Welcome to the 18th Purple Row edition (and 123rd overall) of Tuesdays With Mitch, where we do not discuss Jon Gray's pitch counts. Let's get into it...
While trying to think of an entertaining topic to write about this week-- a challenge that seems to be growing more difficult as the Rockies' tumble further and further into irrelevance-- I was poking around the Rockies' Baseball Reference page. I eventually found myself on the all-time uniform numbers page and was soon lost inside a rabbit hole of every Rockies' player ever categorized simply by the number (or numbers) he wore on his back while he was a member of the local nine.
I saw names like Jeff Cirillo (7), Jeffrey Hammonds (4), Jeff Baker (10), Jeff Fassero (13), Jeff Francis (26), Jeff Salazar (15) and Jeff Reed (15). I also saw long-lost names like Jeff Frye (6 and 2), who I have no recollection of whatsoever, perhaps because he played just 37 games for the Rockies 15 years ago. This list is where guys like Troy Tulowitzki (2) are categorized right there alongside guys like Jose Ortiz (2) and Aaron Ledesma (2).
So, while we kill time waiting for Dick Monfort to say something stupid that gives me something else to write about, let's have some fun with the uniform numbers of the Rockies.
Some random facts that I found somewhat interesting:
- 17 and 42 are the only numbers retired by the Rockies' organization. Hopefully you already knew that.
- Every number between 0 and 63 has been worn by a Rockie.
- 29 numbers have never been worn: 00 (if you chose to make that distinction), 64, 65, 68, 69 (insert joke here), 70, 72, 73, 75, 76, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 98.
- The only "80s number" worn by a Rockie is 88 by Josh Outman in 2012 and 2013. He was born in... 1984, so that's not it.
- The only number between 90-98 worn by a Rockie was 97 by Joe Beimel in 2009 and 2010. Beimel was drafted in... 1998. Maybe there's something there.
- Three dudes have worn 99, all for just one year: Alfredo Amezaga (2011), Darren Clarke (2007), and Turk Wendell (2004).
- 17 appears to be the most prestigious number. It has been worn by the greatest Rockie ever and David Nied, who threw out the first pitch in Rockies' history.
- Armando Reynoso is the only Rockie to wear 42.
- It looks like just three players have worn three different numbers for the Rockies. Eric Young Jr. (4 in 2009, 3 in 2009 and 2010, and 1 from 2011-2013), Jordan Pacheco (58 in 2011 and 2014, 22 in 2012, 15 in 2013), and Dexter Fowler (14 and 63 in 2008, and 24 from 2009-2013). This category is difficult to search for so I may have missed someone.
- The two most common numbers in Rockies' history are 27 (21 different players) and 47 (20 different players).
Definitely some interesting tidbits in there, but if we're honest, looking at uniform numbers is best served for trivial purposes. Like... trivia. Personally, uniform numbers have never been my strongest suit when it comes to baseball knowledge, but let's see how well you stack up. Start by testing yourself on the 2015 Rockies roster numbers.
If you're at the office, this is a great opportunity to grab a pen and paper and make it look like you're doing actual work. If you don't feel like doing that or you're reading this on your phone while in line at Chipotle, just scroll through the list and see what you know. Keep imaginary score in your head if you need to; it's not like any of us have anything better to do on a Tuesday afternoon.
Keep in mind this list includes anyone who has appeared in a game for the Rockies this season.
0 |
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1 |
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2 |
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3 |
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4 |
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5 |
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6 |
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7 |
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9 |
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10 |
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12 |
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13 |
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15 |
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16 |
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19 |
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24 |
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28 |
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29 |
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31 |
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32 |
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33 |
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34 |
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36 |
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38 |
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43 |
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45 |
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48 |
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49 |
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51 |
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53 |
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54 |
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55 |
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58 |
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60 |
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61 |
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62 |
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62 (again) |
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63 |
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66 |
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67 |
I created this damn thing and I still did horribly.
And here's that incredibly valuable answer key...
