The Baseball Observer

Coors Field Curse Continues to Haunt Rockies

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 29 Jul 2012 02:58:00 +0000

If you haven't been reading the Baseball Observer blog in the past few years, you may not be aware of the curses surrounding the Colorado Rockies. The curse may be worse than the "Curse of the Goat" that continues to haunt the Chicago Cubs, keeping them from winning a World Series for over a hundred years. It may also be more potent than the "Curse of the Bambino" that prevented Boston from winning a championship for 86 years.

Only time will tell, of course, but the Baseball Observer predicts that Colorado will never win a World Series until they resolve the situation that caused the curse in the first place. Curses are born when the rightful owners of something of value are deprived of it, usually through trickery or dishonesty, and are only removed when whatever was taken is restored.

First, let's review the Rockies, their checkered past, and how they came to play their home games in a cursed stadium.

The Rockies were born July 5, 1991, but before they played a game, there was a scandal within the ownership group and the principle owners, Mickey Monus and John Antonucci were kicked out and replaced by the Monforts. This resulted in the first curse, which we will call Mickey's Curse. As Mr. Monus himself said, there would be no Major League baseball in Colorado if he and Mr. Antonucci had not come forward. However, due to legal problems both men stepped down and Mr. Monus went to jail for 10 years for an unrelated matter. The Monforts have expunged their names from the team's history and have never given them their due, thus, Mickey's curse.

The Rockies began playing Major League Baseball in 1993 and played their first two seasons in Mile High Stadium, the home of the Denver Broncos, while their new home was being built in lower downtown Denver, Colorado.

The new stadium was named Coors Field before it opened in a deal between the Stadium Authority and the now defunct Coors Brewing Company of Golden, Colorado. This deal is now recognized as the worst stadium naming pact in the history of professional sports. Not just baseball, mind you, but all of professional sports. Little league teams have better naming deals. The group of appointees that made up the Stadium Authority, along with the owners, took it upon themselves to agree on the behalf of the citizens of the cities and counties surrounding Denver, to give away the stadium naming rights FOREVER for the sum of 10 million dollars.

To put this in perspective, no other stadium has a permanent deal, and others range from 2 to 20 million per year. Conservatively speaking the deal is costing Denver-area taxpayers at least 5 million dollars per year. This was the origination of the first curse, the Coors Curse.

As mentioned before, Coors no longer exists as a entity, but was purchased by Molson Brewery of Canada, and became Molson Coors Brewing Company, who was in turn purchased by Miller Brewing. These two events probably invalidated the contract, but nothing has been reported about re-negotiating it.

Until the the Rockies and the Stadium Authority restore the money that belongs to the citizens of the area or rename the stadium, the Rockies will be cursed and will never win the World Series. Or, the citizens could follow the example of San Francisco and pass a law either setting a price for the naming rights or changing the name of the stadium.

Coors and the Rockies should take care of the curses as soon as possible, because these things tend to become more potent over time. It already seems to be affecting both the team and brewery as both have fallen upon hard times.

Hanks' Thumb Shot

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 03:43:00 +0000

All Joking Aside (AJA), That's What Makes Twitter Worthwhile (TWMTW)! I Didn't Know (IDK) Movie Stars even had Thumbnails (TNs)!
Seriously, folks, a day never goes by that Twitter doesn't give me at least a small chuckle. Between TrollFoot, Hanx, Alec Baldwin, Steve Martin, Allysa Milano, Conan, Dave Winer, Rolloff, Shandling, et al, someone always delivers. Cheers to all, because these days, with the passings, troubles at NetFlix, and the Phillies losing, not to mention OWS and the political situation, we all need a laugh!
The Baseball Observer

