9 must-see pieces of Colorado Rockies art from 2019

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LONDON, ENGLAND – JUNE 14: Claude Monet’s ‘Nymphéas’ (1908) Est: £25,000,000-35,000,000, which is to be sold as part of the Impressionist & Modern Art Evening Sale which takes place on the June 19, at Sotheby’s on June 14, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images for Sotheby’s ) /

While my family was in the Denver area visiting for Christmas, we decided to take in the Claude Monet exhibit at the Denver Art Museum.

For what it’s worth, the exhibit is amazing and well worth your time if you’re in the Denver area and you can get tickets before its run ends on February 2, 2020. I am someone who has been infatuated with the Impressionism style of painting for many years and this collection of Monet’s work was amazing and inspiring.

It was so inspiring, in fact, that I decided to get in touch with who I believe has evolved into the resident artist of Colorado Rockies Twitter, Austria’s Niki Paumi. If you’re not following him on Twitter, by the way, you’re missing out.

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With thoughts of great art in my head, I reached out to Niki to ask him which pieces of his unique style of work detailing the Colorado Rockies he was most proud of in 2019. He responded with an amazing collection that I thought I would share with you today.

In this article, art is described as, “any activity or product done by people with a communicative or aesthetic purpose — something that expresses an idea, an emotion or, more generally, a world view.” Niki’s idea certainly fits into that definition, in my humble art critic opinion.

So join me if you will as we raise the curtain on a different kind of art exhibit, a collection of creativity focused on Colorado’s baseball team. There is no ticket or reservation required.

PHOENIX, ARIZONA – AUGUST 21: Tim Melville #38 of the Colorado Rockies delivers a pitch in the first inning of the MLB game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on August 21, 2019 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images) /

There is no question that pitching was a focal point of last season’s 71-91 efforts by the Rockies. Colorado was expected to have a strong young core of pitching when the season began, as Paumi illustrated here.

However, as we know, Kyle Freeland struggled, even spending some time at Triple-A. Jon Gray and German Marquez had their moments on the mound before being shut down by injury. Those moments, however, opened the door for a promising prospect named Peter Lambert.

On August 21, Colorado needed help on the mound and the Rockies turned to little-known pitcher Tim Melville in a surprise move. He rewarded the club for its efforts, allowing one run and seven hits over his first starts spanning 14 innings.

After the season was over, it was clear the Rockies were going to head in a different direction with their rotation. That point was crystallized when Chad Bettis and Tyler Anderson, complete with his notebook full of pitching wisdom, were no longer on the roster.

PHOENIX, ARIZONA – AUGUST 21: Raimel Tapia #15 of the Colorado Rockies singles in the first inning of the MLB game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on August 21, 2019 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Jennifer Stewart/Getty Images) /

Colorado’s collection of young talent was on full display last year, from Raimel Tapia getting a chance to showcase his skills in a full-time role to the final weekend of the season when Sam Hilliard hit a memorable home run against Milwaukee’s Josh Hader.

Speaking of Tapia, his stance and swing can be described a number of ways, but it certainly seems to be a work of art, as Paumi alluded to in this illustration.

There was also plenty of excitement around Colorado as top prospect Brendan Rodgers made his long-awaited debut this season.

And, even in September when the Rockies were well out of the playoff race, there was still plenty of excitement around the fan base when Colorado swept the San Diego Padres at Coors Field.

14 Jun 1998: Larry Walker #33 of the Colorado Rockies in action during a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at the Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California. The Rockies defeated the Dodgers 3-2. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Laforet /Allsport /

There are plenty of people connected to the Colorado Rockies (officially and unofficially) who are pushing Larry Walker’s candidacy in his final year of Baseball Hall of Fame eligibility from BBWAA members.

Certainly Paumi has put in his two cents on Walker’s worthiness as well (as every Rockies fan should be by helping to spread the #WalkerHOF hashtag).

Courtesy of the great @niki_paumi, I present to you an image that should be all over your Twitter feed if you want #WalkerHOF ..#Rockies #STLCards pic.twitter.com/03Xjopd0Jn
— Manny Randhawa (@MannyOnMLB) July 27, 2019

And finally, Paumi is timely with one of the biggest movie events of the season and Walker’s final push for Cooperstown as well.

Thanks Niki for all you do to make Rockies Twitter more creative and fun. We are looking forward to more of your amazing work in 2020.

Next. 3 Rockies under plenty of pressure in 2020. dark

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While my family was in the Denver area visiting for Christmas, we decided to take in the Claude Monet exhibit at the Denver Art Museum.

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