After decades of waiting, Denver would finally have a major-league Opening Day of its own. The expansion Colorado Rockies, along with the Florida Marlins, joined the National League for the 1993 season. Expectations for on-field success were appropriately tempered, but the excitement for big-league baseball was palpable. Five thousand spectators showed up at Mile High Stadium, the Rockies’ temporary home while Coors Field was being built, for the team’s workout on Thursday, April 8. That same day, 20,000 people lined the streets of downtown Denver for a parade. The club also announced season-ticket sales totaling 28,250 and advance purchases of 2.8 million tickets.1 Further, the 80,227 who jammed Mile High Stadium comprised the largest home opener in baseball history, surpassing the crowd that greeted the Dodgers’ arrival at the Los Angeles Coliseum in 1958.

The excitement, however, was no assurance that everything would go smoothly. For one, the Rockies lost their first two games, at Shea Stadium against the New York Mets, scoring a single run in both games; to be fair, Colorado had faced Dwight Gooden and Bret Saberhagen, but the output was less than optimal. During Thursday’s workout, the condition of the patchy turf became an issue. Manager Don Baylor gave his verdict: “Not real good.”2 He added, ”To just be opening a baseball season in Denver and you have grass that’s not even growing in certain spots, it’s a little strange.”3 After the game, Rockies owner Jerry McMorris noted that the club offered to pay to resod parts of the field 10 days before the opener.4 Nothing happened, and McMorris grumbled, “I’m not at all happy about it.”5

The visiting Montreal Expos faced concerns about which players would actually take the field. Right fielder Larry Walker strained his lower right hamstring in the previous game in Cincinnati, and second baseman Delino DeShields became the latest player in the Expos organization to be felled by chicken pox.6

To face Montreal, Baylor called upon veteran right-hander and former Expo Bryn Smith. Possessing a fastball that barely registered at 80 mph and having started only one game the prior season, the 37-year-old Smith seemed an unlikely candidate to take the mound in the inaugural home game.7 Baylor, however, wanted a veteran presence on the mound and Smith would deliver. The first two Expos batters, Mike Lansing and Moises Alou, grounded out to second baseman Eric Young. Marquis Grissom and Frank Bolick singled to place runners at the corners, but Young earned his third assist of the inning by collecting John Vander Wal’s grounder for the final out.

Expos manager Felipe Alou had managed previously in Denver with the American Association’s Bears and he was familiar with baseball at Mile High. His starting pitcher, Kent Bottenfield, was one of 16 players on Montreal’s roster with fewer than two years of major-league service time, but he had pitched at Mile High Stadium in the minors.8 That experience would mean nothing, however. Young led off the for the Rockies and worked the count full. He deposited Bottenfield’s sixth pitch, a fastball, over the left-field fence, 380 feet away. Crediting the thin mountain air, Young said, “The altitude carried it. I was just hoping I had a double.”9

Alex Cole walked on five pitches, and then swiped second and third with Dante Bichette at the plate. Cole said after the game, “We knew we still had to apply the pressure. If we started to sit back and relax, we’re in trouble.”10 Cole’s aggressiveness positioned him to score easily when Bichette singled to left-center field. Bichette applied the same tactics in stealing second base before Andres Galarraga’s at-bat ended with a fly out to Moises Alou in short right field. But Charlie Hayes swatted Bottenfield’s slider 390 feet into the left-field stands for a 4-0 Rockies lead. For Hayes, unlike Young, there was no doubt about the result. “When I hit it, I knew it was a home run,” he said.11 Jerald Clark doubled to left, but Joe Girardi grounded out and Freddie Benavides struck out to end Bottenfield’s miserable inning.

Two Expos hitters reached in the top of the second – Tim Laker on an error by Benavides at shortstop and Bottenfield on an infield single – but Smith held Montreal scoreless. Smith led off the Rockies’ second with a groundout to Bottenfield. Young walked on five pitches, then Cole’s ball found a gap in the right side of the infield for a single. As Young raced toward third on the play, Alou’s throw to third bounced away from Bolick for an error, allowing Young to race home. Bichette popped up and Galarraga flied out, but the Rockies led, 5-0.

Smith continued to control the Expos from the mound. Alou’s double to start the third inning amounted to nothing when he tried to stretch it to a triple and was thrown out. Grissom grounded out and Bolick popped up. In the Expos’ fourth, Laker reached first with two outs when he was struck by a pitch from Smith, but Archi Cianfrocco’s grounder ended the inning. On the defensive side, Bolick was having a game to forget.

In the third, Bolick committed errors on consecutive at-bats, first by making a bad throw from Girardi’s ball and then booting Benavides’s grounder, but the Rockies failed to capitalize. Young singled to open the Colorado fourth and Cole bunted. Fielding Cole’s ball, Bolick threw wildly to put Rockies at second and third. Young scored on Bichette’s fly, and Cole plated when Galarraga singled through the hole between Bolick and shortstop Wil Cordero. Hayes’s double-play ball ended the inning with the Rockies now ahead, 7-0.12 Felipe Alou made known his displeasure with Bolick’s three-error performance, stating tersely, “We’re going to have to make some changes.”13

In the Expos’ fifth, Smith allowed one-out singles to Lansing and Alou, but Grissom’s liner and Bolick’s grounder ended the inning. The Rockies added to their advantage in the bottom half. Against Mike Gardiner, Clark singled over second base and Girardi doubled to deep right-center. With Clark at third, Benavides singled for an 8-0 lead. After Smith struck out on a foul bunt, Girardi scored on Young’s single to center. Cole’s line drive started an inning-ending double play, but the Rockies had stretched the lead to 9-0. That advantage held through a scoreless sixth inning.

Smith maintained his shutout by setting down the Expos in order in the top of the seventh. Baylor sent Daryl Boston to hit for Smith in the bottom of the inning, ended his pitcher’s afternoon. Smith was clearly satisfied with his performance. He said, “This is the biggest win I’ve ever had, and there’s been a lot of them.”14 Gardiner gave way to Bruce Walton, whom the Rockies abused for four hits and two runs. Boston lined a single to center field, and Young singled with a groundball through the left side of the infield. Cole lined out to Alou, and Dale Murphy came to the plate. Murphy had replaced Bichette in the sixth, and Rockies fans greeted the longtime Atlanta Brave with a standing ovation. An impressed Baylor said, “I thought it was one of the classiest moves I’ve seen in a long time.”15 Murphy repaid the gesture with a line-drive single that scored Boston. Galarraga followed with another single, scoring Young and extending the lead to 11-0.

After a scoreless eighth inning, Steve Reed took the mound in the ninth with the goal of preserving the Rockies shutout. He would not, however. Vander Wal delivered a shot to center field for a double, and Cordero followed with a single. Tim Spehr, who replaced from Laker behind the plate in the sixth, lofted a fly ball to Clark in left field that scored Vander Wal and broke the shutout. After pinch-hitter Darrin Fletcher lined out to Murphy, Reed walked Lou Frazier. Lansing, who would not have been playing but for DeShields’s illness, launched Reed’s pitch into the left-field stands for a three-run homer.16 Although the Rockies still led, 11-4, some fans began booing. Bichette joked, “Isn’t that something? They’re spoiled already, huh?”17 Reed retired Alou for the final out, but his performance was no joking matter. He said, “I came out for one inning and couldn’t get the job done, so that’s disappointing.”18

While the ninth inning had not gone according to plan, the other eight innings could not have been scripted any better for the Rockies. After decades of waiting for a major-league team of their own, Rockies fans received a fantastic reward. While 1993 would witness many more losses than wins for the Rockies, Denver’s first big-league Opening Day provided plenty of thrills. Murphy observed, “These people are hungry for baseball. When you play in front of people as excited as they were, that makes it fun.”19

Sources

In addition to the articles cited in the Notes, the author also referred to baseball-reference.com.

Notes

1 Tracy Ringolsby and Jack Etkin, “Rockies Report,” Rocky Mountain News (Denver), April 10, 1993: 14R.

2 Irv Moss, “A Cut Below Expectations,” Denver Post, April 9, 1993: 1D.

3 Ibid.

4 B.G. Brooks, “Reed Regrets Losing Shutout After Smith’s Strong Effort,” Rocky Mountain News, April 10, 1993: 15R.

5 Ibid.

6 Jeff Blair, “Montreal Expos,” The Sporting News, April 19, 1993: 17.

7 Joseph Sanchez, “Smith Calls Victory Sweetest of Career,” Denver Post, April 10, 1993: 1C.

8 David Fleming, “Expos Rookie Unfazed About Historic Start,” Rocky Mountain News, April 9, 1993: 12R.

9 Woody Paige, “Homers Flying at Mile High,” Denver Post, April 10, 1993: 3C.

10 Tracy Ringolsby, “Baseball, Victory Barge Into Denver,” Rocky Mountain News, April 10, 1993: 3R.

11 Paige.

12 Hayes exited the game, having injured his hamstring coming out the batter’s box. The incident was partly blamed on field conditions.

13 Blair.

14 Sanchez.

15 Brooks.

16 It was the first home run of Lansing’s young major-league career.

17 Jim Armstrong, “Rockies Roar for 80,227,” Denver Post, April 10, 1993: 1C.

18 Brooks.

19 Ringolsby.

Fans tend to expect expansion baseball teams to endure several years of subpar ball, but meanwhile enjoy a brand-new ballpark. Rockies fans had to wait two years while a new ballpark was being built. Finally, on April 26, 1995, public-address announcer Alan Roach said, “Welcome to Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies,” and 47,228 fans, along with the ESPN Wednesday Night audience, saw the new ballpark open with a game to remember.

After the players strike was settled, Opening Day was delayed.1 But at 5:38 P.M. on the 26th, the Rockies and the New York Mets got baseball underway at Coors Field, in an early moment foreshadowing the “chicks dig the long ball” era.2

On this cold, mid-30s evening, managers Don Baylor of the Rockies and Dallas Green of the Mets turned over lineup cards to a crew of replacement umpires.3 Only Terry Bovey had experienced working in a major-league game (17 of them).4 High-profile free-agent pitcher Bill Swift was the Rockies’ starter. Things started quickly, as the Mets’ speedy center fielder Brett Butler didn’t give history a moment. He took a swing at the first pitch and beat out a close play from shortstop Walt Weiss for the first base hit at Coors Field. Two pitches later, Mets shortstop Jose Vizcaino hit into a 5-4-3 double play. Rico Brogna grounded out to end the inning.