Baylor Lands in Phoenix with a Thud

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 13:49:00 +0000

Don Baylor, former manager and 5-time hitting coach, has landed again, not in the managerial position he craved, but as the hitting coach for the hapless Arizona Diamondbacks. Apparently Arizona intends to build on their accomplishment of striking out more than any other team in the Major Leagues. Diamondback executives must have felt they had gone as far as they could go with their old coach and needed someone who could impart new whiffing techniques to the team's batters. Baylor is the only remaining proponent of the "Use Your Head" school of hitting, which teaches actually hitting the ball with the head or helmet, rather than using it to think. This approach has been so popular that Mr. Baylor has been asked to teach it to 5 different teams in his eight years as a batting instructor. He used approximately the same approach in his years as the manager in Colorado and Chicago, where he holds the record for the most losses in a single season by a Cubs team.
Good luck, Arizona! Maybe Don and the D'backs will rise from their own ashes like the mythical Phoenix. At least we know the Arizona hitters will be replacing some of those K's with HBP's.

Ex-Rockies Factor Has Already Decided the World Series

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 18:06:00 +0000

Once again, the dreaded XR (ex-Rockies) factor has reared its ugly head and thrown its mystical net of compulsion over the Major League Baseball playoffs, confounding the odds makers and fans alike by causing teams to win, even when they are the weakest teams on paper and don't play particularly well.
Such was not the case for the Texas Rangers, whose decisive XR edge made them an overwhelming favorite over the XR-less Yankees. It was not as clear for the triumphant Giants of San Francisco, a tremendous underdog who barely squeaked by the confused Phillies, who seemed to be hit periodically by dumbness rays, causing players and coaches to make dozens of inexplicable decisions while stumbling to a lost series, 4 games to 2 in the NLCS. Strangely enough, the Phillies also trailed the Giants in XRs, 4 to 2 (see below).
Using the pattern established above, and in many previous series since the Rockies were spawned in 1993, the Giants will obviously beat the Rangers, 4 games to 1, unless you count coaches, then the tally goes to 4 games to 2, adding the presence of former Rockies manager Clint Hurdle to Texas.

Ex-Rockies in the Playoffs:
Darren Oliver, Relief Pitcher, Texas Rangers, 2003
Juan Uribe, Starting Shortstop, San Francisco Giants, 2001-3
Jeremy Affeldt, Relief Pitcher, San Francisco Giants, 2007
Javier Lopez, Relief Pitcher, San Francisco Giants, 2003-4
Ramon Ramirez, Relief Pitcher, San Francisco Giants, 2006-7
Jose Contreras, Relief Pitcher, Philadelphia Phillies, 2009
Ross Gload, Outfielder, Philadelphia Phillies, 2002

Ex-Rockies Factor Has Already Decided the World Series

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 18:06:00 +0000

Once again, the dreaded XR (ex-Rockies) factor has reared its ugly head and thrown its mystical net of compulsion over the Major League Baseball playoffs, confounding the odds makers and fans alike by causing teams to win, even when they are the weakest teams on paper and don't play particularly well.
Such was not the case for the Texas Rangers, whose decisive XR edge made them an overwhelming favorite over the XR-less Yankees. It was not as clear for the triumphant Giants of San Francisco, a tremendous underdog who barely squeaked by the confused Phillies, who seemed to be hit periodically by dumbness rays, causing players and coaches to make dozens of inexplicable decisions while stumbling to a lost series, 4 games to 2 in the NLCS. Strangely enough, the Phillies also trailed the Giants in XRs, 4 to 2 (see below).
Using the pattern established above, and in many previous series since the Rockies were spawned in 1993, the Giants will obviously beat the Rangers, 4 games to 2, unless you count coaches, then the tally goes to 4 games to 3, adding the presence of former Rockies manager Clint Hurdle to Texas.

