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All-Century Roster: Rockies
By Gary Brooks
SportsLine Baseball Editor
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The Rockies took the quick road to the playoffs, reaching the postseason
in just their third season (1995). But that road was one with steep cliffs
and a narrow shoulder that eventually pulled the team over and down an ugly
hill of pitching blowups that had them back in last place in 1999.
 | | | Larry Walker is the best all-around player in club history.(Allsport) | |
A powerful lineup of sluggers bashed balls through the thin Denver air
in record fashion to make Colorado a quick contender but even with the home
run-happy lineup, the Rockies couldn't keep up with all the runs they were
allowing.
Earned-run averages pushed close to 6 and Coors Field turned into a
black hole for starting pitchers. Rockies batters punished opposing
pitchers as well, tallying three of the four most prolific home run seasons
in National League history. Their 239 long balls in 1997 were the most
ever. In 1999, they hit 223 to tie for second best and their 221 in 1996 is
next.
Heading into the 21st century though, the only consistently powerful
slugger who helped the Rockies reach those records and is still with the
team is Larry Walker. The rest have been moved in what might be an endless
desire to find pitching that will survive in the Rocky Mountains.
Lineup
| Jeff Reed, Catcher, 1996-99 |
| The left-handed hitting Reed could never secure the everyday spot but he
was the best hitter of all Colorado's catchers through the first seven
seasons. He never hit below .284 and his 1997 numbers were very productive
with a .297 average, 17 homers and 47 RBI. |
| Andres Galarraga, 1B, 1993-97 |
| In his five seasons, Galarraga averaged .316, 34 homers and 116 RBI. In
1993, his first season as a big star after moderate success in Montreal and
St. Louis, Galarraga led the league in batting at .370. It remains the
Rockies record, as does his 150 RBI of 1996. He was selected as the team's
player of the year in 1993 and '94 and led the NL in RBI in 1996 and '97. |
| Eric Young, 2B, 1993-97 |
| Young's career took off in 1996 when he led the NL in stolen bases with 53
and earned a Silver Slugger Award for hitting .324 with 74 RBI. His 180
stolen bases are by far the most in team history and his 378 runs scored
are fifth best. |
| Walt Weiss, SS, 1994-97 |
| Weiss brought a solid glove to the middle of the Rockies' infield and hit
.266 over four seasons. He's still found on most of the Rockies' career top
10 lists. |
| Vinny Castilla, 3B, 1993-99 |
| Castilla was plucked from the Atlanta Braves in the expansion draft Nov.
17, 1992. He didn't go until the seventh pick of the second round but
arguably turned out to be the best player in the draft. A noted handler of
the best fastballs in the game, Castilla earned the starting spot at third
base in 1995 and hit 191 homers over the next five seasons. He became one
of just six players ever to hit .300 or better with 40 or more home runs in
three consecutive seasons (1995-97). |
| Ellis Burks, OF, 1994-98 |
| Burks had only one fully healthy season in Colorado. It was a whopper in
1996 when he hit .344 with 40 homers and 128 RBI. He also stole 32 bases
and joins Hank Aaron and Alex Rodriguez as the only players ever with 40
homers, 200 hits and 30 steals in a single season. He was a .306 hitter in
his complete Rockies days and drove in 311 runs in 478 games. |
| Dante Bichette, OF, 1993-99 |
| From 1994-98, Bichette had 45 more hits (934) than anyone else in baseball.
