The Colorado Rockies won their weekend series this past weekend against the Los Angeles Angels, but if you were just casually on social media, you wouldn’t know it. On Saturday night, the Rockies became a meme. Again. Los Angeles’ star-studded lineup made a mockery of Colorado on their home field, scoring 21 runs over a two inning stretch and setting a franchise record for hits in a 25-1 win.
Photo Cred: USA Today
Angels superstar Mike Trout led off the third inning with a home run to give the Halos a 3-0 lead. On the next pitch, second baseman Brandon Drury hit one out. On the next pitch, it was catcher Matt Thaiss’ turn to go deep. By the time the inning ended, 16 Angels hitters had stepped up to the plate, with 13 coming across to score. The fourth inning was more of the same. The Angels posted eight more runs by the end of the fourth frame, pushing their lead to 23-0 before the halfway point of the ballgame.
Photo Cred: USA Today
By the end of the game, Los Angeles had become just the 21st team since 1900 to score 25 runs in a game, and the Rockies were an embarrassment. As Rockies fans know, this isn’t exactly uncharted territory for them. It’s the fifth consecutive season that they will miss the playoffs, assuming they’ll recover from their current standing as the worst team in the National League. If that holds, they will sit at just five playoff appearances in their 31 years, with just one trip to the NLCS (which they won). They have, incredibly, never won the NL West.
You can get into Coors Field for less than 10 dollars, where you will see plenty of empty seats. You’ll probably catch a few shirts or signs urging current owner Dick Monfort to sell the team. Many Colorado fans describe it as a sports bar attached to a field. Don’t get me wrong; the Rockies have had their moments. Their 2007 run to the World Series electrified the city and the fanbase (they lost game 1 of the World Series 13-1 and got swept). Their 13-inning win at Wrigley Field in the 2018 NL Wild Card Game is an unforgettable marathon for any Rockies fan. Followed by being swept in the NLDS immediately after, scoring two total runs in the three games.
Photo Cred: The Denver Post
However, those moments are few and far between the misery of watching, much less rooting for, baseball in Denver. Who can forget when they traded superstar third baseman Nolan Arenado (and roughly $51 million), arguably the best player in franchise history, for a collection of prospects? Is there a way out of this cycle of dread? I’m honestly not sure. There’s no secret that pitching has been a consistent problem for Colorado, and it is commonly said that pitchers don’t want to pitch in the Denver altitude because it may inflate their stats. But retaining your best players and maintaining an environment would be a good start.
Is Monfort selling the team the answer? It’s certainly a start, and fans constantly clamor for Steve Kroenke (who owns the Nuggets and Avalanche) to become the new head man. Kroenke doesn’t have a high approval rating in Colorado, but after the Stanley Cup win in 2022 and the Nuggets NBA Title in 2023, he at least has put together a resume and a willingness to build a competitive roster. Montfort said before the season that he thought Colorado could play .500 ball. This leaves Rockies fans to debate what was worse. Was it bad enough that Monfort thought that this roster could be competitive or that he refused to do anything to push their ceiling beyond that?
Photo Cred: Sportskeeda
Well, as it turns out (and as many fans knew coming in) Rockies are nowhere near being competitive, nor even sniffing the .500 mark. They have basically already fallen out of the playoff race, and it’s not even July. They’re barely competing for fourth place in their division, much less a playoff berth. Until they do, you can find the Coors Field crowd at the rooftop bar, worrying more about their next drink order than who’s on the mound or at the plate.
