Colorado Rockies: A look back at 2005 ... in video game form

4 of 7

DENVER – APRIL 4: Fans pour into Coors Field for opening day for a game between the San Diego Padres and the Colorado Rockies on April 4, 2005 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images) /

2005 was not a good year for the Colorado Rockies. They finished with a 67-95 record and were the worst team in the National League. Would it be different in video games?

15 years ago today, the Colorado Rockies were playing games in Spring Training at Hi Corbett Field in Tucson, Arizona. It had been their spring training home since they had become a franchise 12 years earlier. Previously, the Cleveland Indians called the facility home for spring training but its primary use was (and still is) for the University of Arizona Wildcats baseball team.

The Rockies looked like they’d be one of the worst teams in the National League as they were mired in a long stretch of losing baseball. The last season in which they played over .500 baseball was in 2000, and even then, they only went 82-80. The last time that they finished a season more than four games above .500 was a decade prior in 1995. That was also the last time the Rockies were in the playoffs.

While the season was not a great one for the Rockies, 2005 was the year that the greatest baseball video game of all-time was created: MVP Baseball 2005. (You can disagree with me but you have the wrong opinion. Sorry.)

The game’s cover was graced with outfielder Manny Ramirez, of the reigning World Champion Boston Red Sox. The game was released on Nintendo’s GameCube, the PlayStation 2, Xbox, Microsoft Windows, and (a few months later) on PlayStation’s brand new system, the PlayStation Portable (or PSP).

DENVER, CO – CIRCA 1996: Vinny Castilla #9 of the Colorado Rockies looks to make a throw to first base during aN Major League Baseball game circa 1995 at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado. Castilla played for the Rockies from 1993-99 and in 2004 and 2006. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images) /

The game is one that was state-of-the-art for the time and even now, it has some features that are not in baseball video games a decade and a half later. One of those is the ability to have the manager come out and argue with the umpire (which is something of a lost art now due to replay). With that, you can control the intensity that the manager will argue by how long you depress the “B” button (on GameCube).

The game also has features that were brand new for its time. An owner mode where you own the team for 30 years. You can create your own stadium, add upgrades to the park, and set ticket prices among other things.

More from Colorado Rockies History

Another new feature was arcade games for pitchers and hitters. For hitting, for example, you can choose your hitter and the pitcher and you’re in a stadium in the middle of what looks like a rundown backyard. If you hit things like a dilapidated school bus, cars, fences, and other objects, you get points to move on to the next level.

The game also features 63 Hall of Fame players, 15 classic MLB stadiums (some of which are in no other MLB game), and 119 classic jerseys from all 30 teams. Looking back, most of the normal uniforms for the teams are classic as it is.

DENVER – AUGUST 21: Brian Fuentes #40 of the Colorado Rockies pitches against the Chicago Cubs on August 21, 2005 at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado. Fuentes gave up two home runs in the ninth inning to the Chicago Cubs as the Rockies defeated the Cubs 9-7. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images) /

The Rockies have four main jerseys (two road and two home). The regular home, road, and alternate road jerseys are fairly similar to what they have now (white, grey, and purple shirts) but the alternate home (which is the vest-like jersey with the number on the chest on the right (from the player’s perspective) and the interlocking “C” and “R” on the left side of the chest.) That uniform (featured above) is a throwback for the Rockies now.

They have four other jerseys in the game.

One is a spring training jersey (black with white piping, purple on the shoulders, a script “Rockies” on the front, with the “Colorado Rockies” mountain logo on the left sleeve) and the other three are the team’s original jerseys.

The home, white pinstriped jersey with the script “Rockies” on the front (picture on the previous slide), the road grey jersey with the script ‘Rockies” on the front, and their alternate jersey (black with the script “Rockies” and the “Colorado Rockies” mountain logo on the left sleeve. There’s not a ton of difference in the uniforms. However, when you scroll through them, you can see the subtle differences.

