Rocktober: The Greatest Month in Colorado Rockies History

we'd really love to have baseball here in denver because denver is major league the rocky mountain region needs a baseball team we need major league baseball in denver breaking through the clouds here's the [Applause] of pitch [Music] [Music] and he goes after a 3-0 pitch and drills it to the gap in left center field and gone [Applause] a half swing and they'll go to cincinnati kane and and that's that check swing roller to lewitsky [Music] [Music] there's only six franchises in major league baseball that have not won the world series among this list there is only one team that has never finished a season in first place in their division that team is the colorado rockies the rockies came into the league in 1993 with another team the florida marlins ten years later the marlins had won two championships while the rockies hadn't won a playoff series over recent years rocky's fans have watched their superstars flock to greener pastures while the front office and ownership seem to make all the wrong decisions if you looked around on social media you would have seen rocky's fans distraught and angry over the trade of nolan arenado that trade seemingly closed the chapter of rocky's history one filled with unfulfilled expectations but even the underdogs have their moments between september and october of 2007 a team that was once destined for a third or fourth place divisional finish played through one of the most improbable and exciting runs in not just baseball history but in the history of sports by the end of this story you'll realize how much emotion is hidden behind this one image this is rocktober [Music] today the colorado rockies are still a relatively young franchise prior to 1991 there were a few rumored attempts to bring a baseball franchise to the mile high city these franchises included the pittsburgh pirates and the oakland athletics however it was until july 5th 1991 that a team would call denver its home the national league approved denver and south florida as the new sites for two expansion teams that would debut in 1993. notable selections made by the rockies in the 1992 draft included future all-stars eric young and vinnie castilla excitement for this new ball club was in the air what would the future hold for denver's newest pro team it's time for opening day in denver rocky mountain baseball fans have been waiting more than 30 years for this day it's a glorious day for baseball here in denver blue skies 71 degrees and a slight breeze while the season had already started and the rockies were 0-2 optimism was in the air things couldn't have begun any better as in the bottom of the first eric young hit a home run the rockies would win this game 11-4 as for the rest of the season it went as you'd expect an inaugural season to go however the rockies outperformed their expansion counterparts the florida marlins by the end of the 1995 regular season coors field had opened and would you look at that the rockies made the playoffs a team led by future hall of famer larry walker while the rockies didn't make it past the divisional round this early success for the franchise was surely an indicator for true glory in the near future well 10 years later the marlins had won two world series and the rockies were stuck in a mediocre period of fourth and last place finishes despite the offensive output of guys like larry walker and todd helton in order to rectify the situation gm dan o'dowd signed free agent pitchers mike hampton and denny neagle to huge contracts but neither player lived up to expectations this money would hinder the rockies for years to come in an effort to reinvigorate fan interest the rockies dubbed their next crop of young players as generation r players such as 2002 rookie of the year jason jennings jeff francis garrett atkins brad hopp and matt holliday were all among this group however by the end of the 2005 and 2006 seasons it seemed like more of the same although some of these young guys were playing really well signifying a possible upward trajectory for the franchise and another young guy to make note of that i haven't mentioned goes by the name of troy tulowitzky a 21 year old shortstop who made his debut in late august 2006. the media didn't give the rockies much of a chance for the 2007 season they were not predicted to be a playoff team apart from rookie troy tulowitzky turning an unassisted triple play at the beginning of the year the rockies seemed to be living up to what the media chalked them up to be a mediocre franchise by the all-star break the rockies were sitting at 500 in fourth place after a win on july 17th the rockies would stay above 500 for the rest of the season by the beginning of august the rockies were still in fourth place but were only three and a half games behind the first place diamondbacks and two games behind a wild card spot however only a couple of weeks later the rockies were as much as seven and a half games behind first place and four and a half games behind a wild card spot heading into mid-september the rockies were switching between third and fourth place in the nl west and were losing traction on a playoff spot but seemingly out of nowhere a switch was flicked [Music] having just beaten the marlins 13 to nothing two days prior the rockies were scheduled to face the dodgers in a double header the rockies won the first game on the back of a 10 strikeout performance by jeff francis game two was more highly contested the dodgers scored three in the first off of a tony abreu single and luis gonzalez two run home run however the rockies answered right back with some extra bass hits from troy tulowitzky matt holliday and ryan spillborgs the second inning is silent but the dodgers regain the lead in the third inning with the matt kemp rbi double it seems that david wells has fallen into a groove but matt holliday hits a two run home run his 100th career home run and now the rockies have a 5-4 lead well the dodgers didn't seem to enjoy being behind so james loney hit a game-tying home run in the top of the 6th and tony abreu added on with a 2 rbi triple it's 7 to 5. the rockies are held in check by the dodgers relievers and in the top of the eighth russell martin hits a solo home run it's eight to five well in the bottom of the eighth ryan spilborgs added on to his rbi total by hitting a two-run home run it's eight to seven after a scoreless ninth inning for the dodgers the rockies have a chance to score with troy tulowitzky and matt holliday coming to the plate however it wouldn't be easy they would have to face all-star closer takashi saito who within his first 50 save opportunities in mlb he converted 47 of them oh and the rockies were over 14 against saito in 2007. to make matters worse the first batter omar quintanilla hit a ground ball right to saito for the easy out at first and unfortunately despite the attempted distraction by the rocky's mascot dinger tuliwitzki struck out with one out remaining the hot hitter matt holliday hit a first pitch single into right field now it's todd helton someone who i haven't really mentioned so far well remember how matt holliday hit his 100th home run earlier in the game well i guess it was the night for milestones get up and get out okay i kinda lied this was helton's 301st career home run he hit number 300 against the marlins a couple of days earlier although helton was the first rocky to reach 301 home runs so i was kinda telling the truth either way the rockies had just beaten the dodgers twice in the same day with the rockies winning the next two games of the series sweeping the dodgers in the process you can tell something was starting to brew sweep that series to get back into a picture of having any chance at all to climb back in this thing [Applause] center field way back and this game's tied unbelievable looking for that pitch away that good cutter slider these guys away ball just kept hanging up in here i fly ball to deep center field did hop get enough of it he did brad strike three on milton bradley so now you've won six in a row you ended their seven game winning streak what a throw by corey sullivan and what a job by tori alba to put a stone wall up at the [Music] plate [Music] it was rocky's fever a little bit it was cool when you go out there you're throwing their signs everywhere very much in them this ball's hit well to left field really well and it's going to get on out of here [Music] [Applause] [Music] we just felt like we had taken the opportunity out of our own hands we felt like we had given it to the padres our fate was in their hands at that point and realistically it was they had to lose down the stretch for us to get in [Music] you know kind of the immediate buzz and they're all kind of hanging out around where where we sit and mingle and they're waiting they're