Colorado Rockies All-Time Team

Before we review the Rockies All-Time team, a brief announcement: if you participated in the 600th Post giveaway your PWE was shipped out today. And if anyone would like some extra football and/or basketball cards, please let me know as I had planned to include those in the 300-ct prize box before the random drawing was won by Derek in Canada. [That was also shipped today.]

Now let's head to the Mile High City for the Rockies All-Time Team. Can you believe this franchise is celebrating its 30th anniversary? Where does the time go?

Two managers have led the Rockies through half their history: Bud Black, their current skipper, and Clint Hurdle - the franchise leader in games managed and wins.

A highly-touted prospect in his playing days, Hurdle called the shots for Colorado's only pennant-winning team in 2007. Here's his all-time lineup.

Charlie Blackmon is the only starter on the present-day Rockies. The 13-year veteran has played more games for Colorado than any player except likely 2024 Hall of Famer Todd Helton.

Dante Bichette would have been a perfect DH had the National League implemented it in his day, though Hurdle has a better batter on his bench.

	Rockies stats	WAR	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
	*Dante Bichette	4.8	0.316	0.352	0.540	0.892	112
	*Ellis Burks	12.0	0.306	0.378	0.579	0.957	128
	*Vinny Castilla	17.5	0.294	0.340	0.530	0.870	106

Burks should probably start in center field over Blackmon, but designated hitter will do.

Andres Galarraga would be the backup first baseman here, but the Expos/Nationals franchise was so thin at the position that the "Big Cat" earned a spot on their roster with noticeably less production than he had in Denver. 

Bichette has to battle Brad Hawpe to keep his roster spot, while Vinny Castilla has some competition at third.

	Rockies stats	WAR	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+
	*Vinny Castilla	17.5	0.294	0.340	0.530	0.870	106
	Garrett Atkins	5.3	0.289	0.354	0.457	0.811	102
	*Dante Bichette	4.8	0.316	0.352	0.540	0.892	112
	Brad Hawpe	5.1	0.280	0.374	0.492	0.866	116

Neither Hawpe nor Garrett Atkins can crack this roster. Dante stays.

Hurdle's starting pitching was among the weakest in the original series. It's still subpar, but improvements are available.

Staff ace Ubaldo Jimenez is the only starting hurler in Rockies history with an ERA under 4.00. Everyone else has to compete with the new guys.

	Rockies stats	WAR	ERA	ERA+	K/BB	WHIP	starts
	*Jon Gray	11.4	4.59	107	3.03	1.338	151
	*Jhoulys Chacin	14.0	4.05	113	1.82	1.348	110
	*Jorge De La Rosa	15.5	4.35	105	2.05	1.381	200
	*Aaron Cook	17.7	4.53	106	1.37	1.468	206
	German Marquez	16.0	4.41	111	3.26	1.283	173
	Kyle Freeland	18.4	4.20	116	2.28	1.390	159

Gray and Cook are out. Freeland and Marquez are the new #2 and #3 starters, pushing Chacin to #4 and De La Rosa - the franchise leader in wins and strikeouts - to #5.

Colorado's bullpen is less volatile. Daniel Bard isn't yet eligible but he can qualify at the end of this season - which is incredible considering he didn't throw a pitch for the Rockies before his 35th birthday.

	Rockies stats	SV	ERA	ERA+	K/BB	WHIP	games
	*Jose Jimenez	102	4.13	126	1.86	1.414	265
	*Matt Belisle	4	3.88	117	3.97	1.270	392
	Bruce Ruffin	60	3.84	131	1.93	1.445	246
	Darren Holmes	46	4.42	116	2.18	1.454	263
	Manny Corpas	34	4.01	118	2.46	1.337	311
	Rex Brothers	20	3.42	132	1.99	1.490	286
	Scott Oberg	7	3.85	127	2.32	1.317	259

Hurdle didn't have a hard time deciding to keep Jimenez and Belisle in the 'pen.

Looking ahead, Colorado has some young middle infielders on their current roster but none of them have shown the ability to hit at the big league level. Brendan Rodgers is the most accomplished and capable - but he's currently on the IL.

Perhaps Brenton Doyle succeeds Blackmon in center field. If not Doyle, look for Zac Veen in a couple years. If not Veen....I have no idea.