Bobby Jones, the first visiting pitcher to experience Coors Field, quickly received an inkling of the experience. Weiss led off the bottom of the first with a single to right and the first home hit at the new park. Catcher Joe Girardi singled, Weiss going to third. Things were now set for the eminent free-agent right fielder of the Rockies. Larry Walker, eventually identified with Ozzy Osbourne’s “Crazy Train” as his walk-up song, and hereafter seen as the locomotive of the Rockies, doubled to left, scoring Weiss and sending Girardi to third. Original Rockie and fan favorite left-fielder Dante Bichette drove Girardi in with a fly ball to right field. Colorado had a 2-0 lead.

Colorado controlled the game throughout the first five innings, and Walker added another RBI when he doubled Girardi in from first base in the third. The Rockies entered the fourth inning with everything going their way, but Swift allowed a leadoff home run to first baseman Brogna. Swift himself led the fifth with a base on balls, and Weiss sacrificed him to second. Girardi doubled him in and scored himself on a single by first baseman Andres Galarraga. With Swift at 56 pitches entering the sixth and with a 5-1 Rockies lead, fans may have believed fate planned an easy victory.

The sixth inning saw the Mets shift that narrative quickly. The Mets loaded the bases on Swift, with singles by Brogna, left fielder David Segui, and right fielder Carl Everett. With two outs, switch-hitting catcher Todd Hundley, poised for a career peak year, stepped up, already 2-for-2. He made it 3-for-3 with a grand slam that tied the game, 5-5, and chased Swift after the inning. It was a game again; the Mets would not be relegated to history without a fight.

Once in the Rockies’ hands, the game now began to oscillate. The Rockies loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth after Jerry DiPoto hit Roberto Mejia with a pitch. Dallas Green let lefty hitter John Vander Wal be announced to bat for Swift, then summoned lefty Eric Gunderson. Baylor countered with righty Eric Young, Vander Wal never hitting. Young’s sacrifice fly scored a run, but also led to a 9-6-5-2 double play. The Rockies had a 6-5 lead. The Mets countered in the top of the seventh, with Butler getting to third via a walk, a bunt, and a wild pitch, then scored on a double to center field by third baseman Bobby Bonilla off Mike Munoz. The resulting six-run tie would hold until the ninth inning.

In the top of the ninth, Brett Butler drew a walk from lefty Bruce Ruffin, Colorado’s fifth pitcher of the game. Butler reached third on a sacrifice and a groundout, then scored on a single by Bonilla, a liner to short left.

In the bottom of the inning, Mets closer John Franco walked Weiss with one out. After Girardi struck out, Walker’s third RBI double of the night sent the game into extra innings.

Hundley doubled to right field with one out in the Mets’ 10th and Butler again walked, but Ruffin’s strikeout of Vizcaino ended the threat. In the 11th, after being called out on strikes, Bonilla threw his bat and helmet at the plate.5 Home-plate umpire Terry Bovey ejected Bonilla, and manager Green, too, when he popped out to defend Bonilla. The New York Times reported that Bonilla “was obviously attempting to show up the replacement umpire.”6

Butler doubled to center in the 13th for his second hit in four at-bats, with three walks. With one out, Vizcaino’s hit scored Butler, but Vizcaino was thrown out by Bichette trying to advance to second base.

In the Rockies’ 13th, center fielder Mike Kingery singled off Mike Remlinger and Jim Tatum doubled him home, yielding another tie, now 8-8.

Ricky Otero made his major-league debut, coming in to play left field in the 11th; he started things in the top of the 14th with a single to left. Hard-hitting second baseman Jeff Kent was asked to forgo his stroke for a sacrifice bunt. The strategy worked when Joe Orsulak doubled to left to score Otero for a 9-8 Mets lead.

The Rockies came storming back. Joe Girardi led off the bottom of the 14th with a single. Walker struck out swinging. Galarraga reached on an error by third baseman Tim Bogar. Dante Bichette was up next and Kingery was on deck. Twenty years later he confided that while waiting he had wondered why, with a base open, the Mets didn’t walk Bichette. “I can’t believe they are pitching to him,” Kingery thought.7

As for Bichette, “I went to the plate for one thing, that was to hit a home run and win that game.”8 Taking a whack at a 2-and-1 pitch from Remlinger, Bichette smote a high fly into left center, out of the ballpark, and provided the final entry for all the evening’s scorecards.9 Forty-three players had been used, 33 hits, three home runs and only one of those home runs by the Rockies. However, there’s no doubt that one home run forged the Blake Street Bombers.10

This story originally appeared in “Major League Baseball A Mile High: The First Quarter Century of the Colorado Rockies” (SABR, 2018), edited by Bill Nowlin and Paul T. Parker.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Retrosheet.org, Baseball-Reference.com. and the following:

Associated Press. “’Colorado Rrrrrrockies’ Stadium Announcer Roach Steps Down,” Denver Post, February 26, 2007. https://denverpost.com/2007/02/26/colorado-rrrrrrockies-stadium-announcer-roach-steps-down.

Chass, Murray. “Rockies Open Their Wallet for Two Stars.” New York Times, April 9, 1995.

Colorado Rockies, Coors Field, n.d., https://colorado.rockies.mlb.com/col/ballpark/.

Costello, Rory. “John Franco,” https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/2966ede2.

Rockies: 20 Seasons of History. youtu.be/67oCZAyCfyk. Produced by MLB.com.

Silverberg, Evan. “Greatest Mets — Edgardo Alfonzo,” NYSportsDay, November 5, 2003. https://nysportsday.com/news/memories/1068092180.html.

Weiss, Noah M. The Republican Revolution? The Transformation and Maturation of the House Republican Party, 1980-1995. Undergraduate Research Fellows, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons, 2009.

Zimniuch, Fran. Baseball’s New Frontier (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2013).

Notes

1 Paul D. Staudohar, “The Baseball Strike of 1994-95,” Monthly Labor Review, March 1997. https://bls.gov/opub/mlr/1997/article/baseball-strike-of-1994-95.htm.

2 Ted Berg, “Tom Glavine Explains How He and Greg Maddux Came Up With ‘Chicks Dig the Longball,’” USA Today, August 8, 2014. https://usatoday.com/2014/08/greg-maddux-and-tom-glavine-came-up-with-chicks-dig-the-longball.

3 The umpires had also been embroiled in a dispute with Major League Baseball, and had been locked out since January 1. The umpires didn’t return to work until May 3.

4 Chris Spears, “Rockies Opening Day Weather ‘Luck’ Almost as Hot as Story’s Bat News,” CBS Denver 4, April 7, 2016. https://denver.cbslocal.com/2016/04/07/rockies-opening-day-weather-luck-almost-as-hot-as-storys-bat/

5 Jennifer Frey, “This One Has It All, Except Met Victory,” New York Times, April 27, 1995.

6 Ibid.

7 “Memories by Rockies Players From the First Game at Coors Field,” CBS Denver 4, May 4, 2015. https://denver.cbslocal.com/2015/05/04/top-15-memories-by-rockies-players-from-the-first-game-at-coors-field/.

8 Baseball’s Seasons: 1995. “Baseball Returns,” MLB Network, 2009.

9 ESPN, “Bichette Hits a Walk-Off in Coors Opener,” MLB.com, 1995. https://youtu.be/TVFO_BhUOHk.

10 Patrick Saunders, “Blake Street Bombers Left Unforgettable Impression in Rockies’ First 25 Years,” Denver Post, July 22, 2017.

To secure the win, Rockies manager Don Baylor turned to two-time Cy Young Award winner Bret Saberhagen. Acquired from the New York Mets in a July 31 trade, Saberhagen was intended to be the final piece in assembling a playoff-caliber roster. The Rockies had signed outfielder Larry Walker and pitcher Bill Swift through free agency before the season. Battling a sore shoulder that would necessitate offseason surgery, Saberhagen aspired for 85 pitches and a lead through five or six innings.1 The Giants, on the other hand, had nothing to play for aside from pride. Winding up a last-place season, manager Dusty Baker started Joe Rosselli for the first time since July 7.

Marvin Benard opened the game for the Giants with a single through the gap between second baseman Eric Young and first baseman Andres Galarraga. Mike Benjamin advanced Benard to second base with a sacrifice bunt before Barry Bonds struck out looking. With two out, Matt Williams launched the ball over the left-field fence and through the front door of Buckaroos restaurant for a 2-0 Giants lead.2 Saberhagen earned his second strikeout of the inning against Mark Carreon to end the Giants first. Leading off the Rockies’ half of the inning, Young lofted a fly ball into center field for a triple. Joe Girardi popped up, but Dante Bichette sent a fly ball to deep right field. While Carreon made the catch, Bichette’s fly had enough distance to bring home Young. Walker’s grounder to first baseman J.R. Phillips ended the inning, but the Rockies had halved the deficit to 2-1.

In the second inning, Phillips restored the Giants’ two-run advantage by slamming Saberhagen’s pitch against the upper-deck facing in right-center field.3 Rich Aurilia doubled to center field in the next at-bat, but the Giants could not add to the 3-1 lead. The Rockies gained a run back in the bottom of the inning. Following Galarraga’s leadoff fly to Benard in center field, Ellis Burks lined a triple into left. Burks scored on Vinny Castilla’s long fly ball to Bonds in left-center field, and Walt Weiss ended the inning with a short fly to Carreon.

The Giants offense continued to attack Saberhagen in the third and brought his afternoon to an early conclusion. Benjamin lined the ball to left-center for a leadoff single. With Bonds at the plate, the Giants second baseman swiped second base. The steal set up Benjamin to score when Bonds doubled to right field. Weiss’s error on Williams’s groundball put runners at the corners for Carreon. His double to left field scored Bonds and Williams for a 6-2 lead. After Saberhagen walked Phillips — the fifth Giant to reach base with none out — Baylor summoned Mark Thompson from the bullpen. Saberhagen’s day ended well short of the goal he established for himself. The Colorado starter commented, “I just didn’t have very good stuff today.”4 Saberhagen’s pitching line worsened after his exit as Aurilia and Kirt Manwaring hit sacrifice flies that plated Carreon and Phillips, respectively. The wild-card-chasing Rockies trailed, 8-2.

