50 Fun Facts About Colorado Rockies

The Rockies began play as an expansion team in which season?

They entered with the Florida Marlins, and the two remain the only MLB clubs never to win a division title.

Where did the Rockies play their first two seasons while Coors Field was built?

They shared it with the Broncos and set the all-time MLB attendance record there in 1993.

The 1993 Rockies set the all-time single-season MLB attendance record by drawing how many fans?

The mark still stands, and the club led the majors in attendance for its first seven years.

Who in Denver had used the name 'Rockies' before the ballclub adopted it?

The hockey Colorado Rockies moved east in 1982 and became the New Jersey Devils.

Which trucking magnate saved the Rockies franchise in 1992 after an ownership scandal?

Original partner Michael Monus had been ruined by an accounting scandal at his drugstore chain.

The Rockies were the first MLB team based in which time zone?

Phoenix's Diamondbacks followed five years later.

The Rockies' first pick in the 1992 expansion draft was which pitcher from the Braves system?

He started the first game in club history, a 3-0 loss in New York.

Which second baseman hit a leadoff home run in the first inning of the Rockies' first home game in 1993?

Bryn Smith beat his former Mets teammates for the club's first Denver win.

Who was the Rockies' first manager, named NL Manager of the Year in 1995?

He took the club to the playoffs in its third season, the fastest postseason trip by an expansion team at the time.

Which first baseman hit .370 in 1993, the first batting title for an expansion-team player?

'The Big Cat' was also the first Venezuelan to win one, and later beat cancer to win a Comeback Player award.

The 1995 Rockies' four 30-homer hitters were nicknamed the Bombers of which Denver thoroughfare?

Coors Field sits on that street; Bichette, Castilla, Galarraga and Walker combined for 139 homers in a shortened season.

Which of the four 1995 Bombers led the club with 40 home runs?

He also won a Silver Slugger that year in the strike-delayed 144-game season.

Which Canadian outfielder won the 1997 NL MVP for Colorado?

He grew up in Maple Ridge, British Columbia, dreaming of being an NHL goaltender.

The first Hall of Famer to wear a Rockies cap on his plaque was inducted in which year?

His No. 33 was retired in 2021, following Todd Helton's No. 17 in 2014.

Todd Helton won the 2000 NL batting title with what average?

He also won the Hank Aaron Award that year and reached the Hall of Fame in 2024 after playing all 17 seasons in Colorado.

Before baseball, Todd Helton played which position for the Tennessee Volunteers football team?

He was briefly the starter ahead of a freshman named Peyton Manning.

The Rockies' first retired number, in 2014, was Todd Helton's what?

He is the only Hall of Famer to have spent his whole career with the club.

The purple seats in the 20th row of Coors Field's upper deck mark what?

The rest of the seats are dark green; 5,280 feet is the magic number.

To reduce home runs in the thin air, Coors Field stores its baseballs in what?

The room-sized humidor keeps the balls from drying out and flying too far.

The Rockies' mascot Dinger is what creature, inspired by fossils found at Coors Field?

The fossil fragments were small, including part of a rib, and are housed at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.

The Rockies' team colour purple was inspired by a line from which song?

The lyric is 'For purple mountain majesties'; the club finally standardised on Pantone 2685 in 2017.

The Rockies were the first Major League team to wear what on their home uniforms?

The pinstripes have been on the home whites since 1993.

The lettering on the Rockies' 2022 green City Connect uniforms was taken from what?

A sleeve patch carried '5280', two black diamonds for expert ski runs and the exact coordinates of Coors Field.

Which pitcher did the Rockies sign to an eight-year, $121 million deal after the 2000 season?

He had won 22 games for Houston two years earlier; by 2002 he was 7-15 with an ERA above 6.

The Rockies' 2007 run to the pennant, winning 21 of 22 games, was nicknamed what?

They were 76-72 on September 16 and needed a 13-inning tiebreaker just to reach the playoffs.

The Rockies' 2007 'Game 163' tiebreaker was a 9-8, 13-inning win over which team?

