Colorado Rockies: Part two of our tribute to Clint Hurdle

The two teams faced each other on October 1 and even nine innings in an extra game wasn’t enough to decide the winner. In fact, they had to play 13 innings. The Rockies looked like they would fade away once again after Scott Hairston hit a 2-run homer off Rockies reliever Jorge Julio in the 13th inning but the Rocktober magic came back in the bottom of the 13th.

Against future Hall-of-Fame closer Trevor Hoffman, Kazuo Matsui doubled to lead off the inning. After getting the count full, Rockies rookie shortstop Troy Tulowitzki doubled in Matsui. On the very next pitch, Matt Holliday tripled to right field and Tulowitzki scored to tie the game at 8.

After intentionally walking Todd Helton, Jamey Carroll came to the plate and on the first pitch, he lined out to right field. Holliday tagged from third and was safe at the plate on a head-first slide (at least according to Rockies fans and home plate umpire, Tim McClelland, who’s opinion was the only one that mattered).

The Rockies had reached the postseason for the first time since 1995.

They took that magic to the NLDS and NLCS as they swept the Philadelphia Phillies in three straight games in the NLDS and they swept the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NLCS in four straight games.

The Rockies ended up being swept themselves by the Boston Red Sox in the World Series. However, it is still one of the most improbable teams to get to the World Series considering where they were just two weeks before the regular season ended.

It is also the season that Colorado Rockies fans look back most fondly upon.

Hurdle, himself, said at the time that the 2007 Rockies “brought me more joy this year than I’ve had in 35 years of professional baseball.”

He had a similar sentiment when he returned to Coors Field as Pirates manager in 2016.

"“Always, when I go on the field, I take a look at the flag down to the left of the foul pole, the National League championship flag,” Hurdle said. “Those are priceless memories. The people around here seem to be thankful and grateful. They seem to have some memories as well.” “It was a season that you don’t script, because we had two rookies in the rotation, a rookie closer and a rookie shortstop,” said Hurdle. “That’s not the way you draw it up over the winter to put together a team that makes you say, ‘We’re going to go to the World Series, and this is how we’re going to do it.’"

After 2007, though, the fall from grace came rather quickly for Hurdle in Denver.