Assuming Saberhagen’s spot in the batting order, Thompson hit a short fly ball to the left-field line for a leadoff single in the Rockies’ third. Although hobbled by a sore hamstring just days earlier,5 Young walloped the ball over the center-right fence to cut the deficit to 8-4. Three batters later, Walker homered with Girardi (infield single) on second for an 8-6 score. The home run was Walker’s 36th of the campaign and put his RBI tally into triple digits, more than justifying the expense in bringing him from Montreal to Denver. “It wasn’t my money (that signed Walker),” Baylor said. “But money well spent is right.”6 Baker replaced the faltering Rosselli with Mark Leiter. (Rosselli would never pitch again in the majors.) Leiter had started and pitched into the seventh inning of Friday night’s game, making the switch seem a bit curious. With Leiter’s record at 10-11, Baker admitted the move was done to get him to .500.7 Although Leiter got out of the inning on grounders from Burks and Castilla, the move would not work as Baker intended.

Neither team scored in the fourth inning, and the Giants left two on base in the top of the fifth. Girardi opened the Rockies’ fifth by doubling to left field; he held second base on Bichette’s infield single to third baseman Williams. Walker’s single through the right side of the Giants’ infield scored Girardi and advanced Bichette to third. Bichette scored easily on Galarraga’s groundball double to left field, tying the game at 8-8. Leiter struck out Burks for the first out, but surrendered the lead on the second out as Walker scored from third base on Castilla’s grounder to Aurilia. Weiss’s fly ball dropped in short right field for a run-scoring double as Galarraga crossed the plate for a 10-8 Rockies lead. Leiter intentionally walked pinch-hitter John Vander Wal to set up the force, but Young’s fly to Bonds actually provided the final out. As the inning ended with the Rockies ahead, the right-field scoreboard announced the Astros’ 8-7 win over the Cubs. Weiss conceded later that the team was following events at Wrigley Field: “We were all watching what was going on.”8 Thus, the Rockies knew they had to win to avoid a playoff with Houston.

Since being chased from the game in the third, Saberhagen had become the Rockies’ biggest cheerleader. “When I came in after I gave up that bunch of runs, I said, ‘There’s a lot of game left. Don’t give up. Keep battling like you have all year.’”9 The Rockies had battled to the lead; now the bullpen needed to hold on to it. From his perspective behind the plate, Girardi had confidence in the relief corps. “I’ll put our bullpen up against anybody’s,” he said.10 In the sixth, Bryan Rekar allowed only a two-out single to Matt Williams. Phillips started the Giants’ seventh with a double, which was converted into a run on another Manwaring sacrifice fly. After pinch-hitter Dave McCarty hit a two-out double, Bruce Ruffin closed the door on the rally, getting Benard to ground out, keeping the score at 10-9. Darren Holmes pitched a three-up, three-down eighth inning, setting up Curt Leskanic to seal the win.

Leskanic’s previous save opportunity had ended disastrously. Tasked with closing out a 7-5 lead in Friday’s game, he coughed up four runs before being pulled by Baylor. He recovered, however, to pitch a scoreless ninth in Saturday’s 9-3 win. Leskanic struck out pinch-hitter Tom Lampkin for the first out, and Phillips stared at strike three for the second out. Down to his last out, Baker opted for pinch-hitter Glenallen Hill, who slapped Leskanic’s 2-and-1 pitch over the left side of the infield for a single. That left it for Jeff Reed, batting for Manwaring. Reed’s grounder was scooped up by Galarraga, who completed the Rockies’ 36th come-from-behind win of the season by stepping on first base for the final out. Playoff baseball would be coming to Denver.

The manner of the win, even though it was the biggest comeback of the season, had a familiar feel for the Rockies. Darren Holmes said, “That’s the way we have done it all year. We get up against the wall and seem to pull it out somehow.”11 With champagne being sprayed in the clubhouse, Walker commented, “This is the first year for this, so I don’t know how we’re supposed to react.”12 Baylor was especially happy for those players who had been with the club since its inception. Twelve Rockies players, including Bichette, Galarraga, Castilla, and Young, were selected in the November 1992 expansion draft or signed as free agents shortly afterward.13 Walker, who never experienced playoff baseball in seven seasons in Montreal, was determined to enjoy the moment. The right fielder said, “We’re going to enjoy this for now. We’re going to take a day off and then worry about the Braves. This is celebrating time.”

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author also referred to baseball-reference.com and the San Francisco Chronicle.

Notes

1 Joseph Sanchez, “Bullpen Bails Saberhagen Out of Mess,” Denver Post, October 2, 1995: C-05.

2 Ibid.

3 Ibid.

4 Ibid.

5 Jack Etkin, “Win Has Special Meaning for Original Rockies,” Rocky Mountain News (Denver), October 2, 1995: 19B.

6 Jeff Hamrick, “Walker Gives Rockies Lift They Needed,” Rocky Mountain News, October 2, 1995: 19B.

7 Joe Roderick, “Bay Teams Help Angels, Rockies,” Contra Costa Times Walnut Creek, California), October 2, 1995: D01.

8 Irv Moss, “Walker Swats Away the Doubts,” Denver Post, October 2, 1995: C-02.

9 Tracy Ringolsby, “Wild Ride to Wild Card,” Rocky Mountain News, October 2, 1995: 1B.

10 Ibid.

11 Ibid.

12 Ibid.

13 Etkin.

14 Hamrick.

To nobody’s great surprise, the 1998 All-Star Game played in the high altitude of Denver was the highest-scoring midseason classic ever. A ballpark-record crowd of 51,267 looked on as the teams combined for a record 31 hits, only three of which were home runs. American League batters had 19 hits (including two homers), and their runners combined for six stolen bases in a come-from-behind 13-8 win. It was the second consecutive win for the AL and the eighth in 11 years. The 21 runs broke an All-Star Game record that had stood since 1954.

The scoring barrage did not start immediately. David Wells of the Yankees, who had pitched a no-hitter earlier in the season, was named to start the game by Indians manager Mike Hargrove, and Greg Maddux of the Braves was the National League starter, selected by his Marlins manager Jim Leyland. The first two innings were scoreless, although the American League threatened in the opening inning. Kenny Lofton singled and stole second base. He advanced to third on a bunt single by Roberto Alomar, but with runners on the corners and none out, Maddux got out of the jam striking out Alex Rodriguez with the bases loaded and two out to end the threat. In the second inning, Pudge Rodriguez singled off Maddux but was eliminated on a double play. Tom Glavine relieved Maddux in the third inning and pitched a scoreless frame.

The NL jumped to a 2-0 lead on a third-inning two-run single by Tony Gwynn off Roger Clemens. Denver favorite Larry Walker led off the inning with a walk and advanced to second on a single by Atlanta’s Walt Weiss, who was in his first All-Star Game, at age 34, in his 12th major-league season. Glavine’s bunt advanced the runners to second and third, and the bases became loaded when Clemens hit Craig Biggio of Houston with a pitch. Gwynn’s run-scoring single to right went off the glove of second baseman Roberto Alomar.

As Weiss, who had spent four seasons with the Rockies, stood at first base after his single, AL first baseman Jim Thome came over and tapped Weiss on his chest, near the heart, with his gloved hand. The tap had more than a bit of significance.2 It had been an eventful couple of weeks for Weiss. His 3-year-old son, Brody, contracted an illness related to a deadly form of E. coli bacteria. Weiss rushed home to be with his family. Brody was released from the hospital and was at the game. By the start of the game, the Weiss story was well known, and the fans gave Weiss the loudest cheers as the players were being introduced. By the time Weiss signed on as manager with the Rockies in 2013, Brody was a star high-school shortstop, and that year he was drafted by the Rockies in the 22nd round. He chose to go to college.

The AL, held scoreless for the first three innings, broke through in the top of the fourth, and proceeded to score in each of the game’s final six stanzas.

In the fourth inning, Tom Glavine was in his second inning of work. The American League batted around, scoring four runs. Keying the rally were Pudge Rodriguez’s second consecutive single, a two-run double by the starting AL shortstop, Cal Ripken Jr. (scoring both Pudge and Alex Rodriguez), a bases-loaded walk to Ken Griffey Jr., and a sacrifice fly by the Rangers’ Juan Gonzalez, who at the time led the majors in RBIs with 101.

Walt Weiss’s second single brought the NL to within a run of the lead in the bottom of the fourth, but the AL responded with a run of its own when Alex Rodriguez homered in the top of the fifth.

Young Bartolo Colon of the Indians, in his first All-Star Game appearance, came on to protect the two-run lead, but yielded a triple to Devon White and walked Mark McGwire of the Cardinals. The next batter was Barry Bonds, to whom Colon fed four straight fastballs that resulted in two balls and two strikes. The next pitch was an off-speed pitch that went out much more quickly than it came in, sailing 451 feet off the façade just below the ballpark’s upper deck in right field. The National League led 6-5, and Colon’s family watching the game on television in the Dominican Republic saw the pride of the family on the verge of being tagged with the loss after blowing the lead. (Bonds and his father, Bobby Bonds, are one of the two father-son combos to homer in All-Star competition, the other being the Griffeys.)

The American League went ahead to stay with three sixth-inning runs, highlighted by defensive lapses by the National League and singles and stolen bases by both Pudge Rodriguez and Baltimore second baseman Roberto Alomar. With the bases loaded, NL catcher Javy Lopez was unable to handle a pitch by reliever Ugueth Urbina, and Roberto Alomar, who had singled to lead off the inning, scored on the passed ball. Ken Griffey Jr., who had reached on an infield hit, scored on an Urbina wild pitch. Pudge Rodriguez’s single sent Jim Thome home with the inning’s final run. It was the last of three hits in the game for the Texas Rangers catcher, who was making his sixth consecutive All-Star Game start and his seventh appearance overall. His three hits made him the first catcher to achieve the feat in an All-Star Game.

