This week has either been feast or famine for the Rockies.  Three times (2000, 2004, and 2005) the Rockies have recorded just one win while three more times (2000, 2003, and 2007) the Rockies have won at least five times including an undefeated campaign in 2007.  (More on some of those games later)

Rockies Weekly Record

Best Games This Week

May 28, 1994 (@Expos) (3-2 in 10 innings)

This game got weird late.  After the Rockies tied it at two in the top of the 8th inning, Charlie Hayes, Steve Reed and Bruce Ruffin seemed to do everything in their power to give the lead back in bottom half of the inning.  Despite two walks, a hit batter, and a Hayes error, the Rockies somehow managed to escape the frame scoreless thanks to Moises Alou being caught stealing.  This set up a Joe Girardi RBI single in the 10th before Kent Bottenfield nailed down the save.   

May 23, 1999 (Cardinals) (7-6)

Trailing 6-3 entering the 9th, the Rockies’ superstars put on a show.  First, a Larry Walker RBI single cut the Cardinal lead to 6-4; then Dante Bichette hammered a home run down the left field line for a dramatic 7-6 Rockies win.

May 23, 2007 (@D’Backs) (3-1)

As legend has it, a day after Troy Tulowitzki went on his famous clubhouse rant for the team underperforming and reaching a season low nine games under .500, the rookie shortstop backed up his words by ripping a game winning 9th inning RBI double into the gap against the D’Backs.  If there is one game you can point to where Tulo became a leader on this team, this one may be it as the team would follow his lead and win the next seven games in a row. 

May 27, 2007 (@Giants) (6-4 in 10 innings)

Five days later, Tulo was at it again.  This time the Giants were victimized by a Tulo game winning RBI single in the 10th that propelled the Rockies to two run extra innings.  Suddenly it didn’t matter that the Rockies blew a three run 6th inning lead.  They were finding ways to win games late and growing as a team.  It was just a small preview however of things to come later in this season.

May 23, 2008 (Mets) (6-5 in 13 innings)

This game was the Matt Holliday show as the Rockies won on a game tying Holliday home run in the 9th and a game winning Matt Holliday single in the 13th.  Oddly this was just one of several thrilling victories for the Rockies in an otherwise forgettable 2008 season.

Notable Debuts

Brian Fuentes (May 29th, 2002) – The man who took untold amounts of time off many Rockie fan’s lives through stress made his debut in a relatively meaningless game where he had to clean up Denny Stark’s mess in an 11-3 Rockies’ loss.  He pitched 0.2 innings of scoreless baseball where surrendered one hit and struck out one. 

Other News

Jim Tracy Takes Over as Manager (May 29, 2009) - This week also marks the one year anniversary of the firing of Clint Hurdle for the team’s 18-28 start and the promotion of Jim Tracy to Rockies manager.  Say what you want about Tracy, but the Rockies record is a stellar 98-64 in his first 162 games as skipper.

Birthdays

Charlie Hayes (May 23, 1965) – One of the original members of 1993 Colorado Rockies, Hayes called seven major league cities home in his career. He is perhaps best known for costing Terry Mulholland a perfect game when he played for the Phillies in 1990 as his error was the only thing separating Mulholland from perfection.

Jerry Dipoto (May 24, 1968) – While he spent four seasons with the Rockies he was extremely active in three of them.  From 1997 through 1999, Dipoto pitched in at least 63 games for the Rockies each season.

Ramon Ortiz (May 24, 1973) – You could make the argument that Ramon Ortiz is the most unsung hero in Rockies history.  Sure he posted a 7.62 ERA in just 13 innings of work, but he also got three enormous outs in the 13th inning of the play in game after Jorge Julio appeared to lose the game when he gave up a two run home run to Scott Hairston.  Never forget that Ramon Ortiz  got the win in that game.

Joe Kennedy (May 24, 2979) – Even though he only pitched a year and a half for the Rockies, his untimely death on November 23, 2007 of heart disease still hit home for Rockie fans everywhere.  His passing was both shocking and tragic as his wife Jamie was pregnant at the time.

Justin Hampson (May 24, 1980) – Hampson only spent of cup of coffee on the Rockies as he appeared in just five games in 2006.

Lariel Gonzalez (May 25, 1976) – If Hampson was on the Rockies for a cup of coffee I guess you could say Gonzalez was here for a sip.  He pitched just one inning in the majors and it was a perfect frame for the Rockies in 1998.

Angel Echevarria (May 25, 1971) – Echevarria spent most of the late 90’s yo-yoing back and forth between Colorado Springs and the big club.  While with the Rockies he posted a .293 average and an .829 OPS.

Todd Walker (May 25, 1973) – Walker was traded to the Rockies from the Twins in the middle of the 2000 season and the Rockies traded him away again in the middle of the 2001 season to the Reds.  A combination of Todd Helton and Larry Walker he was not.

Eric Young Jr. (May 25, 1985) – He’s on the DL right now but the good news is that it seems his best days as a Rockie is still ahead of him.

Sean Barker (May 26, 1980) – A sixth round pick for the Rockies in 2002 did make it to the big club but just barely.  He went hitless in three plate appearances in 2007.

Joe Koshansky (May 26, 1982) – Remember when Joe Koshansky hit 21 home runs and had 99 RBIs for the Sky Sox in 2007?  It seemed like only Todd Helton’s hold on the first base job could stop him from becoming an everyday major leaguer.  Amazingly, he is now a 28 year old AAA player for Milwaukee with just 55 career plate appearances.