TL; DR: Two changes from the original roster. Gray and Cook out, Freeland and Marquez in.

We're hitching a ride with Nikola and the Nuggets, heading from Denver to Los Angeles for the final four teams. Come back next week for the Dodgers, Padres, Giants, and Barnstormers.

Thanks for reading, and have a great weekend!



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Sox, Rox, and a Box

A couple weeks ago I saw a post on the TCDB forums called Please claim a baseball team. It was posted by Terry, a Dodgers collector who offered to send cards of every (other) team to anyone who wants them. I didn't partake at first. My goal is to reach 100,000 cards but I want to get there organically, not through a large lot purchase. And I definitely didn't want to take on a whole box of cards without sending something in return.

But by this time last week Terry still had a couple of teams available, including the Colorado Rockies. 

I decided to help him out and take this unwanted team off his hands, mostly for the '90s guys who passed through New Haven. Terry sent about 500 Rockies cards, which I've spent the past three days sorting, cataloging, and repackaging as a pay it forward to the only Colorado collector I know. Here are some of the keepers:

We'll see if Cooperstown is calling Larry Walker in just a few days. My fingers are crossed for him.

The cards were almost all from 1992-2006, so there was a handful of Walker but no Nolan Arenado. It didn't bother me any, since I was claiming this lot for former Ravens:

Pitchers and Petrick. Jamey Wright had a nice long career in the bigs.

Q! Gibby! Neifi! The Chrome card at the top left also counts as a Red Sox single. Bonus! :)

Todd Helton was the big draw here. The Finest and 40 Man inserts are awesome. (I snuck Garrett Atkins in at the bottom right to fill space.) Everyone keeps sending me mins; I should probably pick up some protective pages for them.

Some cool Colorado cards here, especially the top three. The Bryn Smith Leaf is missing foil on the front. But you know the rules...

Some short-term stops here (I didn't even know Gant and Relaford were Rockies) along with another Atkins and my second card of Mr. Laura Rutledge. 

We've got Todd Helton and Larry Walker.. now here's Todd Walker. I know nothing of Chris Martin the pitcher but I'm a fan of Chris Martin the singer. 

Some cool parallels/inserts from Donruss and Topps were also included. Many thanks to Terry for all the great Rockies cards!

When I updated my wantlist tabs at the beginning of the year, I was immediately contacted by two readers who offered to send me cards. Nick had some set fillers for me:

The Dime Box king did some serious damage to my 2019 Topps set. These are just the highlights.

I was very pleasantly surprised to see this Fernando Tatis Jr. RC in the stack!

Nick also included a nice stack of Red Sox cards: 

Legendary left fielders and horizontal heroes.

Some Holiday cards featuring Benintendi and Sale. 

 

A new Dustin Pedroia relic, a very cool Mookie Betts Wall Climbers insert, and some chromey cards.

Big Papi was well represented in the mailer from Nick. I now have 254 different David Ortiz cards, more than any other baseball player in my collection.

But that wasn't all the Ortiz. Let's check the back of that Johnny Damon stack...

Ohh! These are neat. They look like 2002 Topps but they are actually a 2003 Japanese release called Kanebo. TCDB lists this as a 54-card set, but Damon is obviously card #55. Shea Hillenbrand is #14.

Perhaps the gem of the group was this Buster Posey bat relic #d/99. It's fitting that Nick sent a pair of Posey cards (in addition to Koufax and Bryant) because he's one guy I often look for when I'm sifting through dime boxes. Nick, thanks again for the great cards! I'll get something out to you soon!

A couple other things came in the mail this week. After I used up most of my eBay bucks on the Warren Spahn auto I decided to spend the remainder on a box of basketball cards:

This sealed box of 1992-93 Fleer Ultra ended up costing me less than a blaster after the eBay bucks were deducted. I'm going to save this for a post about 1992-93 Fleer Ultra sets, since they all look the same. 


Thanks for reading, and have a great weekend!



 
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All-Time Teams: Rockies

I'm going to post as many All-Time teams as I can before Thanksgiving/Black Friday .. and then I have something different planned for December. Here's the Colorado Rockies:

Manager: Clint Hurdle

Home: Coors Field

Leading off for the Rockies.. the Center Fielder.. Charlie Blackmon

The Rockies' active leader in on-base %, Charlie Blackmon is in the team's top ten in nearly every offensive category other than OBP. A four time all-star, Blackmon stole 43 bases in 2015 but swiped just two bags last year. In 2017, Charlie led the majors in total bases, hits, runs scored, and triples. He finished fifth in NL MVP voting that year and won his second Silver Slugger award.