waiting to see the end of our season when tony guin jr came up we were saying come on this is the time to do it you know i know you idolized trevor hoffman as a kid growing up with your dad but now you need to get the big hit keep my hands back [Music] scoreboard watching and it was hard not to 1-1 q-shot tough play to first [Music] within a span of 14 games over two weeks the rockies clawed their way back into the playoff race by forcing a game 163 against the san diego padres and if we're going to be honest this was a season long triumph after april 23rd the rockies possessed the best record in the national league despite being in the middle of the nl west for the vast majority of the year much of the rocky's success came from three guys matt holliday troy toulowitsky and todd helton although the rockies also possessed one of the better pitching staffs in the national league nevertheless the job was far from over [Music] october 1st 2007 game 163 the padres had just lost their final two games of the regular season and were swept by the rockies the week prior but the padres had 2007 sai young jake peavy on the mound and the rockies had josh fogg on the mound let's see what happens the rockies get to pv early by scoring two runs in the bottom of the first yorvit tori alba keeps the party going with a solo home run in the bottom of the second in the top of the third pv hits a single up the middle brian giles walks and scott hairston hits a single then padres star first baseman adrian gonzalez does this gonzalez to deep right field back goes hop at the wall it's gone fogg would allow another run and the padres would leave the top of the third with a two run lead todd helton brings a run back as he hits a solo home run in the bottom half of the inning the pitchers begin to take control of the game but that doesn't last long as tuliwitzki doubles and holiday with the roar of mvp chance behind him drives tulo in to tie the game one inning later seth smith triples and scores off a sacrifice fly the rockies have regained their lead in the bottom of the 7th garrett atkins nearly hit a home run unfortunately the ball hit the top of the yellow line fence and came back meaning it was a double heath bell would get the padres out of the inning and in the top of the eighth matt holiday misplays a fly ball leading to a brian giles rbi double that ties the game at six bell is able to hold the rockies in the bottom half of the yenning rocky's star closer manuel corpus holds the padres in the top of the 9th and bell forces the game into extra innings the game is taken all the way to the 13th inning after a walk by brian giles scott hairston hits a two-run home run giving the padres their first lead since the fifth inning the inning ends and the rockies now have to face trevor hoffman in order to preserve their magical run and save their season first batter kazuo matsui he hits a double to right field then tulowitsky hits a double of his own lowering the lead to 1. holliday would waste no time by hitting an rbi triple and tying the game at 8. now the rockies have a runner at 3rd with no outs hoffman would intentionally walk helton and the jaime carroll would walk up to the plate jamie carroll the batter to right field giles is there to make the catch tagging his holiday the throw to the plate he is safe the colorado rockies are the national league wildcard winners just like that the rockies had done the impossible they won 14 out of their final 15 games of the regular season including a game 163 and were finally able to reach the post season and well the story is far from over first pitch swinging todd helton drives it to deep left center field and karim's off the wall out by the 409 side hilton second on his [Music] hits it in the air towards center field going back is rowan it's over his head and matsui will have a double packed house a blackout baldo comes out and retires 11 straight a young kid are you kidding me 22 years old kind of just showed again what this club was made of and when he bounced back and adversity is not a big deal hey just because the lights went out the middle of the game that's not anything because he turned the lights out on philadelphia baker swings hits it base head into right field in the score is atkins eighth inning rockies leading two to one on the ground right side matt the colorado rockies are headed to the national league championship series for the first time in their franchise history not only did the rockies beat the phillies and advance to their first ever nlcs but they swept the phillies remember how the rockies had the best record in the national league after april 23rd the phillies had the second best record they had an elite infield featuring 2006 mvp ryan howard 2007 mvp jimmy rollins and 2007 philly's war leader chase utley however it just wasn't their time yet most of the rocky's core was full of young players with the only real big time veteran being todd helton this group of guys had never been part of the postseason and realistically you never know if you'll ever come back so instead of worrying about how great their opponents were this group just played baseball the rockies making a lineup change tonight that has many scratching their heads willie tavares back in the lineup missed the last 21 regular season games with that quad injury some consternation guys in denver about the decision to activate tavares all that great work that colorado did winning 17 of 18 to get into postseason play did not involve willie tavares [Music] tavares on the run dives and makes the catch [Music] pretty well hit burns going back on the track up against the wall and it's gone [Music] lying towards left field bern's going back it's over his head it's out of here [Music] [Applause] [Music] center field base hit here comes always around third the tavares throw is off target one two pitch fisted toward left trouble and it's fair it's back and two are gonna stop [Music] it's three to one [Music] [Applause] has swept both division and league championship series play drill down the left field line that ball's got a chance that ball is fair it's a home run fly ball left center field that's well hit upped it around second he's going to go to third relay throw is not in time a triple with two outs [Music] fly ball right field but no carry to it upton is under he's got it the rockies need three outs the diamondbacks need two to tie after eight in game four jeff salazar [Music] broken back grinder to help popped him up on a frame pitch [Music] [Applause] check swing rolling to lick [Applause] to the 2007 national league champion but he is the mvp of the lcs [Applause] is it a bit anti-climactic that the rockies made it all this way went 21-1 before the world series only just to get swept themselves leaving without the commissioner's trophy maybe but i don't think this story revolves around the world series loss this was a story of overcoming adversity this image of todd helton the franchise guy for over a decade who endured countless subpar seasons illustrates the accomplishments of this 2007 squad helton said that the feeling he felt was like a drug you couldn't find in stores in mid-may this team was 9 games below 500 as much as six games out of the wild card race in september and four and a half games out of the wild card race with nine games left in the regular season none of this mattered because they persevered they forced a game 163 against the padres and won they swept the phillies in the nlds and the diamondbacks in the nlcs tulawitsky said that the team never sat back to reflect on what was happening they just kept playing this group of guys is only the second in history to sweep its first two postseason series they became the fifth team to finish last place the year before making it to the world series and they were the first team ever to find themselves two games out of a playoff spot with two games left in the regular season and still find their way to the world series ryan spielberg said it was like a bedtime fairy tale but every guy in the clubhouse believed in it it doesn't matter that they didn't win the world series i mean it sucks they couldn't win an extra four games possibly because they had to wait over a week to even play their first world series game but at the same time this group proved that the magic and unpredictability in sports reigns supreme even today in the presumed rebuilding era the rockies may undergo fans own a bright spot to reminisce upon and it's one of the most unlikely stories in not just baseball history but sports history so while rockies fans may not have gotten the moments at the magnitude of rocktober in the nolan aronado era at least you have a rocktober to reminisce upon i hope you guys enjoyed the video leave a like if you did and subscribe for more videos just like this thanks for watching you