It looked as if the seesaw would swing back in the National League’s favor in the bottom of the sixth inning when Andres Galarraga, who had played five great seasons with the Rockies before moving on to the Braves, sent a long fly ball to center field with two runners on. However, the ball did not clear the fence and was gloved by center fielder Darin Erstad. AL reliever Rolando Arrojo put a zero on the board and the AL took an 8-6 lead to the seventh inning.

Roberto Alomar’s second hit of the game, a seventh-inning homer, put the AL up 9-6 and the American Leaguers tacked on another run in the eighth inning, thanks to singles by Alomar and Omar Vizquel, to extend their lead to four runs.

The American League took a 10-6 lead into the bottom of the eighth inning. The National League was down to its last six outs and loaded the bases off Boston’s Tom Gordon. Moises Alou singled and advanced to second when Edgar Renteria reached on an error by Scott Brosius. A walk to Fernando Viña loaded the bases for pinch-hitter Greg Vaughn. Vaughn singled to left and when two runners scored, the lead was cut to two.

That brought up Devon White and resulted in a game-saving defensive play. With runners on first and second, White singled to left field. Paul O’Neill fielded the ball and gunned down Vina trying to score from second on the play. That was the inning’s first out. The NL was still in business, however, with runners on first and second.

On the subsequent play, Cleveland’s brilliant shortstop, Vizquel, who had replaced Ripken at the position, grabbed a groundball up the middle by Andres Galarraga, forced White at second and threw to first base to complete the double play and the inning. For Vizquel, who was in the midst of his sixth consecutive Gold Glove season, it was his first All-Star Game in 10 major-league seasons. He had spent his time videotaping the festivities on the Monday before the game.3

The game advanced to the ninth inning with the score 10-8 in favor of the American League, and the AL scored three runs in their half of the inning. Scott Brosius of the Yankees singled and stole second base. He scored on a single by Ray Durham. Erstad reached on an error by second baseman Fernando Vina and scored on a fly ball by Manny Ramirez. The final run came home on a single off the bat of Rafael Palmeiro.

Troy Percival of the Angels came on in relief to get the final three outs for the American League. The game ended in 3:38, the longest nine-inning All-Star Game to that point.

Cal Ripken Jr. started his 15th consecutive All-Star Game, breaking the all-time record, and Pudge Rodriguez’s three singles tied an All-Star record. Ripken was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2007 and Rodriguez in 2017.

Roberto Alomar was named the game’s MVP for his three hits, each of which factored in the scoring. He became part of the Cooperstown induction class of 2011.

Sources

In addition to the sources shown in the notes and Baseball-Reference.com, the author used:

Doyle, Paul. “MVP Alomar Enjoys Bright Side, Hartford Courant, July 8, 1998: C-4.

Lonnquist, Kevin. “Pudge Pounds 3 Singles; Rodriguez Crucial in AL’s 13-8 win,” Arlington (Texas) Morning News, July 8, 1998: 1B.

Massarotti, Tony. “Baseball — The All-Star Game — AL Tops All-Star Bash — Slugs It Out with NL for 13-8 Victory,” Boston Herald, July 8, 1998: 92.

Reid, Jason. “Scoring Mark Disappears in Thin Air, 13-8,” Los Angeles Times, July 8, 1998.

Weinreb, Michael. “AL Goes on Offensive; Tribe’s Colon Is Winner in 13-8 Victory Over NL Stars,” Akron Beacon Journal, July 8, 1998: C1.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/allstar/1998-allstar-game.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1998/B07070NLS1998.htm

Notes

1 Associated Press, “Baseball Today,” July 8, 1998.

2 Ross Newhan, “Stricken Son Tested All-Star Weiss’s Faith,” Los Angeles Times, July 8, 1998: C1.

3 Michael Weinreb. “Lights, Camera, Action! Omar Goes Hollywood; Tribe Shortstop Gets First All-Star Game on Tape,” Akron Beacon Journal, July 8, 1998: C4.   

Helton wasn’t even supposed to play. He had injured his left wrist the night before when Florida Marlins catcher Jorge Fabregas stepped on it during a rundown. Helton was convinced he was spending the Saturday night game on the bench saying, “the trainers worked some magic because when I woke up this morning, there was no way I was going to play.” For Colorado fans, it’s a good thing he was in the lineup.

The Rockies came into the game having won five of their last six. Florida, meanwhile, had lost four straight and seven of eight. The setting for this game was definitely one-sided: Colorado had been scoring a lot of runs lately, and Florida had been giving them up.

Right-hander Bobby Jones got the nod for the Rockies, opposed by fellow righty Alex Fernandez of the Marlins. Both pitchers were in search of their third win of the season. Jones retired the Marlins in order to start the game, and Darryl Hamilton singled short left field to start the bottom half of the first. Florida’s left fielder Cliff Floyd booted the ball and Hamilton advanced to second. Neifi Perez bunted the ball to third and beat it out for a single, with Hamilton going to third. Larry Walker sent a fly ball to right for a sacrifice, bringing in Hamilton for the game’s first run.

In the bottom of the 2nd, Helton led off with a double to right field. He scooted to third on a Fernandez wild pitch, but the Marlins hurler got the next three batters to hit ground balls to the infield for outs, and Helton was stranded at third.

Two innings later, Helton again led off and this time the lefty drove Fernandez’ first offering into right field for a single. An out later, Henry Blanco lashed a double to right. Jones helped his own cause with a single, driving in Helton and sending Blanco to third. Hamilton reached on a fielder’s choice to second baseman Luis Castillo; everyone was safe and Blanco scored. Perez reached on an error by shortstop Alex Gonzalez, scoring Jones. Walker drove a two-RBI double to center as Hamilton and Perez crossed the plate. Fernandez retired Dante Bichette and Vinny Castilla, but the Rockies had scored five runs (four earned) and built a 6-0 lead.

Colorado had batted around in the fifth, which meant that Helton led off the sixth. On a 2-1 count, he sent a fly ball deep down the left field line, over the fence for a home run. He was 3-for-3 off of Fernandez. Kurt Abbott tripled into center and scored when Blanco lined a single up the middle. Fernandez retired the next three Rockies hitters on ground outs, but his club was trailing, 8-0.

Florida manager John Boles inserted Mike Lowell as a pinch-hitter to start the sixth, sending Fernandez to the showers. Lowell flied out to left. Jones was in a groove, and although Castillo singled (only Florida’s third hit of the game), Jones kept his shutout alive. Braden Looper came on to pitch for the Marlins and retired the Rockies in order. In the top of the seventh, Jones tired, as hit pitch count crept into the 90s. He allowed three straight two-out hits, a single to Kevin Orie, a double to Kevin Millar and a two-RBI single to Mike Redmond. Dave Berg entered as a pinch hitter for Looper and flied out to center, ending the inning and Jones’ night on the mound.

Brian Edmondson became the third Marlins hurler in the bottom half. Of course, the leadoff batter was Helton, and he was looking for a ball to drive between the outfielders.  Helton smacked the ball into the right-field gap and starting running. He said after the game, “I knew what I had to get. I was going to run until they tagged me. Once I hit the ball into the gap, I just took off and put my head down and didn’t stop until I got to third.”1 After Helton slid safely into third base, the Coors Field crowd of 47,051 gave him a standing ovation. Edmondson retired the next three in order. It didn’t matter that Helton was stranded at third with no outs for the second time in the game, as his teammates failed to bring him home. He had hit for the cycle.

The Rockies added two more runs in the eighth on a home run by Walker, giving him five runs batted in for the game. The final score was 10-2. As this was a home game, Colorado did not bat in the 9th.  However, Castilla, the Rockies third baseman and the player just before Helton in the lineup, did make the last out in the bottom of the 8th, so Helton would have led off the 9th inning, had the Rockies not been ahead. 

In earning his third win in eight decisions, Jones did not walk a batter and retired 15 of 16 batters between the second and seventh innings, getting 11 in a row at one point. He scattered seven hits in seven innings pitched, telling the press, “The only thing working was my fastball. For the most part, every slider and changeup I threw early got hit hard or for a base hit, so I just pretty much bagged it and went after it.”2 The Florida Marlins lost their fifth game in a row. The first five batters in the lineup combined to go 2-for-20.

The Colorado victory brought them to .500 (32-32) for the first time since April. They won the next day to complete a series sweep against the Marlins, but then the Rockies dropped 10 of their next 11 games and finished the season at 72-90. They didn’t record a single winning month all season. Florida, meanwhile lost its fifth consecutive game. They continued to lose another five games after that and finished 1999 with a 64-98 mark.

Helton’s line score was four hits in four at-bats with two runs scored and only one run batted in.  Helton, runner-up for the 1998 National League Rookie of the Year Award, continued his hot hitting in 1999. He fell short of hitting a second cycle on four different occasions during the 1999 season (getting three of the four different hits needed), which would have made him only the second player since 1900 to hit for the cycle twice in the same season (Babe Herman was the first to do so in 1931).3

Rockies hitting coach Clint Hurdle’s father had recently given a little toy spaceship to Walker “for no apparent reason,”4 and Walker then started a tradition of passing the toy around to the player of the game. On this day that player was Helton. John Henderson of the Denver Post wrote, “The way Helton is hitting, the Rockies could ride him to the moon.”5 In fact, Helton might have put the rocket ship on permanent display in his locker, as Walker told reporters, “He’s hogged it the last four days.”6 In his last seven games, Helton went 13-for-26 (.500) at the plate with four home runs and 17 runs batted in. He raised his batting average 20 points. Walker, who went 3-for-4 with five RBI, further explained, “As long as we have got Todd in the lineup, it seems like we are going to score runs. Todd is clicking right now.”7 The duo of Walker and Helton combined to hit .667 (12-for-18) in the two games so far in the Marlins series. According to Helton, “When you’re in the situation I’m in, you don’t think about it. Once you think, it’s over.”8

Since Helton’s rare feat, five more Colorado players have hit for the cycle.9 Amazingly, all eight of the cycles in Rockies history have taken place at Coors Field. Helton was the second of three players in 1999 to hit for the cycle, coming after San Francisco’s Jeff Kent (May 3) and before Chicago White Sox’ Chris Singleton (July 6).

