Colorado Rockies

Colorado Rockies, American professional baseball team based in Denver that plays in the National League (NL). The Rockies have never won a division title, but they advanced to the 2007 World Series after gaining a playoff berth as the NL Wild Card entrant (as owner of the best record for a non-division-winning team in the NL).

The team began play in 1993, along with the Florida Marlins, as an expansion team. The Rockies were immediately notable for the high scores of their home games, which were largely a result of the relative lack of resistance to batted balls in the thin air at Denver’s high elevation and the effects of the dry climate on the balls’ leather covering. The team capitalized on these unique conditions, and early Rockies clubs were highlighted by sluggers such as first baseman Andres Galarraga, third baseman Vinny Castilla, and outfielders Dante Bichette and Larry Walker. Colorado made a surprise run to a postseason appearance in just its third year of existence, earning the NL Wild Card in 1995, which was followed by a first-round playoff loss to the Atlanta Braves. The Rockies posted a respectable 83–79 record in each of the next two seasons, but they failed to build any lasting success in the aftermath of the franchise’s impressive first few years.

Colorado struggled through the start of the 21st century: it finished no better than second to last in its division from 1998 to 2006. In 2002 the Rockies began storing their baseballs in a humidor to mitigate the effects of their home-field advantage, as the leather on balls kept in the dry Denver air constricted, making the balls significantly lighter. The change was instantaneous, as Coors Field—the team’s stadium—became a statistically average ballpark and the Rockies began boasting some of the better pitchers in the NL.

In 2007 a reconfigured Rockies team led by outfielder Matt Holliday, first baseman Todd Helton, and All-Star relief pitcher Brian Fuentes went on a remarkable late-season run, winning 14 of their final 15 games, to win the franchise’s second NL Wild Card. Their hot streak extended to the playoffs, where the Rockies swept both the Philadelphia Phillies and the Arizona Diamondbacks en route to their first NL pennant. At the World Series, however, the Rockies were themselves swept by the Boston Red Sox. The Rockies made another postseason appearance in 2009 (suffering a four-game loss to the Phillies in the opening round of the playoffs), but the team returned to producing predominantly losing seasons by the early 2010s. That changed in 2017 when the Rockies, led by star third baseman Nolan Arenado, added 12 wins to its previous season’s total to qualify for a spot in the NL Wild Card Game, which resulted in a loss. Colorado qualified for the postseason for two consecutive seasons for the first time in 2018, and the team bettered its previous result by winning the Wild Card Game and advancing to the divisional series, where the Rockies were swept by the Milwaukee Brewers. In 2019, however, the Rockies won 20 fewer games than they had the previous season and finished well outside of postseason contention.