1995 Colorado Rockies: The Mile-High Offense Reaches October
The Colorado Rockies were in just their third season of existence in 1995. In a season that was traumatic for Major League Baseball as a whole—one that started late, due to the lingering effects of the 1994 strike that canceled the season midstream—Colorado was a heartening story. The youthful Rockies franchise made the playoffs under manager Don Baylor.
CHAOS AT COORS
Coors Field was as new as the franchise, and its impact on hitting was one of the sport’s biggest stories. In the high-altitude, balls flew freely out of the park. Playing in such an environment, it’s not surprising that the Rockies led the National League in runs scored…while finishing dead last in staff ERA.
The corner outfield spots led the way. Dante Bichette was in left, and his .620 slugging percentage, 40 home runs, 128 RBIs and 197 hits all led the NL. Bichette finished second in the 1995 NL MVP voting. Larry Walker was in rightfield. A future Hall of Famer, Walker posted a stat line of .381 on-base percentage/.607 slugging and popped 36 homers.
Colorado’s infield corner spots were almost as prolific. Andres Galarraga was 34-years-old, but the veteran “Big Cat” hit 31 homers at first base. Vinny Castilla added 32 more playing third base.
The Rockies could do more than swing for the fences. They had a traditional leadoff man. Second baseman Eric Young finished with a .404 OBP and stole 35 bases. Other contributions came from Mike Kingery, Ellis Burks, and John Vander Wal, all of whom got time in the outfield.
Kevin Ritz was the ace of the pitching staff, the only one to make more than 20 starts. Pitching in Coors in an era that was generally offense-heavy for everyone took its toll on an ERA. But Ritz still pieced together a 4.21 ERA in his 28 starts, a strong figure given the context.
Bill Swift started 19 games and kept his ERA under 5. And Baylor got good work from his bullpen. Darren Holmes and Curtis Leskanic split closing duties, and each had ERAs in the 3s. Steve Reed was outstanding, working 84 innings with a 2.14 ERA. No pitching staff was going to look good playing half their games in the Denver climate, but this Colorado staff hung in there pretty well.
UPS AND DOWNS
The season didn’t start until late April, and it began with a bang for the Rockies. They beat the New York Mets 11-9 in fourteen innings, rallying from behind twice in extra frames. The next day Colorado fell behind 5-0 early and then won an 8-7 walkoff. The exciting start set the tone for going to win a series over a contending Houston Astros team, and then a 6-3 run over their three NL West rivals (the Arizona Diamondbacks didn’t exist yet). The downside was that all three of the losses came against the Los Angeles Dodgers, something that would become a pattern against the team Colorado ultimately battled in this division.
A difficult schedule stretch against the National League’s two best teams, the Atlanta Braves and Cincinnati Reds, slowed the early momentum. The Rockies lost five of seven to the league’s elite. Then they dropped four of five to more mediocre competition.
By Memorial Day, Colorado was barely above water at 16-14. But that was enough to lead an NL West where no one had found their footing.
MOVING INTO THE LEAD
After dropping another series to mediocre St. Louis out of the holiday, the Rockies turned back upward. They ripped through an NL Central stretch that included the Reds with 10 wins in 13 games. A battle with the Braves again slowed momentum though, with Colorado dropping three straight and then splitting ten games against their trio of NL West rivals.
But in the final week before the All-Star break, the Rockies got rolling again. They went 6-1, including what would prove another important series win over the Astros. By the All-Star Break, Colorado was 39-30. They had a comfortable five-game lead on the Dodgers. In an era when there was only one wild-card spot per league, the Rockies were basically even with Houston and the Philadelphia Phillies, the runners-up in the other two divisions.
DOG DAYS
Colorado played middling baseball out of the break, going 7-8. But within that fifteen-game stretch was a 4-2 record against Philadelphia. The bigger problem was dealing with the Dodgers. The Rockies dropped another series to the Dodgers. They lost four of six against the Braves and Reds. Even worse, Colorado was swept by a pedestrian Florida Marlins team.
It was all part of a difficult August that saw the Rockies go 11-17. By Labor Day, that comfortable All-Star Break margin was virtually gone. Colorado clung to a half-game lead on Los Angeles, with the San Diego Padres 3 ½ games in the rearview mirror. The good news is that the NL West in general was rising in the wild-card race. The Rockies were one game ahead of the Astros and 1 ½ games up on the Phils as we moved into the stretch drive.
