2007 Colorado Rockies season

The Colorado Rockies' 2007 season started off with the team trying to improve on their 2006 record (76-86). They finished with a franchise record of 90 wins in 163 games and earned a playoff berth as the National League Wild Card team.

2007 Colorado Rockies
National League Champions
National League Wild Card
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record90–73 (.552)
Divisional place2nd
Other information
Owner(s)Charles & Dick Monfort
General manager(s)Dan O'Dowd
Manager(s)Clint Hurdle
Local televisionFSN Rocky Mountain
KTVD (My20)
Drew Goodman, Jeff Huson, George Frazier
Local radioKOA AM
Jeff Kingery, Jack Corrigan
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The team's stretch run was among the greatest ever for a Major League Baseball team. Having a record of 76-72 at the start of play on September 16, the Rockies proceeded to win 14 of their final 15 regular season games.[1] The stretch culminated with a 9-8, 13-inning victory over the San Diego Padres in a one-game playoff for the wild card berth, a game that is considered to be part of the regular season. The Rockies then swept their first seven playoff games to win the 2007 National League Pennant — the franchise's first-ever pennant. Thus, at the start of the World Series, the Rockies had won a total of 21 out of 22 games. Fans and media nicknamed the Rockies improbable run in October, Rocktober,[2] a play off the two names.

The streak then ended, as the Rockies were swept in the 2007 World Series by the Boston Red Sox. The Rockies drew 2,376,250 fans for the season, their highest total since 2002. The average home attendance was 28,978.

Offseason
  • December 5, 2006: LaTroy Hawkins was signed as a free agent by the Colorado Rockies.[3]
  • December 12, 2006: Jason Jennings was traded by the Colorado Rockies with Miguel Asencio to the Houston Astros for Willy Taveras, Taylor Buchholz and Jason Hirsh.[4]
  • January 30, 2007: Choo Freeman was released by the Colorado Rockies.[5]
  • February 18, 2007: Matt Herges was signed as a free agent by the Colorado Rockies.[6]
  • February 24, 2007: Steve Finley was signed as a free agent by the Colorado Rockies.[4]

Regular season

Season standings
NL West W L Pct. GB Home Road
Arizona Diamondbacks 9072 0.556 — 50–31 40–41
Colorado Rockies 9073 0.552 ½ 51–31 39–42
San Diego Padres 8974 0.546 1½ 47–34 42–40
Los Angeles Dodgers 8280 0.506 8 43–38 39–42
San Francisco Giants 7191 0.438 19 39–42 32–49

Wild Card standings
Team W L Pct. GB
Colorado Rockies9073.552—
San Diego Padres8974.546—
New York Mets8874.543½
Atlanta Braves8478.5184½
Milwaukee Brewers8379.5125½
Los Angeles Dodgers8280.5066½
St. Louis Cardinals7884.48110½

Wild card tie-breaker
Further information: 2007 National League wild card tie-breaker game

The Rockies ended the 162-game regular season with 89 wins and 73 losses. They were tied with the San Diego Padres for second place in the NL West and first in the NL Wild Card. A tie-breaker game was played on October 1, 2007, at Coors Field in Denver to determine which team would continue on to post-season play. The game lasted 13 innings, spanning four hours and 40 minutes. The Rockies won the game with a final score of 9 to 8, sending them to only their second post-season in franchise history. The tie-breaker game counts toward all team and player statistics in the regular season; so, the Rockies' official 2007 win-loss record stands at 90-73.