He led the league in hits twice and in 1995 he was nearly a Triple Crown
winner. His .340 was third in the league but he was the NL home run and RBI
champ with 40 and 128. Though his average slipped to .298 in 1999, he drove
in 133 runs making it six consecutive seasons of at least 118. He's the
Rockies career leader in games, hits, runs, RBI, doubles and total bases. |
| Larry Walker, OF, 1995-99 |
| Walker is the best all-around player in Rockies history and before long
should hold nearly every offensive record for the team. Injuries have
always kept him from playing full seasons and in his one year of more than
150 games, he was named NL MVP in 1997. In 1999, he hit .379 to win his
second batting title and become the first player in 70 years to hit .360 or
better in three consecutive seasons. Walker also won Gold Gloves each
season from '97-'99. |
Pitchers
| Pedro Astacio, SP, 1997-99 |
| For a while in 1999, it appeared as if Astacio might become the franchise's
first 20-game winner. He finished with 17 wins to move to 35-26 in his
Rockies career. That gives him the second-most wins in team history in less
than three seasons. |
| Kevin Ritz, SP, 1994-98 |
| Ritz, who was the Opening Day starter in 1996 and '97, went 39-38 before
arm injuries beat him. He went 17-11 in 1996 but was only able to start 18
games in 1997 and two in '98. He tossed the first complete game by a
Rockies pitcher at Coors Field in 1996. |
| Armando Reynoso, SP, 1993-96 |
| Reynoso won 30 games with a 4.65 earned-run average that is the lowest of
any Rockies starter with 300 innings pitched. He was the team leader in
wins in the inaugural season with 12. |
| Marvin Freeman, SP, 1994-96 |
| Though it doesn't fit with the rest of his career, somehow in 1994, Freeman
went 10-2 for Colorado with an even more impressive 2.80 earned-run
average. His next two seasons didn't go as well as he finished his career
in Colorado 20-18 but that makes him one of just six winning pitchers in
Rockies history. |
| Brian Bohanon, SP, 1999 |
| All it took for Bohanon to make the rotation was a 12-12 season in 1999.
The free-agent left-hander had an ERA over 6 but was durable, making 33
starts, and struck out more batters than he walked. |
| Bruce Ruffin, RP, 1993-97 |
| Ruffin led the team in strikeouts and ERA in 1993 and in saves in '94 and
'96. His 60 saves are the most in franchise history. His 3.84 career ERA is
second best in team history. He struck out nearly a batter per inning with
319 in 321 innings with Colorado. |
| Bench |
| Todd Helton, Charlie Hayes, Neifi Perez, Joe Girardi, Mike Lansing |
| Best season |
 | | | Dante Bichette led the '95 Rockies to the playoffs.(Allsport) | |
Coors Field opened in 1995 and the team's success soared along
with the enthusiasm of having a new park. Dante Bichette and Vinny Castilla
were selected to the All-Star team, making it the first season with more
than one Colorado representative and it was announced that Denver would
host the 1998 All-Star Game.
On Oct. 1, the Rockies beat San Francisco to
earn the wild-card berth and became the first expansion team to reach the
playoffs in less than eight seasons. They finished 77-67 in the
strike-shortened season.
Vinny Castilla and Eric Young homered in Game 3 of
the Division Series at Atlanta and the Rockies had their first and only
playoff victory. Dante Bichette finished second to Barry Larkin in MVP
balloting and Don Baylor was named NL Manager of the Year. |
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| Worst season |
| The team lost 95 games in its first season but it was
expected to. Its 90 losses and last-place finish in 1999 were much tougher
to take. Jim Leyland had been brought in to manage and try to get the team
back to the playoffs but he was unsuccessful and chose to retire rather
than fight to make the Rockies a contender again. A new general manager,
Dan O'Dowd, was brought in after the season and Colorado dealt away some of
its foundation for a new collection of pitchers that were expected to keep
the ball in the park. |
| Best individual season, player |
| Walker came within four hits and 10 RBI of
winning the first Triple Crown in 30 years in 1997 when he was named
National League Most Valuable Player. Walker led the league with 49 home
runs, was second with a .366 average and third with 130 RBI. And his
inflated statistics couldn't be attributed to the Coors Field factor.
Walker led the league with 29 homers on the road and hit .346 away from
Coors. His .720 slugging percentage was fifth best ever and he became just
the 14th player to pass 400 total bases. His 409 total bases were the most
since Stan Musial had 429 in 1948. He also led the league with a .452
on-base percentage and won a Gold Glove for his play in right field. |
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| Best individual season, pitcher |
| Pedro Astacio, in 1999, tied the club
record for wins with 17, set records with 232 innings pitched and 210
strikeouts and didn't miss a start. |
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