Ex-Rockies in the Playoffs:
Darren Oliver, Relief Pitcher, Texas Rangers, 2003
Juan Uribe, Starting Shortstop, San Francisco Giants, 2001-3
Jeremy Affeldt, Relief Pitcher, San Francisco Giants, 2007
Javier Lopez, Relief Pitcher, San Francisco Giants, 2003-4
Ramon Ramirez, Relief Pitcher, San Francisco Giants, 2006-7
Jose Contreras, Relief Pitcher, Philadelphia Phillies, 2009
Ross Gload, Outfielder, Philadelphia Phillies, 2002

Rockies Fire Baylor - Again

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 02:20:00 +0000

The Rockies finally figured out what was causing them to fall short of their goals the past three years, and it was the same thing that held them back the first 9 years of their existence - Don Baylor!
They fired ex-Angel Baylor and replaced him with another ex-Angel, Carney Lansford. The big difference between the two is that Carney really could hit, and can teach others.

Ex-Rockies in the 2010 Playoffs

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 15:56:00 +0000

Darren Oliver, Relief Pitcher, Texas Rangers, 2003
Juan Uribe, Starting Shortstop, San Francisco Giants, 2001-3
Jeremy Affeldt, Relief Pitcher, San Francisco Giants, 2007
Javier Lopez, Relief Pitcher, San Francisco Giants, 2003-4
Ramon Ramirez, Relief Pitcher, San Francisco Giants, 2006-7
Jose Contreras, Relief Pitcher, Philadelphia Phillies, 2009
Ross Gload, Outfielder, Philadelphia Phillies, 2002

Rockies stick to poor fundamentals while being swept in Philadelphia

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 19:33:00 +0000

It would have been a comedy of errors if it wasn't a tragedy. They weren't going to win the first two games, anyway, falling to Roy Halladay 6-0 on Friday, and falling victims to a rare Phillies slugfest 10-2 on Saturday. Sunday and Monday were different stories, though, turning into losing efforts by one run each: 4-3 and 5-4.
On Sunday, the goat horns should have been shared between Carlos "CarGo" Gonzalez, who's error allowed Jimmy "J-Roll" Rollins to advance to second on his RBI single, catcher Miguel Olivo who let Rollins steal third without a throw, and pitcher Rafael Betancourt who threw a wild pitch and failed to cover home, allowing Rollins to score the winning run. Honorary goat awards go to Stewart, Spilborghs, and Gonzalez, who between them left 14 runners on base, 6 in scoring position.
Monday's antiheroes were Jason Giambi who made 2 errors on consecutive plays to allow an unearned run, and Ryan Spilborghs again, who rolled out to the pitcher in the bottom of the ninth with the bases loaded and the Rockies down by a run, 5-4.

Troy Tulowitzki Costs Rockies the Game in the 14th Inning

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 20:37:00 +0000

The fans and the media have jumped on the Rockies 2010 bandwagon, because, on paper they look like a shoe-in to go all the way to the World Series. Everyone is also assuming that emotional maturity would eliminate some of the thoughtless mistakes that cost them games in the past. Not on the night of April 10, at least, because "Tulo" showed that he doesn't have what it takes when the chips are down. The scene: bottom of the 14th inning with Colorado trailing 5 to 4, and Todd Helton standing on first base after drawing a hard-fought walk. Troy has one purpose, and one purpose only; that being to move Helton over to second base. How he does it is his own business, it can be via a walk, a hit, a bunt, or just a ground ball hit behind Helton so he can get to second. Even if Tulo strikes out trying, it would only be one out and there would still be a runner at first. The one thing Tulo cannot do is hit a double play grounder to the left side of the diamond, which would leave the Rockies with two out and nobody on. What does he do? You guessed it, he hit a grounder to the left side, specifically to the third baseman, who started a 5-4-3 double play. The next batter, Brad Hawpe, hit a double that would probably have scored even old slow-footed Helton with the tying run.
The Rockies may not be good enough to overcome these kinds of lapses. There is hope, however, because the Phillies got frequent poor quality at bats from Jason Werth last year, and they still won the pennant and made it to the World Series. As a Baseball Observer, you really want to know the answers to questions that reporters never ask. They are, among others: Did the coaches talk to Tulowitzki before he went to bat to remind him how critical it was to move Helton over? Did he ignore them? Or did they trust he would do the right thing because he should have known what it was? Does Tulowitzki even realize what he did? We will never know.

