Rockies Recap: A look back at the Colorado Rockies’ record-breaking 2007 season
To put it lightly, 2007 was a wild year for the Colorado Rockies. On opening day in April, no one – not the fans, the sportswriters or the players themselves – had particularly high hopes for the team’s prospects. But six months later, the Rockies, who hadn’t had a winning season since 2000, found themselves playing in their first ever World Series Championship. How’d they do it? With a mixture of skill, determination and a lot of heart.
The season began inauspiciously with an 8-6 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks – and things got worse before they got better. By the end of April, the Rockies were floundering in last place in the National League West. But manager Clint Hurdle rallied the team and the Rockies spent the better part of May on an impressive seven-game winning streak, demonstrating ably the heights the team could reach when playing at its best. The team’s outstanding pitchers, including Jeff Francis and Rodrigo Lopez, were a vital part of this comeback, as was star second baseman Kazuo Matsui, who had spent the first part of the season sidelined by injuries.
The Rockies spent the summer hovering around the .500 mark, sometimes sweeping entire series, at others suffering devastating defeats. The team was consistent however, in winning most home games in front of loyal fans at Coors Field – beginning in May they had won nine straight series at home.
With the playoffs looming, the ball club faced what looked like a series of crippling setbacks. First, starting pitchers Jason Hirsh and Rodrigo Lopez were injured and placed on the disabled list for the remainder of the regular season. As if that weren’t enough, another starter, Aaron Cook, soon went on the DL, where he’d stay for the rest of the season. The loss of these three pitchers might have ruined the Rockies’ season, if not for the combined strength of their youthful replacements, Ubaldo Jimenez and Franklin Morales, who were both called up from the minor leagues for a shot at the big time. Still, at the end of August, the team was way back in third place in the NL standings, with the powerful Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres several games ahead.
For the Rockies, September was a month baseball fans dream about. The team lost two straight games on their home turf to the Florida Marlins, making a playoff appearance seem unlikely. But following those two losses, the Rox went on an incredible 11-game winning streak, sweeping the Dodgers (twice!) and the Padres. Outfielder Brad Hawpe was the hero of the month, as he came through in the clutch with two game-winning home runs. The Rockies picked up a head full of steam in the final days of the regular season, winning 14 out of 15 games and shocking the Padres by grabbing a spot in the playoffs with a National League Wild Card spot.
Suddenly, the Rockies couldn’t be stopped. They swept the Phillies in three games in the NL Division series and went on to do the same to the NL West champ Diamondbacks. As they entered their first-ever World Series, the Rockies had won an amazing 21 of 22 previous games. But the soaring heights the team reached were brought crushingly down to earth. The Boston Red Sox swept the Rockies in the Series, robbing this storybook season of its happy ending.
But even in the gloom of this defeat, the team had proven their mettle over the previous six months, going from unpromising beginnings to the very top of Major League Baseball. 2008 sees them entering the fray not as underdogs, but as true powerhouses. Will the Rockies make another World Series run this year? As 2007 proved, in baseball, anything is possible.
Get more info about the team at www.rockies.mlb.com. Learn about the Rockies’ magnificent ballpark, Coors Field, here.