Batting second for Colorado.. the First Baseman.. Todd Helton

Todd Helton sits atop Colorado's all-time list in several categories including games played, runs scored, home runs, total bases, and doubles. Helton's career WAR of 61.2 is highest in team annals and ranks him ahead of Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew. Only twelve first basemen in history have more hits than Helton's 2,519. The five time all-star has won four Silver Slugger awards and three Gold Gloves.

Batting third.. the Right Fielder.. Larry Walker

The Rockies have never had a Hall of Famer in their history but Larry Walker could change that. Walker was a five time all-star, a seven time Gold Glove winner, and a three time batting champion. In 1997, he became the first - and so far only - Rockie to win NL MVP. The Canadian slugger hit .366 that year but did not win the batting crown. It was the first of his four seasons batting .350 or better. Larry's career slash line for Colorado is an eye-popping .334/.426/.618.

Batting fourth.. the Third Baseman.. Nolan Arenado

Colorado's current third baseman, Nolan Arenado has won a Gold Glove in each of his seven seasons in the league. In addition to his unrivaled defense at the hot corner, Arenado has led the NL in home runs three times, RBI twice, and total bases twice. The five time All-Star has earned four Silver Slugger awards and placed in the top five for MVP voting three times.

Batting fifth.. the Left Fielder.. Matt Holliday

Matt Holliday played more seasons as a St. Louis Cardinal, but his six seasons in Denver were among the most productive in Rockies history. A vital contributor to the Rockies' pennant-winning 2007 season, Holliday finished second in NL MVP voting after leading the league in batting average, total bases, hits, doubles, and RBI. He won a Silver Slugger award in each of his last three seasons with Colorado before being traded to Oakland for Carlos Gonzalez - who was also considered here.

Batting sixth.. the Designated Hitter.. Dante Bichette

Another MVP runner-up in a Rockies playoff year, Dante Bichette led the team to its first postseason in 1995 - just their third year of existence. Bichette blasted a league-leading 40 home runs that year and led the majors with 128 RBI and 197 hits in the strike-shortened season. A career .299 hitter, Dante batted .300 or better in six of his seven seasons with the Rockies. His defensive deficiencies make him an ideal DH in this lineup.

Batting seventh.. the Shortstop.. Troy Tulowitzki

An all-around superstar when healthy, Troy Tulowitzki won two Gold Gloves and two Silver Slugger awards, and was named to five NL All-Star teams. "Tulo" lost a very close Rookie of the Year vote to Ryan Braun in 2007 despite a WAR total nearly five points higher. He led the team in that category four times (including his rookie year) and ranks third in franchise history with 39.4 WAR.

Batting eighth.. the Second Baseman.. DJ LeMahieu

It was a tough call deciding between DJ LeMahieu and speedster Eric Young (who would have batted leadoff.) LeMahieu gets the slight edge based on three All-Star nods, three Gold Gloves, and a major league-leading .348 average in 2016. The current Yankees infielder raised his career average over .300 with a career year resulting in a 4th-place MVP finish in 2019.

Batting ninth.. the Catcher.. Chris Iannetta

Catching has not been Colorado's strong spot. Only three players were worth considering, and Chris Iannetta's numbers were closest to league average. The franchise leader in games caught, Chris smacked ten or more home runs in seven of his fourteen seasons. He leads all Rockies backstops in home runs, hits, RBI, and runs.

The Starting Pitcher for the Rockies.. Ubaldo Jimenez

Ubaldo Jimenez is the only starter who had sustained success pitching in the thin air at Coors Field. Jimenez leads all Colorado hurlers in career WAR, ERA+, and actual ERA. Perhaps most importantly, he allowed the fewest home runs per nine innings with an impressive .582 %. In 2010, Ubaldo won 15 games before the All-Star break, got the start for the senior circuit in the All-Star Game, and ended the season as a Cy Young finalist.