Another Troy Renck Lame Quote

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 03 May 2009 18:24:00 +0000

5/3/2009 "It takes two hands and two feet to list the number of hitters he's helped revive." Troy E. Renck, joking about Clint Hurdle, we hope, because there is no indication that Hurdle has ever revived the career or batting stroke of any major or minor league hitter, including himself. But maybe Renck, who has never been known for his accuracy or clarity, is referring to Clint's CPR prowess, which enables him to revive hitters that may have fainted or been knocked out by a pitch while following Rockies' hitting coach Don Baylor's technique of "using your head" to hit the ball. Or maybe when Troy writes "helped revive", he means by referring them to a competent hitting coach. More likely, Troy doesn't mean the fingers and toes on two hands and two feet, just two hands plus two feet, or 4. Hurdle may have "helped revive" four hitters who have passed out. That is possible, if not likely. But not nearly as unlikely as the claim that Clint Hurdle has revived the batting stroke of 20 hitters, not counting little leaguers.

Rockies Rip Off Fans, City by Giving Away Naming Rights to Stadium

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 03 May 2009 01:28:00 +0000

"In 1995, Adolph Coors Company paid $15 M for the naming rights to Coors Field. The deal is for an indefinite period of time. This was Major League Baseball's first open-ended naming rights arrangement."

Even though they paid for the whole shebang, the taxpayers of the metro Denver area got nothing in return for Coors Brewing permanently stamping their name on Denver's baseball stadium. Not only that, but Coors, now Miller/Coors, got the deal of the century. First, the Rockies sold them the naming rights for 15 million dollars for FOREVER! Second, newspaper articles claim that the Rockies were supposed to share the revenue with the Stadium district (consisting of Denver and surrounding cities), but NEVER DID. Let us compare that to other stadiums, shall we? Citizens Bank named Philadelphia's stadium for $95 million over 25 years, or $3.8 million per year. Since the Phillies opened the stadium in 2004, they have already earned $19 million before this year started. CitiCorp is paying the Mets $20 million per year for 20 years, or $400 million! In fact, even the lowest priced naming deal is almost DOUBLE the amount Coors paid the Rockies! Many of the other stadiums are in much smaller market areas with far less attendance, too! And remember, the average annual price goes down every year, because it is FOREVER!

One other small detail should be disclosed in connection with this travesty. Namely, that Coors is a part owner of the Rockies! Can you say "conflict of interest"? If Coors and the Monforts wanted to show their fans, as well as the taxpayers, that they are not greedy and dishonest, and are grateful for the support of local government and fans, they would renegotiate the deal for a reasonable price and SHARE THE MONEY with the people that made them possible in the first place. Don't hold your breath, though.

Stadium Name Sponsor Home Teams Avg. $/Year
Coors Field Coors Brewing Colorado Rockies $882,353
Tropicana Field Tropicana Tampa Bay Devil Rays $1,500,000
PNC Park PNC Bank Pittsburgh Pirates $2,000,000
Safeco Field Safeco Corp. Seattle Mariners $2,000,000
Miller Park Miller Brewing Milwaukee Brewers $2,100,000
SBC Park SBC Communications San Francisco Giants $2,100,000
Chase Field JP Morgan Chase Arizona Diamondbacks $2,200,000
Comerica Park Comerica Detroit Tigers $2,200,000
Citizens Bank Park Citizens Bank Philadelphia Phillies $2,300,000
Ameriquest Field Ameriquest Capital Corp. Texas Rangers $2,500,000
Great American Ball Park Great American Insur. Cincinnati Reds $2,500,000
Petco Park PETCO San Diego Padres $2,700,000
U.S. Cellular Field U.S. Cellular Chicago White Sox $3,400,000
Progressive Field Progressive Insurance Cleveland Indians $3,600,000
Minute Maid Park Coca Cola Houston Astros $6,000,000
Citi Field CitiCorp New York Mets $20,000,000

Data from ESPN and ballparksofbaseball.com, as well as independant research.

