The Colorado Rockies don’t have much of a history.
Their past certainly couldn’t be called lengthy. The Rockies have been in existence for only 29 seasons, making them younger than all but three of the other 29 big-league franchises.
Nor has their tenure been dotted with success. Colorado has never won a divisional title, and it has advanced as far as the World Series only once, only to be quickly swept by the Boston Red Sox in 2007.
That’s why we don’t have much to work with today, as I present the 25th installment of my every-other-Friday rundown of each club’s honored stars.
I’m focusing specifically on players and managers who have had their numbers retired. It’s not unusual for teams to pull 10 jerseys out of circulation — or even more — but those are clubs that have been in existence for longer than a century.
The Rockies, on the other hand, have retired only a single player’s number, with another shortly to follow. And, to be honest, Colorado’s list of possibilities for future honors is not exactly deep.
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Rockies’ numbers already retired
Some of my previous rundowns of retired numbers have been extensive, such as my lists of 14 jerseys apiece for the St. Louis Cardinals and the San Francisco Giants, 13 for the Cincinnati Reds, and 10 each for the Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Dodgers, and Boston Red Sox.
No such problem here. It will take fewer than 150 words to summarize the Rockies’ two honorees:
No. 17 Todd Helton (1997-2013) has established himself as the franchise’s statistical leader in almost every significant category. Nobody in a Colorado uniform has played more games (2,247), scored more runs (1,401), rapped more hits (2,519), launched more homers (369), or driven in more runs (1,406). The first baseman topped the National League with a .372 batting average in 2000, and he exceeded .300 in 11 other seasons.
Larry Walker’s No. 33 hasn’t been retired quite yet, though the ceremony isn’t far off. It’s scheduled for September 25, just 17 days after Walker’s induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. The right fielder batted .334 during his 10 seasons with the Rockies (1995-2004), which remains the best career average for any Colorado player. Walker was named the National League’s Most Valuable Player in 1997, when he batted .366 with 49 homers.
Rockies’ candidates for retired numbers
Denver’s mile-high altitude makes it a deeply unattractive location for pitchers, which explains why most of them leave town at their first opportunity. Nobody in franchise history has racked up more than 206 starts or 86 wins, truly modest totals for a career.
That explains the absence of pitchers on my list of candidates for future retirement ceremonies in Colorado.
No. 2 Troy Tulowitzki was Colorado’s regular shortstop for nearly a decade (2006-2015). He finished second in NL Rookie of the Year balloting in 2007, then placed among the top eight votegetters for MVP awards on three occasions. Tulowitzki ranks fourth in club history for wins above replacement (39.5), sixth in runs scored (660), and eighth in hits (1,165).
Only two players in club history have produced more than 1,400 hits. One, of course, is Helton. The other is No. 19 Charlie Blackmon, who is still active as Colorado’s right fielder (2011-2021). Blackmon peaked in 2017, when he led the league with a .331 batting average. He sits third on the Rockies’ all-time lists for both games played (1,224) and runs scored (792).
No. 25 Don Baylor managed Colorado during its first six seasons (1993-1998), directing the expansion club to its initial postseason berth in 1995. (Those Rockies lost the NL Division Series to the Braves, three games to one.) His total of 440 wins is second only to Clint Hurdle’s 534 among the team’s seven managers over 29 seasons.
The real question about No. 27 Trevor Story (2016-2021) is whether he’ll be sticking around. There was considerable surprise when the Rockies failed to trade the shortstop before last month’s deadline, since he’ll be eligible for free agency this winter. Story has already climbed onto a few of the franchise’s top-10 lists, despite his relatively short tenure. He’s eighth for stolen bases (97) and 10th for homers (149).
No. 28 Nolan Arenado ranks third among all Rockies in wins above replacement (40.2), trailing only — you guessed it — Helton (61.8) and Walker (48.3). Arenado starred at the plate and in the field during his eight seasons (2013-2020) in Colorado. He led the NL three times in homers and twice in RBIs, and he won eight Gold Gloves as a third baseman before being traded this February to the Cardinals.
The outlook
The Rockies have a real problem with career transitions:
Tulowitzki erupted angrily when Colorado dealt him to Toronto in 2015. He pledged to “never talk (again) to those people” in the Rockies front office, claiming that they lied to him about the likelihood of a trade.
Arenado signed a longterm contract extension with the Rockies in 2019, but he also grew disillusioned with the front office. “There’s a lot of disrespect from people there that I don’t want to be part of. You can quote that,” he told reporters. He was shipped to St. Louis before the beginning of this season.
Story is now playing out his final season in Denver before becoming a free agent. He had hoped to be traded before the July deadline, though nothing happened. “I don’t have really anything good to say about the situation,” he said.
It’s hard to envision any of these three being honored with a jersey retirement anytime soon, especially since the latter two are in the midst of their careers. Maybe someday, but not now.
That leaves Baylor and Blackmon. The former is deceased, and the latter is still active, so there’s no reason to expect quick action on those fronts, either.
What does that leave us with? September 25, that’s what. Colorado fans should make the most of Larry Walker’s ceremony, since they’re unlikely to see another one for a long, long time.