Colorado Rockies Open 2015 4-0, Just Like 1995

Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports

Amidst all the giddiness and glee about the Colorado Rockies undefeated streak to start the season, sometimes it’s good to look back.  Let’s reminisce shall we – – or in my case learn – – about the only other time the Colorado Rockies ever started their season 4-0.

The year was 1995, cell phones could not send pictures or text messages.  A man like me would have had to go to the library and use encyclopedia’s to write this report back then.  Nowadays, I simply “Google’d” 1995 Colorado Rockies season and 1995 Major League Baseball.

"The 1995 Major League Baseball season was the first season to be played under the expanded postseason format, as the League Division Series (LDS) was played in both the American and National leagues for the first time. However, due to the 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike which carried into the 1995 season, a shortened 144-game schedule commenced on April 25."

I naturally note the expanded postseason format because it was our Colorado Rockies who won the first ever fourth and final playoff spot.

With MLB baseball recently unveiling the 2015 Franchise Four, a look back at 1995 introduces two candidates and is a feather in the cap of another.

• The Rockies signed Canadian slugger Larry Walker on April 8th.  Walker contributed 36 homeruns and 101 RBI. 
• Dante Bichette lead the Rockies and the National League with 40 homeruns and 128 RBI.
• Most importantly though on June 1st, the Rockies drafted Todd Helton.

Coming up is an example of the old saying is “the more things change, the more things stay same”:

"The Rockies led the NL (1995) in hits (1,406), runs scored (785), triples (43, also the most in the Majors), home runs (200), runs batted in (749), batting average (.282) and slugging percentage (.471). Conversely, they also allowed the most hits (1,443), runs (783), earned runs (711) and produced the fewest shutouts (1)."

The Rockies would lose game 5 of 1995 to the Houston Astros.  My prediction is history may repeat itself again with a loss in game 5 this season.  If this all ends up with a wild card playoff spot, the giddiness and glee you feel today will pale in comparison to how you will feel on October 6, 2015.