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Colorado Rockies: The nightmare stretches of seasons past

By Colin Gaiser

25 Jul 1999: Larry Walker #33 of the Colorado Rockies misses the ball as he stands at bat during the game against the St. Louis Cardinals at the Coors Field in Denver, Colorado. The Cardinals defeated the Rockies 10-6. Mandatory Credit: Brian Bahr /Allsport
25 Jul 1999: Larry Walker #33 of the Colorado Rockies misses the ball as he stands at bat during the game against the St. Louis Cardinals at the Coors Field in Denver, Colorado. The Cardinals defeated the Rockies 10-6. Mandatory Credit: Brian Bahr /Allsport /
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DENVER – APRIL 15: Colorado Rockies players stand in the outfield with at Mile High Stadium elevation sign in background before the game against the New York Mets on April 15, 1993 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Tim DeFrisco/Getty Images)
DENVER – APRIL 15: Colorado Rockies players stand in the outfield with at Mile High Stadium elevation sign in background before the game against the New York Mets on April 15, 1993 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Tim DeFrisco/Getty Images) /

When the Colorado Rockies fell quietly to the Washington Nationals 2-0 on July 24, the 2019 team had tied the worst 19-game stretch in franchise history.

The Rockies were 3-16 since June 30 and had plummeted from a lead in the Wild Card race to the back of the pack of NL playoff contenders. It was an atrocious stretch that might sabotage this team’s 2019 Rocktober dreams.

But how does this bad run of baseball rank among the franchise’s worst? Find an uncomfortable seat and let’s go on a nightmare tour of the Rockies’ most appalling, miserable and demoralizing stretches of seasons past.

Stretch: 1993, May 5 – May 30

Record: 4-21; went from 10-15 to 14-36

The Rockies had a respectable start for an expansion team, but Colorado fell apart spectacularly in the month of May 1993.

Maybe the critics were right and baseball was not meant to be in the Mile High City, at least for the sake of the poor Colorado pitching staff. In the month of May, the Rockies sported a 7.03 ERA – worst in the league by a large margin – while giving up 202 earned runs and 38 home runs.

In six May starts, Butch Henry posted a 9.09 ERA, allowing 32 earned runs in 31.2 innings. On May 28, Henry gave up nine runs and two homers in less than four innings in an eventual 15-9 loss to the Phillies.

Following Henry’s disastrous start, the Rockies lost 6-0 and 18-1 to the Phillies before ending the month with a victory over the Pirates. But the damage was done.

Entering May, the Rockies had a team ERA of 4.78 and by the end of the month, the team’s ERA was 6.07.

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