This story originally appeared in “Major League Baseball A Mile High: The First Quarter Century of the Colorado Rockies” (SABR, 2018), edited by Bill Nowlin and Paul T. Parker. To read more articles from this book at the SABR Games Project, click here.

Sources

In addition to the sources mentioned in the notes, the author consulted baseball-reference.com, mlb.com and retrosheet.org.

Notes

1 “Rockies ride Helton’s cycle,” Baltimore Sun, June 20, 1999: 187.

2 “Helton Hits For Cycle,” https://cbsnews.com/news/helton-hits-for-cycle/, June 20, 1999.

3 As of the end of the 2017 regular season, Babe Herman (1931) and Aaron Hill (2012) are the only two batters in history to have hit for the cycle twice in the same season.

4 John Henderson, “Rockies win brings team to .500,” Denver Post, found online at extras.denverpost.com/rock/game0620.htm. Accessed October 2017.

5 Ibid.

6 Ibid.

7 “Helton Hits For Cycle,” cbsnews.com.

8 Henderson.

9 They are: Mike Lansing (June 18, 2000, against the Arizona Diamondbacks), Troy Tulowitzki (August 10, 2009, against the Chicago Cubs), Carlos Gonzalez (July 31, 2010, against the Chicago Cubs), Michael Cuddyer (August 17, 2014, against the Cincinnati Reds, his second career cycle), and Nolan Arenado (June 18, 2017, against the San Francisco Giants).

Griffey Jr.’s major-league career started when he was a 19-year-old in 1989 with the Seattle Mariners, and he immediately made his mark in the sport as a gifted athlete. After finishing third in the American League Rookie of the Year voting, he ran off a string of 10 All-Star seasons that included an American League MVP Award in 1997 as well as four other top five finishes.

Griffey’s performance peaked with an average of 52 home runs and 142 RBIs per year from 1996 to 1999. He had accumulated 398 career home runs by age 29 and was arguably the best player in baseball.

The 2000 season was Griffey’s first with the Reds. His acquisition had been one of the top stories during the offseason. In early November 1999, he let it be known that he wanted to be traded from Seattle after rejecting the Mariners’ offer of $135 million over eight years. Because he had been in the major leagues for 10 years and with the same team for five years, he had the right to reject any trade. He initially gave the Mariners a list of four clubs (Braves, Mets, Astros, and Reds) he would consider going to. Mariners GM Pat Gillick was able to put together a deal with the Mets, which Griffey vetoed.1

Griffey suddenly narrowed down the list to only the Reds, which left Gillick in an untenable situation with regard to getting comparable value in return. Through no fault of Gillick, the Mariners wound up trading Griffey to the Reds for Mike Cameron, Brett Tomko, Antonio Perez, and Jake Meyer on February 10, 2000, in what was deemed one of the most lopsided baseball deals ever.2However, Griffey was literally going home to Cincinnati, where his father had started his career as a member of the Big Red Machine in the 1970s and where Junior spent his childhood.

The game on April 10 was Opening Day at Coors Field in Denver, pitting the Colorado Rockies against Griffey’s Reds. The Rockies had gone 2-4 on the road, while the Reds had three wins in their first seven contests of the season.

The Rockies were coming off a 72-90 season and fifth-place finish in the National League West Division in 1999 under manager Jim Leyland. Leyland had been replaced by Buddy Bell.

The Rockies’ Opening Day roster contained only six players from the Rockies’ roster on Opening Day in 1999. At the time, the 19-player turnover was believed to be the most in major-league history. The 1997-98 Florida Marlins had seven players remaining.3

The Reds were managed by Jack McKeon, who had led the team to a second-place finish (96-67) in the National League Central Division the year before. Griffey was being counted on to lead them to their first division title since 1995.

The Rockies having led the National League in attendance every year since their inaugural season in 1993, the huge crowd of 48,094 at the Monday afternoon game at Coors Field came as no surprise. Bell gave the starting pitcher’s job to Rolando Arrojo, who had been in the baseball headlines in 1997 when he defected from Cuba, eventually signing with the Tampa Bay Rays. The 6-foot-4 righty was in his first season with the Rockies and had pitched 5⅔innings in a no-decision game against the Atlanta Braves on April 4.

Right-hander Steve Parrisdrew the starting assignment for the Reds. The four-year major-league veteran was coming off his best season in 1999 when he posted an 11-4 record and 3.50 ERA for the Reds. He had taken the loss against the Milwaukee Brewers in the April 5 game in Cincinnati.

The Rockies got on the scoreboard first in the bottom of the second inning when Darren Bragg doubled in Jeff Cirillo, who had led off with a double.

The Reds tied the score in the top of the fourth inning with Griffey’s historic 400th home run, with the bases empty. It was his fourth career home run off Arrojo.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Rockies broke the tie with four runs. Arrojo led off the inning with a single in only his third major-league game as a batter. Tom Goodwin followed with a line drive triple to deep center field that scored Arrojo. Mike Lansing then hit a home run to make the score 3-1.

After a single by 1998-99 National League batting champion Larry Walker and a walk to Cirillo, Reds pitcher Parris was replaced by Hector Mercado. Todd Helton flied out for the first out, and then Walker was caught trying to steal home. Bragg singled in Cirillo for his second RBI of the game and the Reds’ fourth run of the inning.

In the top of the sixth, the Reds recorded three straight singles by Alex Ochoa, Chris Stynes, and Barry Larkin. Griffey hit a sacrifice fly to center that scored Ochoa, but the rally was killed when Dante Bichette, who had been traded from the Rockies in the offseason, grounded into a double play to end the inning.

Helton added to the 5-2 Rockies lead with a homer off Reds reliever Scott Sullivan with Cirillo on base in the bottom of the seventh.

Trailing 7-2, the Reds tried to mount a comeback in the top of the ninth, but fell short. Rockies reliever David Lee started the inning. With two outs, rookie D.T. Cromer hit a home run with Ed Taubensee and Aaron Boone on base. It was Cromer’s first major-league home run after he spent the previous eight seasons in the minors.

Ochoa reached base on an error by Lee, who was then replaced by former Reds reliever Stan Belinda. Belinda struck out Stynes to record a save in the Rockies’ 7-5 win.

Arrojo, who gave up two earned runs on six hits in six innings pitched, got credit for the win. Parris took his second loss in as many games by yielding five earned runs on eight hits in four innings.

Cirillo hit two doubles and scored three of the Rockies’ runs. He and Helton would become the first pair of National League teammates to hit 50 or more doubles in the same season.4

After the game, Griffey retrieved the home-run ball from the spectator who caught it by swapping his fielder’s glove for it. Griffey wanted the ball so much he was prepared to also give up an autographed bat and a warm-up jacket. He said, “I can get another glove. I can’t get another 400.” He presented the ball to his father, who proudly displayed it while strolling through the clubhouse after the game.5

The previous record holder for youngest player to reach 400 career home runs was Jimmie Foxx, who was 30 years and 248 days old, while Griffey was 30 years and 141 days old.6Griffey’s home run moved him into 30th place on the career home-run list, passing Detroit Tigers Hall of Famer Al Kaline.7

Griffey finished the season with 40 home runs. His career was on a trajectory to potentially surpass Hank Aaron as the all-time home-run leader. However, he suffered several injury-plagued seasons that affected his power output during the second half of his career. Consequently, he fell considerably short of Aaron, finishing his career in 2010 with 630 home runs.8

Griffey hit home runs on his father’s birthday on three other occasions, including the first one of his career in his 1989 major-league debut.9The father-son duo shared another memorable home-run moment when they both hit round-trippers in the same game as teammates with the Seattle Mariners in 1990. But the historic one in 2000 also had to rank among the most unforgettable for the family.

This story originally appeared in “Major League Baseball A Mile High: The First Quarter Century of the Colorado Rockies” (SABR, 2018), edited by Bill Nowlin and Paul T. Parker. To read more articles from this book at the SABR Games Project, click here.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author also consulted:

Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org

Hawks, Emily. “Ken Griffey Jr.,” SABR BioProject, sabr.org/bioproj/person/3e8e7034.

2000 Colorado Rockies Information Guide.

Notes

1Michael Knisley, “Griffey Leaves Seattle Red-Faced,” The Sporting News, February 21, 2000: 44.

2Ibid.

32001 Colorado Rockies Information Guide, 199.

42001 Colorado Rockies Information Guide, 198.

5Chris Haft, “A Birthday Gift for Dad,” Cincinnati Enquirer, April 11, 2000: A4.

6Haft: A1.

7Haft: A4.

8As of 2018, Griffey is sixth on the all-time list of home-run leaders behind Barry Bonds (762), Aaron (755), Babe Ruth (714), Alex Rodriguez (696), and Willie Mays (660). At the end of the 2017 season, Albert Pujols trailed Griffey by only 16 home runs.

9Haft: A1.

An announced crowd of 41,707 witnessed a pitching matchup of two struggling right-handers. John Burkett started for the Braves and entered the game with an 8-5 record and a 4.77 ERA. The Rockies countered with Masato Yoshii. A veteran of 13 seasons in Japan before coming to the United States in 1998, Yoshii was 5-13 with 5.94 ERA. The matchup, coupled with the high altitude of Coors Field, suggested that the bullpens might be busy that night. They were and when the dust settled, the two teams used 17 pitchers in a 12-inning affair that included an 11th-inning melee.

Yoshii, who delivered the first pitch at 7:05 P.M. under cloudy skies with a game time temperature of 78 degrees, started the game by walking Rafael Furcal. With one out, Furcal stole second and advanced to third when catcher Ben Petrick sailed his throw to second into center field. After retiring Chipper Jones on a comebacker and walking B.J. Surhoff, Yoshii escaped by getting Andres Galarraga to ground into an inning-ending fielder’s choice.