Record vs. opponents
2007 National League Records

Source:
Team ARI ATL CHC CIN COL FLA HOU LAD MIL NYM PHI PIT SD SF STL WSH AL
Arizona—4–24–22–48–106–15–28–102–53–45–15–410–810–84–36–18–7
Atlanta2–4—5–41–64–210–83–34–35–29–99–95–15–24–33–411–74–11
Chicago2–44–5—9–95–20–68–72–59–62–53–48–73–55–211–56–18–4
Cincinnati4–26–19–9—2–44–34–112–48–72–52–49–72–44–36–91–67-11
Colorado 10–82–42–54–2—3–33–412–64–24–24–34–311–810–83–44–310–8
Florida1–68–106–03–43–3—2–34–32–57–119–93–43–41–62–48–109–9
Houston2–53–37–811–44–33-2—4–35–132–53–35–104–32–47–92–59–9
Los Angeles 10–83–45–24–26–123–43–4—3–35–54–25–28–1010–83–35–15–10
Milwaukee5–22–56–97–82–45–213–53–3—2–43–410–62–54–57–84–28–7
New York4–39–95–25–22–411–75–25–54–2—6–124–22–44–25–29–98–7
Philadelphia1-59–94–34–23–49–93–32–44–312–6—4–24–34–46–312–68–7
Pittsburgh4–51–57–87–93–44–310–52–56–102–42–4—1–64–26–124–25–10
San Diego8–102–55–34–28–114–33–410–85–24–23–46–1—14–43–44–26–9
San Francisco8–103–42–53–48–106–14–28–105–42–44–42–44–14—4–13–45–10
St. Louis3–44–35–119–64–34-29–73–38–72–53–612–64–31–4—1–56–9
Washington1–67–111–66–13–410-85–21–52–49–96–122–42–44–35–1—9–9

Transactions
  • May 13, 2007: Byung-hyun Kim was traded by the Colorado Rockies to the Florida Marlins for Jorge Julio.[7]
  • June 13, 2007: Steve Finley was released by the Colorado Rockies.[8]
  • August 15, 2007: Ramón Ortiz was traded by the Minnesota Twins to the Colorado Rockies for Matt Macri.[9]
  • August 19, 2007: Mark Redman was signed as a Free Agent by the Colorado Rockies.[10]

Major League debuts
  • Batters:
    • Sean Barker (Jun 6)
    • Edwin Bellorín (Aug 7)
    • Ian Stewart (Aug 11)
    • Joe Koshansky (Sep 1)
    • Seth Smith (Sep 16)
  • Pitchers:
    • Zach McClellan (Apr 16)
    • Alberto Árias (May 1)
    • Darren Clarke (May 18)
    • Franklin Morales (Aug 18)
    • Josh Newman (Sep 12)[11]

Game log
2007 Game Log ({{{win}}}–{{{loss}}})
April (10–16) (.385)
May (15–13) (.536)
June (14–13) (.519)
July (15–9) (.625)
August (15–14) (.517)
September (20–8) (.714)
October (1–0) (1.000)

Roster
2007 Colorado Rockies
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders Manager

Coaches

Player stats
= Indicates team leader

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
C Yorvit Torrealba 113 396 101 .255 8 47
1B Todd Helton 154 557 178 .320 17 91
2B Kazuo Matsui 104 410 118 .288 4 37
SS Troy Tulowitzki 155 609 177 .291 24 99
3B Garrett Atkins 157 605 182 .301 25 111
LF Matt Holliday 158 636 216 .340 36 137
CF Willy Taveras 97 372 119 .320 2 24
RF Brad Hawpe 152 516 150 .291 29 116

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
Ryan Spilborghs9726479.2991151
Jamey Carroll10822751.225222
Chris Iannetta6719743.218427
Jeff Baker8514432.222412
Cory Sullivan7214040.286214
Steve Finley439417.18112

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Jeff Francis34215.11794.22165
Aaron Cook25166.0874.1261
Josh Fogg30165.21094.9494
Jason Hirsh19112.1574.8175
Ubaldo Jiménez1582.0444.2868
Rodrigo López1479.1544.4243

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G IP W L ERA SO
Taylor Buchholz4193.2654.2361
Matt Herges3548.2512.9630
Franklin Morales839.1323.4326
Tom Martin2625.2004.9110

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player G W L SV ERA SO
Manuel Corpas7842192.0858
Jeremy Affeldt754303.5146
Brian Fuentes6435203.0856
LaTroy Hawkins622503.4229
Jorge Julio580303.9350