Now let's take a look at the Rockies' bench and bullpen:

Catcher: Wilin Rosario
Infield: Trevor Story
Infield: Vinny Castilla
Outfield: Carlos Gonzalez
Outfield: Ellis Burks

Rosario is a close second to Iannetta in many catching categories despite playing far fewer games. Story has played just four seasons, but he's been as good as (if not better than) Tulo offensively. CarGo was a batting champion and an MVP finalist in 2010. He won three Gold Gloves and two Silver Sluggers over his decade in Denver. Burks earned a third-place MVP finish in 1996, when he led the majors with 142 runs scored and 392 total bases.

#2 starter: Jon Gray
#3 starter: Jhoulys Chacin
#4 starter: Jorge De La Rosa
#5 starter: Aaron Cook

Gray barely qualifies, but his K:BB ratio is second-best in team annals. Chacin is the Rox' only starter other than Jimenez with a career ERA under 4. De La Rosa has more wins than anyone in team history. Cook is second in wins and WAR, and has the most innings pitched. Jeff Francis was considered, but his ERA+ was below the 100 average. It's safe to say this rotation would struggle against any All-Time Team.

RH Reliever: Matt Belisle
RH Reliever: Steve Reed
RH Reliever: Jose Jimenez
RH Reliever: Adam Ottavino
RH Reliever: Rafael Betancourt
LH Reliever: Brian Fuentes

Belisle registered a 3.19 FIP in his six seasons with the Rockies. Reed is the team's career leader in appearances and posted a 140 ERA+ in seven seasons. Ottavino's ERA with the Rockies was 3.41. Betancourt made more appearances for the Indians, but his sparkling 1.063 WHIP in six seasons is the lowest among Rockies' relievers. Fuentes, a four time all-star, holds Colorado's career saves record with 115.

Stay tuned for our next All-Time Team, the Detroit Tigers.

Thanks for reading!


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Sports Card Tour 2018 - Denver

Good Friday to you! The Collector's Sports Card Tour has reached a Rocky Mountain high. Today we're in Denver.

Denver has four pro sports teams - the Rockies, the Broncos, the Nuggets, and the Avalanche.

The Broncos have hoisted the Vince Lombardi trophy three times. The Avalanche have won the Stanley Cup twice. The Rockies were champions of the National League in 2007, when they were swept by the Red Sox in the World Series. The Nuggets are 0-3 in conference finals as an NBA franchise; they reached the ABA finals in 1976.


John Elway is the Broncos' Vice President/General Manager and the city's greatest athlete. When Elway led Denver to Super Bowl XXXII I invited all my friends over to watch the game. They were all neutral fans so they wanted to see Elway finally win one. I was a huge Packer backer, and after the game ended I was so disappointed that they lost (and upset that my friends were all celebrating) I stormed off to my room. Not sure what hurt more at the time, but it annoys the hell out of me that poor old John Elway has three rings and Brett Favre only has one.

I never liked Elway, even before that Super Bowl, but I have to admit he's got some cool cards. Playoff X's and O's are one of my favorite insert sets of the 1990's. I bought a lot of Prime boxes from K-Mart to chase those.

Is it me, or does it seem like the Broncos could just plug in anyone at running back and watch him gain 1,000 yards? I don't think it's me. Fourteen different Broncos backs have had 1,000-yard rushing seasons. I have ten of them in my collection. 

Terrell Davis wasn't any old back; he rushed for over 2,000 yards in his MVP season of 1998 and won two Super Bowl rings. Injuries limited "TD" to just four full seasons, nevertheless he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame last year.

Some strong safeties here. Brian Dawkins is part of this year's Hall of Fame class. Steve Atwater and John Lynch could soon follow him to Canton.

The rest of my Broncos hits. Like Elway, Peyton Manning finished his incredible career on top. I didn't like Shannon Sharpe as much as his brother Sterling, but his trash talk was legendary.

Equally as upsetting to me as Elway's Super Bowl win was Ray Bourque finally raising the Stanley Cup with the Avalanche. The Devils had a 3-2 lead in the 2001 Final, but destiny was not on their side. My wife and in-laws still grumble about that series; I used to tell my father-in-law that if Bourque hadn't won that year he'd still be playing.

It also gave Patrick Roy four Stanley Cup rings and a head-to-head victory over Martin Brodeur, who "only" has three Cups. I liked Roy a lot more when he was in Montreal.