SWEEPING THE REDS
After splitting two games in Chicago, Colorado came home to face Cincinnati for a key weekend series. Trailing in Friday night’s opener, the Rockies unloaded for seven runs in the bottom of the seventh. Vander Wal hit a two-run triple, and Galarraga sealed the deal with a grand slam. Colorado won 10-5.
The Big Cat kept rolling right into Saturday afternoon, with a two-run shot in the first inning keying a quick start. Swift pitched five solid innings and handed it over to the bullpen, who closed out a 6-2 win.
In the Sunday afternoon finale, Bichette hit a two-run blast, and the game was tied 4-4 going into the seventh. Walker drove in the go-ahead run with a two-out base hit. Leskanic nailed down the last five outs. The 5-4 win gave Colorado a clutch series sweep. They were tied for first in the NL West with the Dodgers, but now up 2 ½ on the Astros and 4 ½ on the Phils for the wild-card.
THE SEPTEMBER JOUST
Colorado continued to play well, taking a series from Atlanta, and then another from Florida, even if the week did end with an ugly 17-0 loss to the Marlins. The Phillies continued to fade from the playoff picture. The race was simplifying, as the Rockies needed to either outlast the Dodgers for the division crown or the Astros for the wild-card.
They went on to split six games with the Padres and Giants. Going into the final week of play, Colorado was a half-game up on Los Angeles, and the Rockies controlled the half-game. They were two games clear of Houston. It was all right there for them to take.
SLIPPING BEHIND THE DODGERS
But a big trip to Los Angeles did not go well. Colorado dropped two of three, concluding a year where they went 4-9 against the Dodgers. Then on Thursday, with L.A. idle, the Rockies were ripped by the Giants, losing 12-4.
We went into the final weekend with Colorado one game back of Los Angeles and one game ahead of Houston.
AN ARRAY OF SCENARIOS
It’s worth stepping back here to explain a somewhat confusing tiebreaking scenario. MLB generally played tiebreaker games, but the application was not universal. If Colorado and Los Angeles finished tied for the NL West, but both teams were going to make the playoffs anyway, head-to-head results would break the tie. A straight tie between Colorado and Houston for the wild-card was also simple—in this circumstance there would be a tiebreaker game played.
But here’s the kicker—let’s say all three teams ended up tied. In that circumstance, the Rockies and Dodgers would play a tiebreaker game for the NL West. But, because the tiebreaker game was considered a part of the regular season for statistical purposes, the loser would drop a half-game back of the Astros—and thereby miss the playoffs.
All possibilities were on the table as Colorado continued to host San Francisco, while Los Angeles visited San Diego and Houston traveled to Wrigley Field in Chicago.
HOLDING OFF HOUSTON
Galarraga’s homer was one of three blasts the Rockies hit as they took a 7-5 lead into the ninth inning on Friday night. But Leskanic had nothing in relief and Colorado coughed up a 10-7 loss. The only bright spot was that the Dodgers and Astros had the same problem, each blowing late leads. The standings held steady.
Young’s three hits keyed a balanced attack on Saturday and Colorado won 9-3. Their competitors both answered with wins. With Los Angeles two games clear of Houston, the Dodgers were in the playoffs, which meant they also clinched a tiebreaker over the Rockies. The NL West race was settled. The wild-card spot was still up for grabs.
It’s hard to imagine a much worse start for Colorado on Sunday, as they fell behind 8-2 by the third inning. The only consolation was that the Astros were in an early 6-zip hole. But the Rockies bounced back, scoring four in the third to get back in the game, and then four more in the fifth to get the lead. The Astros did the same, tying up their game with the Cubs by the fifth inning. A wild race was coming down to the final four innings.
Young and Walker finished with three hits apiece and Colorado clung to a 10-9 lead in the ninth inning. By now, they knew Houston had pulled out an 8-7 win. This time, Leskanic finished the job. With two outs in the ninth, he induced Jeff Reed to hit a groundball to Galarraga at first base. The Big Cat took it himself, stepped on the bag and the Rockies were going to the playoffs.
EPILOGUE
Colorado played Atlanta in the Division Series and acquitted themselves reasonably well against a team that would go on to win the World Series. The Rockies were tied in the ninth inning of Game 1 and ahead in the ninth inning of Game 2, before dropping both games. They won Game 3 to keep the series alive before ultimately faltering in four games. A year that saw them go 77-67—an 87-win pace had a full schedule been played—was over.
Baylor produced winning seasons each of the next two years but was unable to return the Rockies to the postseason. Colorado then disappeared from national relevance for a little bit, before returning with their magical run to the World Series in 2007.