The Rockies opened the scoring with two runs in the bottom of the first. Juan Pierre led off with a single. With two outs the Rockies’ speedy center fielder stole second. After a walk to Jeffrey Hammonds, Todd Walker drilled a triple to deep right-center to score Pierre and Hammonds. Burkett struck out Jeff Cirillo to end the inning.

Yoshii escaped unscathed again after two Braves reached base in the top of the second. Burkett was not as lucky in the bottom of the inning. Todd Hollandsworth led off with a single and advanced to third on Petrick’s single to right. Hollandsworth scored when Pierre lifted a fly ball to right. The Rockies led, 3-0.

The Braves broke through in the top of the third when Andruw Jones singled to start the inning. Going on the first pitch, the center fielder swiped second. Two batters later, Jones scored when Surhoff sent a fly ball to deep left-center to cut the Rockies lead to 3-1. Burkett retired the Rockies in order in the bottom of the inning.

After the Braves failed to score in the top of the fourth, the Rockies went back to work. Cirillo led off with a groundball double to short left field and moved to third when Hollandsworth followed with his second consecutive single. Petrick singled to drive in Cirillo and move Hollandsworth up 90 feet. Yoshii’s sacrifice bunt set the table for Pierre, who failed to drive in a run when he was caught looking at strike three. Just when it appeared that Burkett might wiggle off the hook, Neifi Pérez delivered a two-out, two-run double to deep right-center to give the Rockies what appeared to be a comfortable 6-1 lead.

The Braves responded with three runs of their own in the top of the fifth. Andruw Jones hit a one-out solo home run to right-center, which was followed by a Chipper Jones single, an RBI double by Surhoff, and a run-scoring single to center by Galarraga. In a matter of minutes, the Braves had cut the Rockies’ lead to 6-4.

Burkett held the Rockies in check in the bottom of the fifth before the parade of pitchers began. Mike DeJean pitched a scoreless sixth for the Rockies and left-hander Terry Mulholland came on in relief of Burkett to get the final out of the sixth for the Braves.

The Braves tied the game in the top of the seventh. Chipper Jones hit a one-out home run to cut the lead to 6-5. Surhoff walked and moved into scoring position when he stole second. Galarraga’s single advanced Surhoff to third. Trying to preserve the once comfortable lead, Rockies manager Buddy Bell summoned José Jiménez from the bullpen. Javy Lopez greeted Jimenez with an RBI single to tie the score. From there it was a war of attrition.

Mulholland pitched a scoreless seventh for the Braves and was followed by Mike Remlinger in the eighth, Kerry Ligtenberg in the ninth, and Scott Kamieniecki in the 10th and 11th innings. Jimenez finished the seventh and pitched a scoreless eighth for the Rockies. He was followed by Gabe White, Craig House, Bobby Chouinard, and Mike Myers, who kept the game tied.

With two outs in the top of the 11th inning, Bell called on his last available reliever, right-hander John Wasdin, to presumably pitch the rest of the way. On a 3-and-2 pitch, Wasdin hit Galarraga with an off-speed pitch that was up and in. Galarraga, who made no attempt to get out of the way of the pitch, began making his way toward first base before charging the mound and inciting a bench-clearing brawl [despite the hit batter being the first of the game … in extra innings … on a full count … with two outs].1

Galarraga defended his reaction, saying, “He started talking [garbage], that’s why I had to jump on him. I have to fight. I don’t know why he started talking. I don’t know what the guy’s thinking.”2 The last Rockies reliever was ejected along with Galarraga and Rockies manager Bell.

The Rockies called on the previous night’s starter, Brian Bohanon, to get them through the 10th inning. Left-hander Bohanon, who had thrown 99 pitches the night before, walked Brian Jordan before retiring Lopez on a fly ball to deep left. Despite throwing only 10 pitches, Bohanon had nothing more to give.

While Scott Kamieniecki was retiring the Rockies in the bottom of the 11th, Bell, managing from the clubhouse, had no idea which of his position players could pitch. Recalling the situation, Rockies catcher Brent Mayne speculated that perhaps Bell was thinking, “[C]atchers usually have strong arms, or whatever, hell, I don’t know.” When Bell asked Mayne, who was nursing a sore left wrist, if he could pitch, Mayne slightly fibbed. “Yeah, I can pitch.”3 Mayne later admitted he had never pitched at any level.4

Entering the game in the top of the 12th inning with the score tied at 6-6, Mayne stood on the mound fulfilling a lifelong dream.5 First up was Tom Glavine, the Braves’ All-Star starting pitcher, who was called on to pinch-hit for Kamieniecki. After getting ahead with a 1-and-2 count, Mayne sailed an off-speed pitch five feet behind the left-handed-hitting Glavine. Two pitches later, Glavine hit a little nubber between the mound and first base, which Mayne fielded cleanly and tossed to first for the inning’s first out. Walt Weiss flied out to center for the second out. Things then turned a bit tense when Furcal singled and moved to second on a wild pitch. Mayne then walked Andruw Jones on five pitches to set the stage for Chipper Jones, who chopped a weak, checked-swing grounder to third to end the Braves half of the inning.

Controversial left-handed reliever John Rocker started the 12th inning for the Braves. Perez singled to center and raced to third when Todd Helton singled to right. When Hammonds lined out to center, Perez played it safe and stayed at third. Braves manager Bobby Cox called on right-hander Stan Belinda to extinguish the fire and keep the game tied. After striking out Terry Shumpert, Belinda intentionally walked Cirillo to pitch to Mayne. However, Mayne was lifted for pinch-hitter Adam Melhuse. On Belinda’s first pitch, Melhuse made catcher-turned-pitcher Mayne the winning pitcher with a line-drive single to left that scored Perez. Rocker was tagged with the loss.

Mayne’s victory marked the first time a position player picked up a win since Rocky Colavito relieved Steve Barber and pitched 2⅔ shutout innings in the first game of doubleheader against the Detroit Tigers at Yankee Stadium on August 25, 1968.6 As of 2018, Mayne was one of only eight position players who earned a win in their only pitching appearance.7

Since Mayne’s historic night, four other position players have recorded victories (as of 2023): Philadelphia’s Wilson Valdez (2011); Baltimore’s Chris Davis (2012); the Chicago Cubs’ John Baker (2014); who beat the Rockies, and Seattle’s Luis Torrens (2022).8

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Bruce Slutsky and copy-edited by Len Levin. An earlier version appeared in Major League Baseball A Mile High: The First Quarter Century of the Colorado Rockies (SABR, 2018), edited by Bill Nowlin and Paul T. Parker.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author also relied on Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/COL/COL200008220.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2000/B08220COL2000.htm

Notes

1 Kevin Henry, “Colorado Rockies History: Brent Mayne Makes History on The Mound,” Fandsided, August 22, 2017, https://roxpile.com/2017/08/22/colorado-rockies-history-brent-mayne-makes-history-mound/.

2 Grant Brisbee, “The Time a Catcher Pitched at Coors Field and Won,” SBNation.com, August 21, 2015. sbnation.com/2015/8/21/9188267/brent-mayne-pitching-rockies-braves.

3 Brisbee, “The Time a Catcher Pitched at Coors Field and Won.”

4 Associated Press, “Winning Pitcher Is a Catcher,” New York Times, August 24, 2000, https://www.nytimes.com/2000/08/24/sports/national-league-winning-pitcher-is-a-catcher.html.

5 Brisbee, “The Time a Catcher Pitched at Coors Field and Won.”

6 Brisbee, “The Time a Catcher Pitched at Coors Field and Won.”

7 Zachary Rymer, “Chris Davis and Top 10 Position-Player Pitching Performances of All-Time,” Bleacher Report, May 7, 2012, https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1175094-chris-davis-and-top-10-position-player-pitching-performances-of-all-time.

8 Joe Nguyen, “That Time Rockies Catcher Brent Mayne Pitched a Scoreless 12th Inning for the Win,” Denver Post, August 22, 2017, https://www.denverpost.com/2017/08/22/rockies-catcher-brent-mayne-pitches-scoreless-inning-for-win/.

The 1999 number-one draft pick of the Colorado Rockies was as celebrated a pick as there was. The Texas native was a two-sport star (football and baseball) at Ralph H. Poteet High School in Mesquite. He excelled as a punter and placekicker in football, but it was his impressive numbers in baseball that brought the most attention. In his senior season at Poteet, Jennings batted .410 with seven home runs and posted a 10-3 record with a 0.92 ERA and 132 strikeouts.1

Jennings was selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 54th round of the free-agent draft on June 4, 1996. He bypassed the invitation to enter professional baseball and instead enrolled at Baylor University.

His decision was sound, as he had a banner career at Baylor. In his junior year, Jennings hit .386 with 17 home runs and 68 RBIs. As a pitcher, he won 13 games and totaled 172 strikeouts with a 2.58 ERA. He was named the National Player of the Year in 1999.2As a result, his stock skyrocketed and the Colorado Rockies selected Jennings with their first pick (16th overall) in the free-agent draft on June 2, 1999.

Jennings ascended through the Rockies farm system with mixed results. Even though his record in 2000 was 8-13, he had a 3.47 ERA and showed tremendous control. Jennings struck out 166 and walked 53 between Class-A Salem and Double-A Carolina. He followed that up with a 7-8 record at Triple-A Colorado Springs. His ERA was 4.72, but he struck out 110 batters in 131⅔ innings pitched.

The 2001 Colorado Rockies were in the basement of the National League West. On August 23 they had a 53-72 record, 20 games behind division leader Arizona. Veteran Mike Hampton was the leader of a rather abysmal pitching staff, posting a 12-10 record with a 5.26 ERA before Jennings made his first start.

The Rockies, seeking a spark, recalled Jennings and inserted him as the starting pitcher in the third game of a series against the New York Mets. The Mets had won the first two games of the series and were riding a four-game winning streak. New York was also the reigning National League champion. But the Mets were experiencing a bit of a hangover from the previous year’s success, and they were 11½ games back in the NL East with a 58-68 record. Despite their precarious position, it was a daunting assignment for the young hurler to debut in the Big Apple.