Channel: SportStorm

Views: 90,254

Keywords: rocktober, colorado rockies, rockies, rockies 2007, colorado rockies 2007, colorado rockies rocktober, 2007 mlb, 2007 mlb playoffs, mlb, baseball, 2007 colorado rockies, troy tulowitzki, matt holliday, todd helton, sportstorm, the greatest month in colorado rockies history, game 163 2007, rockies vs padres game 163, rockies vs padres 2007, rockies vs phillies 2007, rockies vs phillies nlds 2007, rockies vs diamondbacks 2007, rockies vs diamondbacks nlcs 2007

Id: 4AHRHLRF1BE

Length: 28min 15sec (1695 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 06 2021

Reddit Comments

[u/benmilek]

I was 7 years old, couldn't have asked for a more exciting and inspiring team. Amazing memories. Really wish I could get a chance to thank this team for what 2007 meant to me and the entire city.

[u/bgzlvsdmb]

Rocktober was indeed quite magical. But, as sad as it makes me to say this, it was a fluke.

[u/Yovany69]

The nostalgia is crazy

[u/FretNoise14]

In 2050 I'll be telling my grandchildren about the only time the Rockies ever made it to the World Series.

[u/fondue4kill]

I remember I got my brother a hoodie for Christmas of this. Sucked at the end but it was a helluva ride