr.) and my uncle (Randy Atkinson) have been bringing me to games for years. We have two season tickets that we split between the family.”

The Atkinsons have owned their season tickets for only two years, and although Sherman loves attending games, he’s unsure if his family will renew.

“It’s definitely been a conversation,” he said. “Because it’s definitely not been the year I wanted them to have. You get tired of hearing about how bad they are in the media. You turn on MLB Network, and you hear that they lost again, and all of this other stuff. It’s just hard to keep coming back and stay loyal.”

Atkinson said his family invested in season tickets because they thought the Rockies were going to turn things around. He said he’s attended about 65 games this season.

“We have always been big Rockies fans, but we wanted to really commit now because we thought that the young talent would really come through,” he said. “But it really bothers me that we haven’t seen as much of that breakthrough as I’d like to.

“They need to make big changes in the front office, the coaching staff, and analytics. Those are the three bullet points, for me, that they have to address.”

Atkinson likes outfielders Jordan Beck and Doyle, All-Star catcher Hunter Goodman, and he is impressed by the promise of rookie starter Chase Dollander. He also thinks rookie second baseman Ryan Ritter has a chance to be a solid player. Still, he’s skeptical.

Goodman is not, believing the Rockies will turn the corner as soon as next season.

“Look at me as an example,” the catcher said. “I mean, last year I struggled a lot. I didn’t play a lot, and I didn’t play great baseball, but being in there every day and getting experience has allowed things to go better for me.

“You can see that from a lot of guys. Beck is another example. He struggled last year, but he’s shown much better this year and has made a lot of improvements. A lot of these young guys haven’t been great this year, but I think, going forward, that big-league experience will help them. It will be a brighter future with some of the prospects coming up.”

It remains to be seen if the Rockies will make significant changes in the front office or if the team can pull out of its skid of seven straight losing seasons — the longest stretch of failure in franchise history.

Schaeffer hopes that frustrated fans stay patient for a little bit longer.

“For me, the future is bright here,” he said. “Some people may not be able to see that at the moment because we are in such a deep ditch. But I know that the future is bright.”

Note: This story was corrected on Sunday, Sept. 21. The original story said the Rockies averaged fewer than 30,000 fans per game for the first time since 2007. The Rockies ended up averaging 30,058 per game over 80 games, including a doubleheader.

Rockies’ 10 lowest attendance seasons at Coors Field

For the first time since 2007, the Rockies will average fewer than 30,000 fans per game at Coors Field this season. Three of the 10 lowest attendance seasons in franchise history have occurred in the last four years.

# Through 78 home games on Sept. 18 | Note: COVID-interrupted 2020 and 2021 seasons not included | Source: Baseball Reference

Much as we love our Buc-ee’s brisket, that smiling beaver will never make a pizza as good as the ones you can grab from a Casey’s General Store. (

At any rate, our Midwest peeps still drop a line now and again. Especially when a local fave hits our fair shores.

“Watch out for Curtis Jones,” somebody wrote us two weeks ago.

“Enjoy Curtis Jones,” wrote another.

“You’re going to love Curtis Jones,” wrote yet another.

You know what?

They were right. On all counts.

Curtis Jones Fever — A

Jones is a 6-foot-6 guard out of Iowa State who the Nuggets added to their Summer League roster.

Long story short, he tore it up in Las Vegas.

On Friday night, Jones put the capper on an excellent week in Sin City by dropping 22 points, five rebounds and eight assists on the Lakers in a 106-84 Denver win.

From July 12-18, the ex-Cyclones star averaged 16.3 points, 5.3 boards and 4.3 assists over four Summer League games. Through five Vegas appearances, his assist-to-turnover ratio was 19 to nine and he shot 46.7% (14 for 30) from beyond the 3-point arc.

Our hoops wonks want to fall in love with the guy. Honest, they do.

It’s just that they’ve also been fooled before. One GTW staffer still keeps a Bones Hyland shirt hanging via thumb tacks at his cubicle, and Heaven only knows when he last washed the thing.

Although unlike our man Bones, Jones can play a little defense when he has to. Add it all up, and this much is becoming crystal clear: If the Nuggets don’t offer the former Cyclone a two-way contract, then some other NBA team sure as heck will.

All-Star swing-off — C

Would you want an NBA All-Star Game decided by a 3-point shooting contest?

That’s what Major League Baseball gave us this past Tuesday night, as a bonkers American League rally forced a 6-6 tie after nine innings at the midsummer classic in Atlanta.

And cue the history. In the latest wrinkle to prevent a repeat of that running-out-of-pitchers debacle from 2002, a mini home-run derby, or “swing-off,” was held to determine the winner. A batting-practice pitcher served up pitches to three hitters — the National League only wound up having to send up two — from each roster, as chosen by their respective managers.

On one hand, it was a complete sideshow. On the other, it was also captivating to see play out in real time.

A few days later, Team GTW is still kind of torn.

It’s just not — well, baseball. Shouldn’t there be a winning pitcher and a losing one? A swing-off should never, ever be used to decide a meaningful contest, let alone a playoff one. Never give commissioner Rob Manfred any leeway to blow up more traditional laws of the game than he already has. Full disclosure: Most of Team GTW still hates the extra-inning ghost runner, much as we also “get” it.

Still, it’s not a meaningful game, is it? It’s an exhibition. Knowing pitchers are done after nine innings means managers can try to get more of them in over the course of the game, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Although we’d also wager that the next AL skipper is going to be more inclined to ask Aaron Judge to stick around after he’s pulled from the game. Just in case.