To add to the 23-year-old’s anxiety, a one-hour rain delay made the waiting seem interminable. But Jennings received the gift that many starting pitchers would treasure. On the strength of singles by Juan Pierre and Terry Shumpert and a sacrifice fly by Larry Walker, his teammates gave him a 1-0 lead. But the parade to home plate continued. Mets starter Glendon Rusch issued walks to Jeff Cirillo and Alex Ochoa, which were followed by a two-run single by Juan Uribe.

Jennings took the mound with a 3-0 lead. The Mets were able to get baserunners aboard in the first two innings, but they were unable to score. The 3-0 advantage was intact until the top of the fifth inning, when the Rockies scored two more runs. A single by Cirillo was followed by a bunt attempt by Todd Helton. A throwing error on the play by third baseman Desi Relaford put baserunners at the corners. Ochoa followed with a sacrifice fly to score Ochoa and advance Helton to second. Helton moved to third on a passed ball charged to catcher Mike Piazza. Sal Fasano followed with a single to plate Helton.

In the top of the fourth inning, Jennings singled to left field for his first big-league hit but was forced at second base on a grounder to short by Pierre. Having just been called up from the minors, Jennings needed a bat. He used one of Uribe’s bats, and showed off the hitting ability he had demonstrated in high school and college.

The Mets’ Rusch was lifted after pitching five innings and giving up five runs (three earned). Grant Roberts emerged from the bullpen to take his place. Meanwhile, Jennings worked around a two-out double by Matt Lawton in the bottom of the fifth and struck out two batters in the sixth to keep the Mets off the scoreboard.

Colorado scored three runs in the top of the seventh inning to increase its lead to 8-0. The Rockies totaled five hits in the frame, with singles by Cirillo, Ochoa, Uribe, and Jennings and a double by Pierre that spelled the end of the day for Roberts. Jennings’s single scored Ochoa and gave him his first major-league RBI.

Donne Wall entered the game for the Mets. Helton doubled and scored on Ochoa’s single. The Rockies’ final run came in the top of the ninth inning, when Jennings slugged his first career home run, over the right-field fence, to make the score 10-0. He set down the Mets in the ninth inning to post the shutout. He was the first major-league pitcher to throw a shutout and also hit a home run in his debut game. Jennings, who threw a mix of breaking balls and two-seam fastballs, whiffed eight Mets batters and walked four. “I guess you can’t get better than that,” he said. “It’s going to be hard to top that one.”3 On the day, Jennings scattered five hits, striking out eight and walking four. At the plate, he was 3-for-5 with two RBIs and a run scored.

“I tip my hat to him,” said New York manager Bobby Valentine. “You don’t expect that. I don’t know if I saw a hitting debut like that.”4Added Relaford, “He pitched a great game, not to mention those three hits. It was kind of fun to watch, if you look at the positive. He’s probably thinking it’s pretty easy at this level now.”5

The National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown requested some items from the historic game. “It’s my picture and hat and Juan Uribe’s bat,” said Jennings. “It’s a cool thing to be recognized in Cooperstown. It’s something I can tell my grandkids. It’s extra-special.”6

As a team, the Rockies didn’t escape the cellar in their division, finishing with a 73-89 record. The Mets finished the season strong with an 82-80 record, good for third place in the East.

As for Jennings, he finished the season with a 4-1 slate and a 4.58 ERA. He was one of 26 pitchers used by Rockies manager Buddy Bell. Jennings was the leader of the Rockies staff in 2002. He went 16-8 with a 4.52 ERA and totaled 127 strikeouts. He was named NL Rookie of the Year by the Baseball Writers Association of America and The Sporting News. 

This story originally appeared in “Major League Baseball A Mile High: The First Quarter Century of the Colorado Rockies” (SABR, 2018), edited by Bill Nowlin and Paul T. Parker. To read more articles from this book at the SABR Games Project, click here.

Sources

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYN/NYN200108230.shtml

http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2001/B08230NYN2001.htm

Notes

1Jerry Hill, “Hall of Fame Profile: Jason Jennings,” Baylor Bear Insider, Baylorbears.com, October 11, 2009.

2Ibid.

3Liz Robbins, “Punchless Mets Surrender to Rockies’ Rookie Pitcher,” New York Times, August 24, 2001: D3.  

4Ibid.  

5Ibid.

6Irv Moss, “Colorado Classics: Jason Jennings Former Rockies Pitcher,” Denver Post, June 18, 2013. 

The 2005 Opening Day matchup between the San Diego Padres and Colorado Rockies stands as a clear reminder of the dichotomy of quantifiable failures of and the need for a determined, unrelenting resilience. The game itself was a microcosm of a baseball season, complete with the ebbs and flows marked by disappointments and triumphs that characterize the American pastime. Right down to the last at bat.

The Padres were coming off an 87-75 season in 2004, good for third place in the NL West, six games behind the division champion Los Angeles Dodgers. The Padres entered the new season optimistic that they could improve upon their previous year’s finish. The Rockies finished 2004 with a record of 68-94, 25 games off the pace. While little was expected of the club in 2005, there was a newfound enthusiasm that accompanied the club’s youth movement. The Rockies’ Opening Day lineup included three rookies.

Woody Williams was the Opening Day pitcher for the Padres. The 38-year-old right-hander signed a two-year, $8 million contract during the offseason to return to San Diego after a successful 3½-year stint with the St. Louis Cardinals in which he compiled a 45-22 record. The Padres were hoping the veteran’s presence would be enough to put them over the top. Left-hander Joe Kennedy was given the Opening Day start for the Rockies. Kennedy was coming off the best year of his career (9-7 with a 3.66 ERA) in 2004. Both pitchers were making their second Opening Day start. Williams started and lost the Padres opener in 2001 against the San Francisco Giants and Kennedy earned a no-decision as the Opening Day pitcher for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 2003.

Kennedy delivered the first pitch just after 2:00 P.M. The game was played under cloudy skies with a balmy game-time temperature of 68 degrees and barely the hint of a breeze blowing out to center field. The southpaw hurler struck out Khalil Greene and Mark Loretta to start the game before loading the bases. He walked Brian Giles, yielded a single to Phil Nevin,and walked Ryan Klesko before escaping by getting Padres catcher Ramon Hernandez to pop out to second.

Williams’s second stint with the Padres got off to a tough start. Second baseman Aaron Miles led off the home half of the first with a double to right. He immediately came around score when rookie Clint Barmes doubled to center. Todd Helton followed with a walk and Preston Wilson smacked a three-run home run. Four batters in and the Rookies were up 4-0! Following a Matt Holliday single, Williams settled down and retired the next three Rockies to avoid an even more catastrophic start to the season.

Both pitchers had uneventful second innings before the Padres answered in the top of the third. Loretta started the inning by beating out a groundball to short and Giles cut the Rockies’ lead in half with a line-drive, two-run homer. On the very next pitch, Nevin hit a solo shot to right-center. Just like that, the Padres were back in the game, trailing only 4-3.

It didn’t take long for the Rockies to respond in the bottom of the frame. Holliday reached on a one-out single to center and scored when third baseman Jeff Baker, who was making his major-league debut, recorded his first major-league hit, a two-run homer that increased the Rockies’ lead to 6-3. Kennedy followed by striking out the side on the top of the fourth before the Rockies mounted another threat in the bottom of the inning. After retiring Kennedy on a groundball to short, Williams yielded singles to Miles and Barmes before being lifted by manager Bruce Bochy in favor of left-handed journeyman Dennys Reyes.2 Despite balking the runners to second and third, Reyes was able to escape further damage when he struck out Helton and retired Wilson on a foul pop to first base. It was not the return that Williams or the Padres had hoped for. In 3⅓ innings, he yielded nine hits and six runs, all earned.

Again, Kennedy retired the Padres in order in the top of the fifth before the Rockies added a run in the bottom of the inning. Holliday led off with a triple to deep left-center and scored when right fielder Dustan Mohr singled to left. With the Rockies now leading 7-3, it appeared they were on their way to an easy Opening Day victory. However, as demonstrated by the ballpark’s first decade of operation, no lead is ever safe at hitter-friendly Coors Field.

Klesko, the Padres’ left-handed-hitting left fielder, led off the top of the sixth with a line single to center. Hernandez followed with a walk before Xavier Nady drilled a three-run homer to cut the Rockies’ lead to 7-6 and send Kennedy to the showers. Left-hander Javier Lopez was summoned from the bullpen and promptly gave up a single to Sean Burroughs. Burroughs was forced at second on Eric Young’s grounder. Young stole second and scored when Greene doubled to right field. The Rockies called upon right-hander Allan Simpson to extinguish the flames, but he was immediately greeted by Loretta’s single to right that advanced Greene to third. Next up was Giles, who plated the Padres’ fifth run of the inning with a fly to center that scored the Padres’ shortstop. The inning came to a merciful end when Simpson retired Nevin on a groundball that ricocheted off him to short. However, the damage was done. The Padres had batted around and taken an 8-7 lead.

The Rockies quickly countered in the bottom of the sixth. Miles collected his fourth hit and third double of the game when he shot a groundball down the right-field line off right-handed reliever Rudy Seanez. The Rockies second baseman advanced to third when Barmes grounded out to the right side of the infield and he scored when Helton singled to center. After six eventful innings the game was tied at 8 runs apiece.

Right-hander Scott Dohmann came on in relief for the Rockies in the seventh. After Klesko struck out to start the inning, Hernandez homered to right center to put the Padres back in front. Two pitches later, Nady followed with his second homer of the game to put the Padres up 10-8.

Things calmed down a bit during the next inning and a half. Unheralded right-hander Scott Linebrink, who had a career year in 2005, pitched a scoreless seventh for the Padres, as did Rockies left-hander Brian Fuentes. Akinori Otsuka, the Padres’ setup man, took the ball in the eighth and was able to navigate around a one-out single and two-out walk to hold the two-run lead.

The Padres loaded the bases in the top of the ninth but failed to add insurance runs. Hernandez reached on an error to lead off the inning and stole second with one out. Burroughs walked, and Rockies manager Clint Hurdle called upon right-hander Ryan Speier to face Adam Hyzdu, who had replaced Klesko in left. The right-handed-hitting Hyzdu popped out to second. Greene followed with a walk to load the bases, but the threat died when Loretta grounded into an inning-ending fielder’s choice.