©Copyright 2009, The Baseball Observer

NCAAFinalFour

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 18:17:00 +0000

Humidor Redux

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 13:21:00 +0000

Back in May, the Baseball Observer published this observation:

According to this article in NewsOK.com , the Humidifier was a failure from the beginning, contrary to what the full-time nut case and part time sports reporter for the Denver Post, Troy E. (the “E” is for epistemologist) has been vociferously claiming for years:

Rockies’ experiment with baseballs backfires
By Bill Sones and Rich Sones, Ph.D.
Strange but True
Q:What was the point of the Colorado Rockies baseball team placing balls in a high-humidity chamber for several months before games? Were they trying to cheat?
A:It was actually done in the name of fair play, New Scientist magazine says. The Rockies play in high-altitude Denver, where the thin air means batted baseballs travel up to 20 feet farther than at sea level. So, the humidity chambers were an attempt to tame down the overexuberant orbs. Then a team of University of Colorado researchers reported that the Rockies may have gotten things backward: Moisture may make the balls fly even farther. They found that two months in humidity of 30 to 50 percent increased the diameter of the balls by 0.24 percent and their mass by 1.6 percent. While it’s true the bigger, heavier, “squishier” balls come off the bat slightly more slowly and experience more drag, the extra mass more than compensates for these effects as the balls “take longer to decelerate,” and so carry farther. Moreover, the moist balls are harder for pitchers to curve and thus easier for sluggers to hit.

This proves, once and for all, what the Baseball Observer has said from the very beginning: there is no scientific or empirical evidence that storing baseballs in a humidifier makes the slightest bit of difference, except, obviously the psychological one.

Since then, a little more information has come afloat from newspaper articles and television reports. It turns out that Major League Baseball decided, in the interest of fairness, that all baseballs, in all parks, should meet minimum requirements for size, weight, and other, less obvious characteristics. Though neither side will admit it, this caused a change in the humidifier procedures at MillerCoors Field. In the above article, you will notice that they talk about storing the balls in the humidor for months (you may also note that we referred to it as a “humidifier” whereas the Rockies insist it is a “humidor”). What is happening now, at the direction of MLB, is that all balls are required to meet factory specifications. So, the heavier, “squishy” balls referred to above, would not be allowed today. Neither would the balls the Rockies used in the first few years at what used to be called Coors Field, because they were improperly stored and too old, dried out, and light weight to meet the standard.

Ideally, the teams should use balls that are as fresh as possible from the manufacturer and store them in a manner that does not change the condition of the ball in any way. If any team stores the balls such that moisure is added or removed, it is illegal. So, the humidor, when it is used legally, has no effect on the baseballs. The widely varying effects we saw in the Rockies first 10 years were likely a result of improperly buying and rotating the balls, then over-humidifying them when they began using the humidor. The Baseball Brass had to step in because of complaints from other teams, so now the Rockies are not altering the baseballs, with more normal results. Which of course means losing. The Baseball Observer wishes they would go back to the hard, dry, slick balls of the early years. They shouldn’t try to think, because they are not good at it. Things were good in those days, they should have left it alone.

