Colorado Rockies: A look at All-Star snubs throughout their history

Even though it was not a great year for the Rockies in 2001 (73-89), they did have three All-Stars, including Larry Walker, who was the DH for Mets manager Bobby Valentine and his NL squad, who were facing the AL at Seattle’s Safeco Field. The other two Rockies were Todd Helton and Mike Hampton, who had a good first half but an atrocious second half (7.46 ERA in 14 starts after the break).
The only other player that the Rockies had that perhaps, was All-Star worthy, was third baseman Jeff Cirillo. His slash line and sOPS+ are the stats in particular that show that he may have been snubbed.
Split | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | BAbip | tOPS+ | sOPS+ |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st Half | 69 | 293 | 266 | 34 | 82 | 14 | 11 | 47 | 17 | 31 | .308 | .356 | .492 | .849 | .311 | 102 | 121 |
2002
The 2002 Rockies started off their season with a 6-16 record and as a result, fired manager Buddy Bell and replaced him with hitting coach Clint Hurdle. Hurdle would go 67-73 with the Rockies finishing their second consecutive season with 73 wins.
However, in 2001, the Rockies only had one All-Star in first baseman Todd Helton, who started for D’backs manager Bob Brenly and the NL in Milwaukee’s Miller Park.
However, Helton’s teammate, Larry Walker was an obvious snub for the All-Star game. Just look at his stats for the first half.
Split | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | BAbip | tOPS+ | sOPS+ |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st Half | 77 | 317 | 274 | 62 | 96 | 19 | 20 | 67 | 35 | 37 | .350 | .429 | .653 | 1.082 | .345 | 110 | 187 |
And if you look at his month by month stats, June and July were great months for him…and it’s the months in which most of the voting happens and the decision making.
Split | G | PA | AB | R | H | 2B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS | BAbip | tOPS+ | sOPS+ |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
April/March | 21 | 79 | 71 | 12 | 19 | 3 | 5 | 15 | 7 | 14 | .268 | .342 | .521 | .863 | .269 | 68 | 130 |
May | 27 | 116 | 97 | 21 | 33 | 6 | 5 | 22 | 17 | 12 | .340 | .440 | .577 | 1.017 | .346 | 100 | 174 |
June | 23 | 97 | 83 | 22 | 34 | 7 | 7 | 21 | 10 | 9 | .410 | .474 | .771 | 1.245 | .391 | 141 | 228 |
July | 24 | 101 | 89 | 18 | 39 | 12 | 5 | 17 | 11 | 16 | .438 | .505 | .742 | 1.247 | .500 | 143 | 224 |
Another Rockie that could have been considered was Jose Jimenez (3.30 ERA, 24 saves) but with the way stats were viewed at the time (essentially, wins, losses, and ERA) and his record was 2-5, it’s part of the reason why he did not make it.