Notes
  • Shortstop Troy Tulowitzki turned an unassisted triple play on April 29, 2007, in the top of the 7th inning in a 9-7 victory over the Atlanta Braves.[12][13] He became only the 13th player in Major League Baseball history to accomplish the feat.
  • First baseman Todd Helton hit his 300th career home run on September 16, 2007, in a 13-0 home win over the Florida Marlins.[14][15] He became the first player to hit 300 home runs for the Colorado Rockies.
  • Colorado had an 11-game winning streak toward the end of the 2007 regular season, which set a franchise record for most consecutive wins in a season.[16]
  • The Rockies finished ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the division for the first time in franchise history.[17]
  • Colorado set an MLB record for fielding percentage in one season (.98925).[18] Despite the Rockies record-setting performance, the National League coaches and players didn't vote in any of Colorado's players for the NL Gold Glove award. The two most puzzling omissions were first baseman Todd Helton and shortstop Troy Tulowitzki. Both players had a better fielding percentage, more total chances, better zone rating, more putouts, more double plays turned, better range factor and more assists than their counterparts who won the award instead (Chicago Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee and Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins). Helton also had fewer errors (2) than Lee (7), while Tulowitzki had as many errors as Rollins (11), but did so on 834 total chances compared to Rollins' 717.[19]
  • The Rockies became the first team in MLB history to sweep the New York Yankees (on June 19–21) and New York Mets (on July 2–4), both at home, in one season and second team to sweep two New York City teams in one season after the Milwaukee Braves in 1956.[20][21]
  • Baseball America named the Colorado Rockies the "Organization of the Year" for their accomplishments during the 2007 season.[22] "We knew they were bringing great talent through their farm system, but we certainly didn't expect it to pay off with big-league success so quickly", said Will Lingo, editor of Baseball America. "They won with homegrown players, have more talent on the way and have maintained stability in their front office, so they had pretty much everything we look for in an organization."

Playoffs
2007 post-season (7-4) (Home: 3-2; Away: 4-2)
National League Division Series
Game Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record
1October 3@ Phillies4 - 2Francis (1-0)Hamels (0-1)Corpas (1)45,6551-0
2October 4@ Phillies10 - 5Fogg (1-0)Kendrick (0-1)Corpas (2)45,9912-0
3October 6Phillies2 - 1Fuentes (1-0)Romero (0-1)Corpas (3)50,7243-0
National League Championship Series
Game Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record
1October 11@ Diamondbacks5 - 1Francis (2-0)Webb (1-1)48,1421-0 (4-0)
2October 12@ Diamondbacks3 - 2 (11) Corpas (1-0)Valverde (0-1)Speier (1)48,2192-0 (5-0)
3October 14Diamondbacks4 - 1Fogg (2-0)Hernández (1-1)Corpas (4)50,1373-0 (6-0)
4October 15Diamondbacks6 - 4Herges (1-0)Owings (0-1)Corpas (5)50,2134-0 (7-0)
World Series
Game Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Attendance Record
1October 24@ Red Sox13 - 1Beckett (1-0)Francis (0-1)36,7330-1 (7-1)
2October 25@ Red Sox2 - 1Schilling (1-0)Jiménez (0-1)Papelbon (1)36,7300-2 (7-2)
3October 27Red Sox10 - 5Matsuzaka (1-0)Fogg (0-1)Papelbon (2)49,9830-3 (7-3)
4October 28Red Sox4 - 3Lester (1-0)Cook (0-1)Papelbon (3)50,0410-4 (7-4)

National League Division Series: vs. Philadelphia Phillies
Further information: 2007 National League Division Series

Colorado started the series with the Philadelphia Phillies on October 3, 2007, at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies had a potent offense with NL MVP candidates Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley. The Rockies swept the series in three games with scores of 4-2 in Game 1 and 10-5 in Game 2 in Philadelphia. In Game 3, with the score tied in the bottom of the 8th and two outs, Jeff Baker singled to bring in the go-ahead run. Manny Corpas then pitched a perfect ninth inning to seal the Rockies' first postseason series victory.