A controversial head-first slide, in which the runner appeared to miss the plate, scored the winning run.

The 2007 Rockies were swept in their only World Series by which team?

They had swept the Phillies and Diamondbacks to get there, then ran into an eight-day layoff and Josh Beckett.

Who won the 2007 NLCS MVP after his three-run homer clinched the pennant against Arizona?

He also won the NL batting title that year and later signed with St. Louis.

Which Rockies shortstop turned an unassisted triple play against Atlanta in April 2007?

He was a rookie that year and went on to win two Gold Gloves and two Silver Sluggers in Colorado.

Which pitcher threw the first no-hitter in Rockies history, at Atlanta in April 2010?

Dexter Fowler's diving catch in center preserved it in the seventh.

Which third baseman won a Gold Glove in each of his first eight seasons with Colorado from 2013?

He is the only infielder to win the award in each of his first ten seasons, and was traded to St. Louis before 2021.

In 2018 the Rockies became the first team since 1922 to do what over five days?

Game 162, the NL West tiebreaker, the play-in game and NLDS Game 1 all fell in one exhausting stretch.

The Rockies have reached the postseason five times, always in what manner?

The Dodgers and Giants have combined for 21 NL West titles since 1993; Colorado has none.

The 2025 Rockies set a modern-era record with what run differential?

It shattered the 1932 Red Sox mark of -349, and the club started 8-42, the worst 50-game start ever.

The 2025 Rockies' 8-42 start was the worst through 50 games in MLB history, beating which team's 10-40?

They finished tied with the 2003 Tigers for the third-most losses in a season since 1901.

Which meatpacking family succeeded Jerry McMorris as the Rockies' controlling owners?

Dick Monfort's son Walker was promoted to team president in June 2025.

The Rockies' spring training home, opened in 2011 in Scottsdale, is shared with which team?

Salt River Fields at Talking Stick sits on Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community land.

Which pitcher was the Rockies' only NL Rookie of the Year, in 2002?

The Baylor product went 16-8 for a last-place team.

The Rockies' 'Purple Mondays' tradition, begun in 2012, means the club does what?

The purple alternate had first appeared in 2000.

The Rockies' 2007 World Series ticket sale collapsed within an hour, which the club blamed on what?

The claim was never substantiated, and the FBI opened its own inquiry; all three home games sold out the next day.

Which Rockies manager was fired in May 2009 and replaced by Jim Tracy, who won Manager of the Year?

The departing skipper had managed the 2007 pennant winners; the club started 19-28 before the change.

The Rockies' 2025 second City Connect uniform splits light blue and purple to represent what?

It was the first pullover City Connect jersey, with the Denver flag lining the cap.

Which outfielder won the 2017 NL batting title for Colorado?

The bearded leadoff man followed LeMahieu's 2016 title, giving the club back-to-back batting champions.

A 2006 USA Today report claimed Rockies management had instituted what in the clubhouse?

The manager was named in the story; players later disputed it in the Denver Post.

The Rockies' first game was a 3-0 loss on April 5, 1993, at which ballpark?

The expansion draft's first pick started, and Bryn Smith beat his old team in the home opener four days later.

Coors Field is located in which Denver neighbourhood?

It sits two blocks from Union Station.

Which Rockies executive, president from 2002 until his death in 2010, is honoured at Coors Field with his initials?

He had been with the club since its 1993 inception, and his initials sit alongside the retired numbers of Helton, Walker and Jackie Robinson.

Which outfielder wore the Rockies' No. 5 from 2009 to 2018, after which it was shelved?

Through 2025, only Todd Helton's 17 and Larry Walker's 33 had been formally retired by the club, in 2014 and 2021.

Which Denver station served as the Rockies' flagship radio outlet from their 1993 debut?

Some late-season games shifted to KHOW when Broncos games conflicted, and Spanish broadcasts aired on KNRV.

The 2025 Rockies' 10-50 start after 60 games broke an 11-49 mark shared by five teams, the latest being which club?

That same 1932 Boston team had held the modern run-differential record of -349 until Colorado's -424 obliterated it.