Rockies Miss Chance

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 03:43:00 +0000

The Dodgers beat Arizona to move to 3.5 games behind, and the Rockies blew a golden opportunity to creep up to 5 back by losing to the Padres Saturday night. The contest was over in the 4th when Ubaldo Jimenez fell apart and gave up 6 runs before Hurdle could get up off his bench and pull him out of the game. Rube should have figured out that Baldy was done when he sandwiched a wild pitch between two walks to load the bases with 1 out. But no, old Clint sent the pitching coach out to impart some advanced wisdom, thinking that might solve the problem. This was followed by a single, plating one run, then a force out bringing in another. Then, the wildness resumed as Ubaldo walked two more batters, the second forcing in the third run. Then Clint finally moved, but his choice of relief pitchers, Glendon Rusch, gave up back-to-back singles, allowing all three of the runners Jimenez left him to score, before finally getting an out. The final score was 9-4.
Now the Rockies are still 6 games out, with only 25 games left to play. They only have 3 left with the Dodgers, so they may be harder to pass then the D'Backs, with whom they have 6 left. Their record against Arizona is 2-10, so they will have to reverse their fortunes against them in a hurry. They have fared much better against LA, currently 7-8. They will need to clean up on the Giants, with whom they have 6 games, but they are only 6-6 so far. Bottom line, if they fall back any further, they probably don't have a chance. If they are going to have another streak, it is about time to start.

LAST PLACE!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 01:54:00 +0000

Clint Hurdle had to have fallen asleep last night, the last day of June, 2008, because there is simply no other explanation for what happened to the Rockies.

It was certainly hot enough, the temperature nestled in the high 80's at game time, with no breeze to cool Miller/Coors Field. Besides, the Rockies had an 8-3 lead in the top of the sixth, what could happen?

Clint must have gone to the happy snoring place and didn't notice that De La Rosa and Speier gave up 5 runs to tie the game.

He surely could not have been awake when some knucklehead sent in the closer, Brian "Tito" Fuentes, in the ninth with the game knotted at 8 runs apiece.

He had to be snoozing, of course, because no Major League manager would ever put his closer into a tie game, so one of the players, probably Troy Tulowitzki, must have picked up the phone and pretended he was Clint calling for Tito.

Fuentes must have been shocked and not properly warmed up, because he was three runs down before he even knew what was happening.

Somebody must have awakened Vizcaino and sent him out in a daze, because he dished up two tantalizing gopher balls to Gerut and Gonzalez which were promptly smashed out of the park.

Former Rockie farmhand Jody Gerut's blast came with two runners on base while Edgar Gonzalez' solo shot was his 4th hit of the night.

Clint couldn't have awoken for the bottom of the ninth, because he never would have pinch-hit for legendary slugger Todd Helton, and if he did, he certainly would not have substituted Scott "Poodle" Podsednick, the light, almost imperceptibe-hitting outfielder, especially with Todd going 2 for 4 on the night with a ringing RBI double off Greg Maddux in the fourth.

There is just no way Clint would have done that, no way. No way he would let San Diego slip past Colorado, leaving them mired in last place, no way.

Way.

Rockies Illustrate Why Showing Up Another Team is Dangerous

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 04:14:00 +0000

On Opening Day, Friday, April 4^th, 2008, at Coors/Molsen Field in Denver, with all eyes glued to the huge video screen in center field, including those of the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks, scenes of the Rockies’ victory over the that same Arizona team were played, including the last out of the series made by nemesis Eric Byrnes on a desperate head-first slide into first base.

Showing up the Diamondbacks like that is something that is seldom seen in professional sports because it is poor sportsmanship, of course, but also because it gives the other team more motivation to beat your team. The Rockies are paying for their snide gesture toward Arizona in spades. So far, they have lost their first five games to the D’Backs by scores of 8-1, 7-2, 5-2, 8-2, and 10-3. That’s a margin of 38 to 10 if you’re counting.

The Rockies finally beat Arizona on April 13th, 13-5. But when they returned to Phoenix on May 13th, they resumed losing, 8-4, 4-3, and 8-5, running their season record to 1-8.

Arizona has begun the 2008 season as the hottest team in baseball and are amassing what may prove to be an insurmountable 11 game lead over the Rockies in the West, all due to another clueless gesture by the same Rockies brain trust that brought you the “God’s team” declaration in Sports Illustrated and the monumental World Series ticket fiasco in 2008. At least they are number one in something.

The Baseball Observer