FanPost

This Week In Rockies HIstory (April 18th-24th)

Copious amounts of schoolwork hindered my ability to get this out earlier in the week but better late than never I guess. Here is this week in Rockies History (April 18th - 24th) .

Rockies All Time Record This Week

Historically this has not been a good week for Colorado on or off the field. The Rockies all time record reflects this any way you slice. Not only have the Rockies only had a winning record four times in their history this week, but they are also a combined 15 games under .500 with a winning percentage of just .423.

Year

Wins

Loses

1993

2

4

1994

2

4

1995

0

0

1996

4

2

1997

3

2

1998

2

5

1999

2

3

2000

2

4

2001

4

2

2002

1

4

2003

3

3

2004

3

3

2005

4

3

2006

3

3

2007

2

5

2008

3

4

2009

1

5

All Time Record

41

56

Best Games This Week

April 19, 1999 (Expos) (11-10)

One day before tragedy struck Littleton Colorado, the Rockies defeated the Expos 11-10 in a high scoring thriller. The scoring began in the bottom of the second inning when the Rockies platted four off Expos starter Miguel Batista and didn't seem to stop until the bottom of the 9th when Colorado got grabbed three runs off Montreal closer Ugueth Urbina, and the win. Despite being outhit 20-11, the Rockies were able to win this game thanks in large part to four Expo errors that helped lead to five unearned runs.

There were also two oddities in this game. First, neither team ever scored just once in an inning. Despite 21 combined runs, all the numbers in the box score were crooked. Secondly, there was a point in the middle of this game where Expo pitching retired twelve Rockies in a row. You don't see that very often in an 11-10 slugfest.

April 19, 2003 (Padres) (10-9)

How's this for a crazy game? The Rockies take an early 7-0 lead over the Padres as San Diego starter Clay Condrey gets shelled but then let it evaporate as they give up three in the 4th, five in the 8th, and one in the 9th. Then in the home half of the 9th, the momentum would swing again as Preston Wilson, Jose Hernandez, Bobby Estalella, Chris Stynes, and Ronnie Belliard string together an unlikely three run rally despite getting only two balls out of the infield.

April 21, 2006 (Giants) (9-8)

More bottom of the 9th craziness; this time the Rockies trailed the Giants by a score of 8-5 with just three outs to go and Tim Worrell coming into the game. Seven batters and two pitchers later the Rockies are 9-8 winners as Garrett Atkins proves to be the walk off hero.

Worst Games This Week

Normally I would only go with one game here because I don't want to be too pessimistic but I couldn't decide which one of these two was worse. I'll let you make that decision below.

April 18, 1997 (Braves) (14-0)

The 48,070 fans who attended this game should have demanded a refund. The Braves were up 10-0 by the end of the third inning and things would only get worse from there. Atlanta pounded out 23 hits and scored at least one run off every Rockies pitcher who entered the game while Tom Glavine pitched a complete game shutout. In short, the game was a complete disaster.

April 24, 2007 (@Mets) (2-1 in 12 innings)

Anytime the Rockies lose to the Mets is bad, but you know the game had to be extra torturous when this headline appears on Purple Row. The game started as a magnificent pitcher's duel that saw both starters Aaron Cook and Orlando Hernandez throw seven scoreless innings. The game remained tied at zeros until the top of the 10th when Troy Tulowitzki appeared to have his second extra inning game winning RBI of the young 2007 season when he belted a two out triple over the head of Carlos Beltran to score Willy Tavares. Unfortunately, Brian Fuentes couldn't nail down the save. After getting Shawn Green and Jose Valentin for the first two outs on just four pitches, Fuentes served up a long ball to Damian Easley when the Rockies were just one strike away from victory. Two innings later, a walk, a balk, and an RBI single from Eric Chavez off Ryan Speier would end this gut wrenching affair.

Birthdays

Brent Mayne (April 19, 1968) - Only spent one and a half seasons catching for the Rockies. He was one of those players who batted from the left side but threw right handed.

Dennys Reyes (April 19, 1977) - Journeyman pitcher who spent part of the 2000 season with the team where he posted a 4.24 ERA. He now pitches in St. Louis for the Cardinals.

Joe Beimel (April 19, 1977) - In addition to becoming a reliable relief pitcher for the Rockies, he also has the best entrance music of anyone on the team.

Masato Yoshii (April 20, 1965) - Another player who only spent the 2000 season in a Rockies uniform. After MLB, Yoshii went back to Japan to play in the Japanese league where in 2007 he gave up two grand slams in one inning.

Todd Hollandsworth (April 20, 1973) - Made the most of his three seasons in Colorado as he hit .318 with a .911 OBP. (Also married Matt Herges's sister)

Aquilino Lopez (April 21, 1975) - Lopez played in only one game as a Rockie; it came in 2005 where he went four innings and gave up one run.

Kip Wells (April 21, 1977) - While he wasn't in Rockies uniform long, fans have two events two remember him by. First, Wells pitched four scoreless innings in the 22 inning game against San Diego and got the win. The second and much less delightful occasion was this game where he surrendered eight runs while only recording one out.

Todd Jones (April 24, 1968) - Signed with the Rockies before the 2002 season and was released from the team on June 30, 2003. In between he went 2-8 with a 5.84 ERA.

Eat. Drink. Be Merry. But the above FanPost does not necessarily reflect the attitudes, opinions, or views of Purple Row's staff (unless, of course, it's written by the staff [and even then, it still might not]).