Let's get the rest of the inserts out of the way so that I can show you my all-time favorite Av...

Chris Drury won a Little League World Series, an NCAA hockey championship, and a Stanley Cup. My family and I pulled both the John-Michael Liles base auto and gold parallel #d/10 out of 2005-06 Be A Player. Of all the one-auto-per-pack BAP issues, this was my favorite. Black Diamond Game Gear was the first set I saw that contained pieces of goalie pads.

Nathan MacKinnon is a top contender for the Hart Trophy as league MVP. If history is any indication, he'll beat my guy (Taylor Hall) and win. I'm really starting to dislike Denver...

...then again they've got some solid Connecticut connections, besides Chris Drury.

Here's a small sampling of my Peter Worrell super collection. Pete was a fan favorite in New Haven, when he played two years with the AHL's Beast. After his one season with the Avs, the NHL phased out fourth-line enforcers and Worrell's career was essentially over. Because he's not a big star and only has about 130 NHL cards I surmised that I'd have a much better chance of completing his card run than any of my other favorites like Favre or Brodeur.

The Colorado Rockies had a minor-league affiliate in New Haven for over a decade, starting in 1994. A good chunk of my early Rockies cards are former Ravens, such as slugger Derrick Gibson.

Gibson ended his career in pro ball with another New Haven franchise, the independent (and short-lived) Cutters. I recently told Rockies fan Rosenort of the blog Condition Sensitive that I had more cards of Gibson than Nolan Arenado. Didn't know just how true that was until now...

For the record, it's 11-2 Gibson - and that's after I bought the 2018 Topps Arenado at the card show.

You may have heard of this former Raven..

Todd Helton was Colorado's first home-grown superstar, and the first Rockie to have his number retired by the team. I absolutely would have wanted him to with the 2007 World Series - if his Rox weren't facing my Sox. He'll be on next year's Hall of Fame ballot; I wonder if he'll fare better than Larry Walker.

I had a Helton bat relic but I traded it to another Rockies blogger, Adam K. of Infield Fly Rule. Thus, the Tulo patch is the only thing resembling a "hit" in my Rox collection. I'm pessimistic about Walker's HOF chances, though some day the Hall voters will have to get over themselves and enshrine a Rockie. 

Actually, there is one former Rockies player in the Hall of Fame...

the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Meanwhile the Denver Nuggets have had a handful of HOFers, including Dikembe Mutombo.

I'll never forget that 1994 first-round series when the 8th-seeded Nuggets shocked the top-seeded Sonics. 

I think of Carmelo Anthony more as a Knick than a Nugget, but he had some sensational seasons in the Mile High city. I honestly didn't know Melo led the Nuggets to a Conference finals appearance in 2009. For a guy with an NCAA championship and three Olympic gold medals, I still get this impression that most basketball people don't think he's a winner.

Alex English was nearing the end of his fantastic career when I started collecting basketball cards. I don't think I ever saw him play, but his scoring stats were mind-boggling to me as a ten year-old. And that colorful cityscape jersey was fantastic. 

Here's another look at it because it is awesome and this post isn't long enough:

The rest of my notable Nuggets:

I almost bought an Immaculate Kenneth Faried card on COMC but cheaped out for some dumb reason. The McDyess Black Diamond is my favorite here. Don't Google Evan Fournier. He said not to ...so I didn't.

Rockies card I'd like to own: A Todd Helton auto, or more affordably a 2002 Topps Pristine refractor.
Broncos card I'd like to own: Ten year-old me really wants a Jake Butt card. Huh huh.  
Nuggets card I'd like to own: An early 90's logo card. Or an Allen Iverson card. Or that Immaculate Faried I should have bought for 85 cents when I had the chance.
Avalanche card I'd like to own: Believe it or not, I'm missing the pewter Peter Worrell autograph parallel to complete the Auto-facts rainbow. It's #d to 10 and I doubt I'll ever find one.


Favorite Rockies player: Nolan Arenado or Carlos Gonzalez
Favorite Broncos player: Von Miller
Favorite Nuggets player: Don't have one yet. I hadn't even heard of Gary Harris until about a month ago.
Favorite Avalanche player: It might be MacKinnon. But that doesn't mean I want him to win the MVP.

Next tour stop: Detroit


Thanks for reading this very long post. Have a great weekend!


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