National League Championship Series: vs. Arizona Diamondbacks
Further information: 2007 National League Championship Series

Colorado started the series with the Arizona Diamondbacks on October 11, 2007, at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks came into the game having swept the Chicago Cubs in the NLDS in three games. Colorado took the first two games, including a 3-2 extra-inning victory in Game 2.

On Sunday, October 14, the Rockies would play in a cold, wet Coors Field in Denver. There, they would find a way to hit the ball over the wall even in the harsh weather. The Rockies hit two homers that night, one in the 1st inning from Matt Holliday and the other in the 6th inning from Yorvit Torrealba. Colorado won the game 4-1. This win gave the Rockies a 20-1 record over their last 21 games. This made them only the third team in the last half-century, and the first in the National League since the 1936, to have a 20-1 stretch at any point of a season.[23]

Colorado won its first NL Pennant on Monday, October 15, at home, with the deciding blow, a 3-run HR by Matt Holliday, to sweep the AZ Diamondbacks (6-4) in the midst of a historic 21-1 sprint with only one loss (September 28) since September 15.

Matt Holliday was the 2007 NLCS MVP Award winner. The Rockies became the first team to win their first 7 playoff games in 31 years. It should also be noted that they also became the first team to do it since MLB added the division series to the playoffs. The 2014 Kansas City Royals passed the record with winning their first 8 playoff games in the wild card game, the ALDS, and the ALCS.

World Series vs. Boston Red Sox

The Rockies lost the first two games at Fenway Park, by a score of 13-1 in Game One and a score of 2-1 in Game Two. The 13 runs are the most ever scored by a team in the first game of a World Series. Returning to Coors Field for the final two games, the Rockies lost Game Three by a score of 10-5 and Game Four by a score of 4-3.

Further information: 2007 World Series

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Colorado Springs Sky Sox Pacific Coast League Tom Runnells
AA Tulsa Drillers Texas League Stu Cole
A Modesto Nuts California League Jerry Weinstein
A Asheville Tourists South Atlantic League Joe Mikulik
A-Short Season Tri-City Dust Devils Northwest League Fred Ocasio
Rookie Grand Junction Rockies Pioneer League Anthony Sanders

[24]

References
  1. 2007 Colorado Rockies Schedule and Results. Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 15, 2014.
  2. Saunders, Patrick (October 23, 2012). "Rocktober: When the Rockies accomplished the impossible in 2007". The Denver Post. Retrieved December 22, 2020.
  3. "LaTroy Hawkins Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
  4. "Willy Taveras Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
  5. "Choo Freeman Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
  6. "Matt Herges Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
  7. "Jorge Julio Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
  8. "Steve Finley Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
  9. "Ramon Ortiz Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
  10. "Mark Redman Statistics and History". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
  11. "2007 National League Baseball Debuts / Rookies by Baseball Almanac". Baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
  12. The Official Site of Major League Baseball: News: Tulowitzki turns unassisted triple play
  13. ESPN - Braves vs. Rockies - Recap - April 29, 2007
  14. ESPN - Marlins vs. Rockies - Recap - September 16, 2007
  15. The Official Site of The Colorado Rockies: News: Colorado Rockies News
  16. ESPN - Rockies 11-game winning streak has city thinking playoffs - MLB
  17. The Official Site of The Colorado Rockies: News: Colorado Rockies News
  18. "Sure hands + strong arms = winning edge : Rockies : The Rocky Mountain News". Archived from the original on October 30, 2007. Retrieved April 4, 2008.
  19. "2012 Postseason MLB Baseball 1B Fielding Statistics - Major League Baseball - ESPN". Sports.espn.go.com. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
  20. ESPN - Mets vs. Rockies - Recap - July 04, 2007
  21. An early start to fireworks, Rockies beat Mets 17-7 : Rockies : The Rocky Mountain News
  22. 2007's organization of the year : Rockies : The Rocky Mountain News
  23. Stark, Jayson (October 14, 2007). "Rockies ride Torrealba's blast to yet another victory". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 15, 2007.
  24. "Colorado Rockies Minor League Affiliations". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
  • Game logs:
1st half: Colorado Rockies Game Log on ESPN.com
2nd half: Colorado Rockies Game Log on ESPN.com
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