The ballclub in Denver has had more downs than ups over the years but when they ride that Rocky Mountain High, there’s nothing quite like it.
Here are my picks for the Top 10 On-Field Moments in Colorado Rockies history.
10. Helton Homers in Final Home Game (2013)
Nobody has meant more to the Colorado Rockies than Todd Helton and a late September night in 2013 at Coors Field was all about celebrating his legacy.
Every person in that crowd was there to see him and he didn’t disappoint a single one of them, producing a typical Helton line with a sac fly, a double, and one last home run to remember him by.
9. Nolan Arenado Walk-off Cycle (2017)
“There’s no way he does this right?” Down by one against the Giants at home, decked out in the baby blue of Father’s day celebration, the King of Clutch stood at the plate a home run shy of the cycle and the win.
There was only one possible outcome for this at-bat. Nolan Arenado turned on a fastball inside off the plate and hit a missile over the left-field wall sending the crowd into a stupor, cutting his face open in celebration, and creating a new generation of Rockies fans all in one swing.
8. Dante Bichette Walk-off in Coors Opener (1995)
Speaking of creating a new generation of Rockies fans, Dante Bichette gave the Rockies new home the house-warming party of the century. No one who saw it, or who has even seen video of it, will ever forget the pump of the fist as the Blake Street Bomber ushered in a new era of baseball in Denver at the very first game in Coors Field history.
7. Helton Homers Against Saito (2007)
The spark that lit the fire of Rocktober, this was the moment it became real in 2007. Most Rockies fans had never seen the kind of emotion that poured out of the usually stoic Helton when he rounded third after this home run.
After this, how could you not believe in that team? They rode that momentum all the way to their only World Series appearance. That’s a powerful home run.
6. Ubaldo No-No (2010)
Unless you’ve actually done it, you can’t claim to know how hard it is to be a pitcher in MLB with half your games coming at Coors Field. Where so many have failed, Ubaldo Jimenez somehow found the ability to dominate at all-time great levels.
His April 17th no-hitter against and in Atlanta remains the only one thrown by the franchise…and yet it seemed inevitable because of the way he was pitching. 100 mph two-seamers on the black, it turns out, are hard to hit.
The final out from Brian McCann is a moment that every Rockie fan who saw it will forever remember.
5. Rockies Make First Postseason (1995)
On October 1, 1995, the Colorado Rockies became the fastest expansion team to ever reach the postseason, doing so in just their third year of existence.
In a game against the Giants started by Brett Saberhagen, the Rox fell behind 8-2 but stormed all the way back thanks to some dudes named Larry Walker, Dante Bichette, Andres Galaragga, and Vinny Castilla? Wonder whatever happened to those guys.
Colorado took a 10-9 lead into the 9th and Curtis Leskanic struck out the first two he faced before future Rockies coach Glenallen hill singled. But he got a groundout from another future Rockie, Jeff Reed, and punched the Rockies first ever ticket to the postseason.
4. The Spilly Slam (2009)
After going to the World Series in 2007 and falling short of the postseason in 2008, the Rockies and outfielder Ryan Spilbourghs were having an emotional 2009. Dealing with personal loss in his family, and with the ballclub only on a roll after having fired manager Clint Hurdle earlier in the season, Spilly stood at the plate in late August in a pivotal moment.
Down 4-2 against the Giants (again) and with one out in the bottom of the 14th inning, the fan-favorite to this day smashed a line drive to right center and took the most passionate and famous sprint around the bases in team history.
The Rockies went on to win 92 games, still a franchise mark.
3. Tony Wolters Singles vs. Cubs (2018)
Everyone who lived through it will tell you that the 2018 Rockies campaign was a grind. They got to 91 wins the hard way and all that did was earn them one of the most brutal end-season schedules in recent memory.
After losing a tough Game 163 against the Dodgers to decide the division, they were off to Chicago to face the Cubs less than 24 hours later. They would also face the winningest pitcher in postseason history, Jon Lester. But he was slightly outdueled by Kyle Freeland who gave the Rockies a 2-1 late-inning advantage.
The Cubs tied it up against Adam Ottavino, though, and the stalemate would continue into the Top of the 13th inning when manager Bud Black, down to the last man on his bench, turned to Tony Wolters who was a great defensive catcher but one of the worst qualified hitters in all of baseball that season.
But, with Trevor Story aboard, he managed a singled back up the middle, silencing the crowd and, thanks to Scott Oberg striking out the side in the bottom half, delivering the Rockies their biggest win of the last decade.
2. Rockies Clinch World Series Berth (2007)
There wasn’t as much drama to it considering the Rockies led the series 3-0 and had they not won this game, they would have had several more chances at it, but still, they went to the World Series. And since they didn’t win any games once they got there, this is the moment.
It certainly helps that it comes with a palpable sense of perfect irony as Eric Byrnes, who claimed during the series that the Rockies had not outplayed his Diamondbacks “not even close” made the final out and Troy Tulowitzki, who was snubbed of the Gold Glove that year, showed everyone just what a star he was, etching that image forever into the history books.
It also helps that the iconic memory is completed by Todd Helton raising in arms in heroic celebration.
Maybe the most famous single image in Rockies history.
Though there is also…
1. Matt Holliday Slides in Safe (2007)
The best closer in baseball and one of the greatest of all time, Trevor Hoffman, took the mound with a two-run lead and three outs away from ending Rocktober before it ever truly became legendary.
But Kazuo Matsui jumped on him for a double and Troy Tulowitzki produced an infield single to put runners at the corners and bring Holliday to the plate to a chorus of “MVP” chants. He then showed exactly why he should have won that award by ripping a triple off the wall in right to tie the game at 5-5 in the bottom of the 13th. And he had one more task to complete.
All-time great role player Jamey Carroll came to bat with one thing on his mind and everyone in the building knowing he had one job to do.
He swung at the very first pitch he saw and drove a liner to medium deep right field and the longest seven seconds in Rockies history unfolded.
Holliday tagged up and sprinted for home, sliding in headfirst and violently colliding with catcher Michael Barrett. The Padres backstop scrambled for the ball, Holliday lay still mostly unconscious sporting a now-famous scar, and home plate umpire Tim McClellan signaled clearly and calmly for all the world to see… safe.
Helton would famously say afterward “I have no idea how we won that ballgame.” Nobody really does, Toddfather. But that moment created more lifelong Rockies fans than any other.