0 |
Adam Ottavino |
1 |
Brandon Barnes |
2 |
Troy Tulowitzki |
3 |
Daniel Descalso |
4 |
Nick Hundley |
5 |
Carlos Gonzalez |
6 |
Corey Dickerson |
7 |
Jose Reyes |
8 |
Michael McKenry |
9 |
DJ LeMahieu |
10 |
Ben Paulsen |
12 |
Matt McBride |
13 |
Drew Stubbs |
15 |
Tyler Matzek |
16 |
Kyle Parker |
19 |
Charlie Blackmon |
20 |
Wilin Rosario |
24 |
Jordan Lyles |
28 |
Nolan Arenado |
29 |
Jorge De La Rosa |
31 |
Eddie Butler |
32 |
LaTroy Hawkins |
33 |
Justin Morneau |
34 |
Aaron Laffey |
35 |
Chad Bettis |
36 |
Christian Bergman |
38 |
Kyle Kendrick |
43 |
Rafael Ynoa |
45 |
Scott Oberg |
48 |
Boone Logan |
49 |
Rex Brothers |
51 |
Brooks Brown |
53 |
Christian Friedrich |
54 |
Tommy Kahnle |
55 |
Jon Gray |
58 |
Yohan Flande |
60 |
Justin Miller |
61 |
David Hale |
62 |
Gonzalez German |
62 (again) |
Jorge Rondon |
63 |
Rafael Betancourt |
66 |
John Axford |
67 |
Kenny Roberts |
If you correctly answered the quartet of Justin Miller, Gonzalez German, Jorge Rondon, and Kenny Roberts, please reward yourself with 10 million bonus points.
That was a nice little exercise, but the 2015 team is, like, really bad. Let's focus on some all-time great Rockies and do one more. The more time I can help you kill on a Tuesday afternoon, the better. This one will be a little different, and probably easier. This is list of the Top 20 Rockies all-time as ranked by Baseball Reference's WAR. Can you correctly remember all 20 of their uniform numbers? (Some of these are current/recent and obvious, but work with me here.) Six guys on this list have a "secondary" number, and a seventh has a "secondary" and a "third-ary" number. Infinity bonus points if you can name all those in addition to the main 20.
Todd Helton |
Larry Walker |
Troy Tulowitzki |
Carlos Gonzalez |
Matt Holliday |
Ubaldo Jimenez |
Vinny Castilla |
Aaron Cook |
Jhoulys Chacin |
Andres Galarraga |
Jason Jennings |
Nolan Arenado |
Jorge De La Rosa |
Ellis Burks |
Steve Reed |
Dexter Fowler |
Brian Fuentes |
Pedro Astacio |
Jeff Francis |
Eric Young Sr. |
That's an interesting bunch of players, to be sure. Here are the numbers that appeared on their unis.
Todd Helton |
17 |
Larry Walker |
33 |
Troy Tulowitzki |
2 (and 14, in 2006) |
Carlos Gonzalez |
5 |
Matt Holliday |
5 |
Ubaldo Jimenez |
38 |
Vinny Castilla |
9 (and 14, in 1999) |
Aaron Cook |
28 (and 35, in 2002) |
Jhoulys Chacin |
45 |
Andres Galarraga |
14 |
Jason Jennings |
32 (and 57, in 2001) |
Nolan Arenado |
28 |
Jorge De La Rosa |
29 |
Ellis Burks |
26 |
Steve Reed |
39 |
Dexter Fowler |
24 (and 63 and 14, both in 2008) |
Brian Fuentes |
40 (and 39 in 2002) |
Pedro Astacio |
34 (and 51, in 1997) |
Jeff Francis |
26 |
Eric Young Sr. |
21 |
I suppose I'll be honest and report that I got 18 of 20 in a run-through that lasted about 30 seconds. I gave Burks 28 and brain-farted on Astacio, even though I got my picture taken with the guy when I was like ten. Shame on me. The only "secondary" number I knew without research was Tulo's 14.
Anyway, uniform numbers have provided sports fans with an endless amount of completely useless information for decades. That trend will likely continue as long humans are playing sports.
And when your favorite team is 20 games under .500, useless information becomes far more interesting.
Now we proceed to the weekly departments... (Lots of good stuff this week!)
"Yeah, that's why a lot of emotion came out on 18. That's why a lot of emotion came out for me. Just knowing that, I mean, my mom took a second mortgage out on the house, borrowed money from my aunt and uncle, just to get me away from where I was to go to school, seven hours drive.
I remember growing up, we -- my mom, I mean, we were poor. We weren't really poor. I mean, I remember watching her cut the lawn with a knife because we couldn't afford to fix the lawn mower. I remember not having a hot water tank, so we had to use a kettle for hot showers. So, you know, we would put the kettle on and go have a shower, and then my mom would come bring three or four kettles in, just to heat them up. And it would take five, ten minutes for every kettle to heat up.
So just to be able to sit in front of you guys today and think about those stories, it gets me emotional knowing that I'm the PGA Champion now and it feels good."
Pete Carroll gets trucked by the Field Judge on Seahawks103 yd kickoff return pic.twitter.com/WXYOakKWEt
— CJ Fogler (@cjzero) August 15, 2015
This is what it looks like when a ballboy goes all out: http://t.co/FTj3NiGRt9 pic.twitter.com/R1Ua73DvQh
— Cut4 (@Cut4) August 17, 2015
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