2007 Colorado Rockies season
The Colorado Rockies' 2007 season started off with the team trying to improve on their 2006 record. They finished with a franchise record of 90 wins in 163 games and earned a playoff berth as the National League Wild Card team.
The team's stretch run was among the greatest ever for a Major League Baseball team. Having a record of 76-72 at the start of play on September 16, the Rockies proceeded to win 14 of their final 15 regular season games. The stretch culminated with a 9-8, 13-inning victory over the San Diego Padres in a one-game playoff for the wild card berth, a game that is considered to be part of the regular season. The Rockies then swept their first seven playoff games to win the 2007 National League Pennant — the franchise's first-ever pennant. Thus, at the start of the World Series, the Rockies had won a total of 21 out of 22 games.
The streak then ended, as the Rockies were swept in the 2007 World Series by the Boston Red Sox. The Rockies drew 2,376,250 fans for the season, their highest total since 2002. The average home attendance was 28,978.
Offseason
- December 5, 2006: LaTroy Hawkins was signed as a free agent by the Colorado Rockies.
- December 12, 2006: Jason Jennings was traded by the Colorado Rockies with Miguel Asencio to the Houston Astros for Willy Taveras, Taylor Buchholz and Jason Hirsh.
- January 30, 2007: Choo Freeman was released by the Colorado Rockies.
- February 18, 2007: Matt Herges was signed as a free agent by the Colorado Rockies.
- February 24, 2007: Steve Finley was signed as a free agent by the Colorado Rockies.
Regular season
Season standings
Wild Card standings
Wild card tie-breaker
The Rockies ended the 162-game regular season with 89 wins and 73 losses. They were tied with the San Diego Padres for second place in the NL West and first in the NL Wild Card. A tie-breaker game was played on October 1, 2007, at Coors Field in Denver to determine which team would continue on to post-season play. The game lasted 13 innings, spanning four hours and 40 minutes. The Rockies won the game with a final score of 9 to 8, sending them to only their second post-season in franchise history. The tie-breaker game counts toward all team and player statistics in the regular season; so, the Rockies' official 2007 win-loss record stands at 90-73.Record vs. opponents
Transactions
- May 13, 2007: Byung-hyun Kim was traded by the Colorado Rockies to the Florida Marlins for Jorge Julio.
- June 13, 2007: Steve Finley was released by the Colorado Rockies.
- August 15, 2007: Ramón Ortiz was traded by the Minnesota Twins to the Colorado Rockies for Matt Macri.
- August 19, 2007: Mark Redman was signed as a Free Agent by the Colorado Rockies.
Major League debuts
- Batters:
- *Sean Barker
- *Edwin Bellorín
- *Ian Stewart
- *Joe Koshansky
- *Seth Smith
- Pitchers:
- *Zach McClellan
- *Alberto Árias
- *Darren Clarke
- *Franklin Morales
- *Josh Newman
Game log
Roster
Player stats
Batting
Starters by position
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted inPos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
C | Yorvit Torrealba | 113 | 396 | 101 | .255 | 8 | 47 |
1B | Todd Helton | 154 | 557 | 178 | .320 | 17 | 91 |
2B | Kazuo Matsui | 104 | 410 | 118 | .288 | 4 | 37 |
SS | Troy Tulowitzki | 155 | 609 | 177 | .291 | 24 | 99 |
3B | Garrett Atkins | 157 | 605 | 182 | .301 | 25 | 111 |
LF | Matt Holliday | 158 | 636 | 216 | .340 | 36 | 137 |
CF | Willy Taveras | 97 | 372 | 119 | .320 | 2 | 24 |
RF | Brad Hawpe | 152 | 516 | 150 | .291 | 29 | 116 |
Other batters
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted inPlayer | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
97 | 264 | 79 | .299 | 11 | 51 | |
108 | 227 | 51 | .225 | 2 | 22 | |
67 | 197 | 43 | .218 | 4 | 27 | |
85 | 144 | 32 | .222 | 4 | 12 | |
72 | 140 | 40 | .286 | 2 | 14 | |
43 | 94 | 17 | .181 | 1 | 2 |
Pitching
Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = StrikeoutsPlayer | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
34 | 215.1 | 17 | 9 | 4.22 | 165 | |
25 | 166.0 | 8 | 7 | 4.12 | 61 | |
30 | 165.2 | 10 | 9 | 4.94 | 94 | |
19 | 112.1 | 5 | 7 | 4.81 | 75 | |
15 | 82.0 | 4 | 4 | 4.28 | 68 | |
14 | 79.1 | 5 | 4 | 4.42 | 43 |
Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = StrikeoutsPlayer | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
41 | 93.2 | 6 | 5 | 4.23 | 61 | |
35 | 48.2 | 5 | 1 | 2.96 | 30 | |
8 | 39.1 | 3 | 2 | 3.43 | 26 | |
26 | 25.2 | 0 | 0 | 4.91 | 10 |
Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = StrikeoutsPlayer | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
78 | 4 | 2 | 19 | 2.08 | 58 | |
75 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 3.51 | 46 | |
64 | 3 | 5 | 20 | 3.08 | 56 | |
62 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 3.42 | 29 | |
58 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3.93 | 50 |
Playoffs
National League Division Series: vs. [Philadelphia Phillies]
Colorado started the series with the Philadelphia Phillies on October 3, 2007, at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies had a potent offense with NL MVP candidates Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley. The Rockies swept the series in three games with scores of 4-2 in Game 1 and 10-5 in Game 2 in Philadelphia. In Game 3, with the score tied in the bottom of the 8th and two outs, Jeff Baker singled to bring in the go-ahead run. Manny Corpas then pitched a perfect ninth inning to seal the Rockies' first postseason series victory.National League Championship Series: vs. [Arizona Diamondbacks]
Colorado started the series with the Arizona Diamondbacks on October 11, 2007, at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks came into the game having swept the Chicago Cubs in the NLDS in three games. Colorado took the first two games, including a 3-2 extra-inning victory in Game 2.On Sunday, October 14, the Rockies would play in a cold, wet Coors Field in Denver. There, they would find a way to hit the ball over the wall even in the harsh weather. The Rockies hit two homers that night, one in the 1st inning from Matt Holliday and the other in the 6th inning from Yorvit Torrealba. Colorado won the game 4-1. This win gave the Rockies a 20-1 record over their last 21 games. This made them only the third team in the last half-century, and the first in the National League since the 1936, to have a 20-1 stretch at any point of a season.
Colorado won its first NL Pennant on Monday, October 15, at home, with the deciding blow, a 3-run HR by Matt Holliday, to sweep the AZ Diamondbacks in the midst of a historic 21-1 sprint with only one loss since September 15.
Matt Holliday was the 2007 NLCS MVP Award winner. The Rockies became the first team to win their first 7 playoff games in 31 years. It should also be noted that they also became the first team to do it since MLB added the division series to the playoffs. The 2014 Kansas City Royals passed the record with winning their first 8 playoff games in the wild card game, the ALDS, and the ALCS.