Down by two entering the bottom of the ninth, the Rockies had the unenviable task of facing the Padres’ Trevor Hoffman. The All-Star closer entered the campaign with 393 saves3 to his credit. After Mohr started the inning by flying out to left, Hoffman appeared well on his way to recording his first save of the 2005 season. But this group of Rockies had no quit.

Baker started the rally with a double to left, bringing the tying run the plate in catcher JD Closser. The rookie backstop grounded out to second, advancing Mohr to third. Hoffman was still working with a two-run lead when Cory Sullivan, who was also making his major-league debut, sliced a run-scoring double into the left-field corner. The switch-hitting Miles, batting left-handed, then tied it, 10-10, with his career-high fifth hit of the game, a run-scoring single up the middle.4 Barmes followed with the climactic blow, a two-run homer to left that gave the Rockies a 12-10 victoryand sent the near-capacity crowd of 47,661 into a frenzy.

What made the Rockies’ comeback so surprising, if not improbable, was that most of the damage was done by youngsters. Three of the four hits Hoffman allowed — two doubles and Barmes’ first-pitch, walk-off homer — were the work of their resilient rookies.5

This story originally appeared in “Major League Baseball A Mile High: The First Quarter Century of the Colorado Rockies” (SABR, 2018), edited by Bill Nowlin and Paul T. Parker. To read more articles from this book at the SABR Games Project, click here.

Notes

1 Tim Sullivan, “Dusted Hoffman Reacts With Class,” San Diego Union Tribune, May 5, 2005. Retrieved from legacy.sandiegouniontribune.com/uniontrib/20050405/news_1s5sullivan.html.

2 Reyes was appearing with his eighth club in nine seasons.

3 Sullivan.

4 John Marshall, What an Opening …,” Summit Daily(Summit County, Colorado), May 5, 2005. Retrieved from summitdaily.com/news/sports/what-an-opening-day/.

5 Sullivan.

After the full 162-game schedule had been played, the Colorado Rockies and San Diego Padres were tied for second place in the National League West at 89-73. That was better than any other wild-card contender, so a 163rd-game tiebreaker was required to determine the wild-card team. On both September 29 and 30, the Padres had lost potentially clinching games in Milwaukee. The Rockies had won 13 of their last 14 games, to squeeze into the tie on the scheduled last day of the season.

The Rockies had won the season series, going 5-4 in Denver and 5-4 in San Diego. Josh Fogg took the mound for the Rockies in front of a raucous Coors Field crowd of 48,404. He quickly dispatched Brian Giles and Scott Hairston, but after getting ahead 0-and-2 to Kevin Kouzmanoff gave up a bloop single to right. Fogg then got Adrian Gonzalez swinging on a full count to end the inning.

Jake Peavy took the mound for the Padres. Peavy led the league in wins, ERA, and strikeouts that season, and won the Cy Young Award.1 Rockies manager Clint Hurdle had told the media that his team would be aggressive against the Padres ace, and the truth of that statement showed in the bottom of the first.

Second baseman Kazuo Matsui led off by lacing a ball to right-center, sprinting around first, and taking second. Rookie shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, who would finish two points behind the Brewers’ Ryan Braun in NL Rookie of the Year voting, slapped a grounder up the middle from his deep crouch. Padres shortstop Khalil Greene knocked the ball down, but Tulowitzki reached and Matsui moved to third. Matt Holliday approached the plate to deafening “M-V-P!” chants from the crowd, and worked a walk to load the bases. The Rockies then got on the board with a sacrifice fly from Todd Helton. Third baseman Garrett Atkins then dropped a single into shallow right that drove in Tulowitzki and made the score 2-0. Brad Hawpe’s pop fly in foul territory and Ryan Spilborghs’ fly to center ended the inning.

Rockies catcher Yorvit Torrealba’s leadoff home run in the bottom of the second extended the Rockies’ lead to3-0. But Fogg ran into trouble quickly in the top of the third. Peavy smacked a single up the middle past a diving Tulowitzki, and then Fogg walked Giles and allowed a broken-bat single to Hairston to load the bases with nobody out. After Kouzmanoff flied to left, Gonzalez furthered his reputation as a Rockies killer by taking Fogg’s first pitch, a sinker that didn’t sink, into the stands in right field for a grand slam that gave the Padres a 4-3 lead and silenced the crowd. Greene’s single, Josh Bard’s double, and an intentional walk to Geoff Blum loaded the bases again. On Brady Clark’s groundball to shortstop, Tulowitzki fired to Matsui at second for the out, but the throw to first skipped in front of Helton, allowing Clark to reach and Greene to score, and giving the Padres a 5-3 lead.

In the Rockies’ third, Helton smashed a low pitch into the right-field seats, bringing the Rockies to within one run.2 The game settled for a bit after that, as Peavy retired the side and both teams went down 1-2-3 in the fourth inning.

After a leadoff double by Gonzalez in the fifth, Taylor Buchholz took over for Fogg and retired the side.

In the Rockies’ fifth, Tulowitzki doubled and Holliday singled him home with the tying run. This locked up the batting title for Holliday, and tied him with Ryan Howard for the NL RBI lead. A combination of Buchholz, Jeremy Affeldt, and Ryan Speier held the Padres scoreless in the top of the sixth. In the bottom of the inning, the Rockies grabbed the lead again when September call-up Seth Smith tripled to center and Matsui brought him home with a sacrifice fly.

Blum began the Padres’ eighth with a single off new pitcher Brian Fuentes, the ball reaching Cory Sullivan, who had replaced Spilborghs in center. Clark hit a foul pop to the right side, where Helton, who led all NL first basemen in 2007 with a .999 fielding percentage, made an over-the-shoulder Willie Mays-style catch for the first out. Michael Barrett struck out swinging, but a wild pitch on the third strike allowed Blum to make it to second. On a 1-and-1 count, Giles hit a fly ball to left field, where a misplay by Holliday allowed Blum to score and tie the game, 6-6.

Neither team scored in the ninth, 10th, 11th, or 12th, though each had runners in scoring position in the 11th and the Padres did again  in the 12th.

In the 13th inning, Rockies manager Hurdle called on Jorge Julio to pitch to the Padres. Julio walked Giles on five pitches, and San Diego had its leadoff batter on base for the third straight inning. Hairston then drove a ball to left-center. Like a ball Atkins hit in the seventh, the ball appeared to hit the top of the wall. Hairston’s bounced into the stands for a two-run homer. After Chase Headley’s pinch-hit single, Ramon Ortiz came on to pitch for the Rockies — their 10th pitcher of the night — and retired the next three batters.

The Rockies’ predicted win percentage for the game had dropped to 8%.3

As the Rockies came to bat in the bottom of the 13th down by two runs, the fans at Coors Field cheered as loudly as they had all night, donning their rally caps in hopes of swaying the baseball gods. Coming off their stretch drive, the Rockies had cultivated a reputation as a team that wouldn’t give up.

This time they had to overcome Trevor Hoffman, who was at the time baseball’s all-time saves leader.4 First to face him was Matsui, who after two quick balls watched a ball go by him for the first strike, then slapped two fouls down the third-base line. Finally, he smacked a ball into right-center, where it rolled to the wall before Jason Lane, who had come into the game the previous inning, could track it down and fire it to second; Matsui was already there. Tulowitzki, at this point just a home run short of the cycle, worked a full count, then lined a pitch high in the strike zone to left-center, Lane once again firing in to second, where Tulowitzki got in just before the tag, popped up and pounded his fists in elation.5 The Rockies now had the tying run in scoring position with nobody out.

Holliday, who had misplayed the ball in the eighth that allowed the Padres to tie the game, strode to the plate. He went after Hoffman’s first pitch, driving it to right field where it hit the bottom of the manual scoreboard, bounced over the head of right fielder Giles, and ricocheted back toward the infield. Tulowitzki, who held at second until the ball hit the wall, scored easily and Holliday slid headfirst into third with a triple. Padres manager Bud Black then called for Hoffman to intentionally walk Helton, leading to derisive boos from the home crowd. Black and catcher Michael Barrett went to the mound to chat with Hoffman, and Black motioned for the outfielders to come in as shallow as they dared to fend off the winning run on a sacrifice fly.

Jamey Carroll approached the plate, kicked at the dirt, and adjusted his batting gloves. He then swung his bat toward Hoffman a few times, glanced back at third for the briefest of moments, and settled the bat above his shoulder. Connecting on Hoffman’s first pitch, Carroll drove the ball to right field. “I was just trying to get a ball up in the zone,” he said after the game.6 Giles reached over his head to catch it, and at that moment Holliday, who had tagged up as soon as the ball was in the air, put his head down and ran. “The ball appeared to beat Holliday to the plate,” wrote the New York Times.7 Holliday slid headfirst, and his head bounced off the ground as Barrett reached back to tag him. The ball popped loose. Dazed, and with blood dripping down his chin, Holliday lay on the ground for what seemed like an eternity until home-plate umpire Tim McClelland finally called Holliday safe, ending the game and sending the Rockies to their first playoff berth since 1995.8

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com.

Notes

1 Against the Rockies, however, his record coming into the game was only middling. He’d gone 4-4 lifetime against them, including a 3-3 record at Coors Field.

2 It was only the second time all season that Peavy had allowed more than one home run in a game.

3 baseball-reference.com/boxes/COL/COL200710010.shtml.

4 Hoffman was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2018.

5 Adrian Gonzalez also finished one hit short of a cycle, lacking only a triple.

6 Associated Press, “Rockies Score Three in 13th to Beat Padres,” Baton Rouge Advocate, October 2, 2007: 34.

7 Pat Borzi, “Rockies Have One Last Rally in Them, Scoring 3 Off Hoffman in 13th,” New York Times, October 2, 2007: D2.

8 Holliday admitted he didn’t know if he’d been safe or out, blocked by Barrett’s foot. “I don’t know. He hit me pretty good. I got stepped on and banged my chin. I’m all right.” Padres manager Bud Black allowed that Holliday was probably safe, “It looked to me like he did get it.” Associated Press. Ortiz got the win, and the Padres had lost their third consecutive opportunity to clinch.