You can unlock the 15 stadiums, 63 players, 119 jerseys, and two legendary teams by earning “MVP points,” which you earn by playing games and achieving different tasks (have five hits in a game, pitch a no-hitter, etc.) or if you use the cheat code to unlock it (your favorite search engine is your friend there).

For the teams, you have to unlock all of the players on each team to play with them.

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – OCTOBER 31: San Francisco Giants broadcast team of Duane Kuiper (L) and Mike Krukow (R) speaks to the fans during the Giants’ victory parade and celebration on October 31, 2012 in San Francisco, California. The Giants celebrated their 2012 World Series victory over the Detroit Tigers. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

One of my favorite things about the game is the commentary. It is done by Giants TV broadcasters (then and still) Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow. Both are former players and, actually, Kuiper was one of the four original Rockies broadcasters in 1993 when he was the Rockies’ original TV color commentator and secondary play-by-play man with the late Charlie Jones (Wayne Hagin and Jeff Kingery were on radio).

Kuiper was with the Giants before he came to Denver but that was because the Giants were going to relocate Tampa after the 1992 season and he thought that he was out of a job in San Francisco. Therefore, he and some of the other Giants broadcasters took jobs elsewhere entering 1993. Kuiper returned to the Giants in 1994 and has been there since.

Kuiper and Krukow were teammates with the Giants and their chemistry shows. In fact, they have been ranked by fans on Awful Announcing as no worse than the second-best MLB TV broadcast booth in the past six or so years (and, mind you, Vin Scully was broadcasting for some of those).

In the game, some of the things that are said are things that make you laugh. Most are from Krukow. For example, when you miss a pitch that was hanging, Krukow will say this.

“Oh, partner, that ball was fatter than a Thanksgiving turkey but apparently the batter was full because he did not take advantage of it.”

Or he may say this for the same situation:

“That ball was FAT! But he came up empty.”

Sometimes, he’ll say this for the same situation:

“You don’t get too many chances like that, big boy!” (and his voice cracks when he says “boy”)

Or when you miss hitting a good pitch:

“The pitcher said ‘COME AND GET IT, BIG BOY!’ but the batter could not find that [name of the pitch].”

When a pitcher gets a big strikeout:

“GRAB SOME PINE, MEAT!”

Some of the comments are hilarious because they are wrong.

(Pitcher throws first pitch of the game and misses, allows one or two batters to reach): “This guy is out there with NONE (sic) stuff.”

LOS ANGELES – JULY 23: Catcher Charles Johnson #23 of the Colorado Rockies catches a pop-up from a botched bunt attempt by Kazuhisa Ishii #17 of the Los Angeles Dodgers during their game on July 23, 2003 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jeff Gross/Getty Images) /

If you go to the Rockies original roster in the game, it is a bit different than the one that the team fielded later in the season or even on Opening Day.

Charles Johnson is listed as starting catcher on the original roster but by the time spring training ended in 2005, the Rockies traded him to Boston for pitcher Byung-hyun Kim (of 2001 World Series fame). The Red Sox later flipped Johnson to Tampa.

The Rockies also made a few transactions in the first few weeks of the season, including signing veteran reliever Jay Witasick, trading outfielder Reggie Taylor to Tampa for reliever Bobby Seay, trading pitcher Allan Simpson to Cincinnati for Jose Acevedo, and reliever Javier Lopez (later of Giants World Series fame) and Alfredo Amezaga were claimed off waiver by the D’Backs and Pirates.

Catcher Danny Ardoin (who started the majority of the games at catcher for the Rockies in 2005) is not in the game. Nor is Opening Day starting third baseman Jeff Baker (because Opening Day was his MLB debut), outfielder Cory Sullivan, or relievers Marcos Carvajal and David Cortes, both of whom logged more than 50 innings out of the Rockies bullpen.

Some players have an overall rating that was way too low (e.g. Clint Barmes, Garrett Atkins, and Brad Hawpe) and some way too high (e.g. Luis Gonzalez).

HOUSTON – OCTOBER 1: Starting pitcher Joe Kennedy #37 of the Colorado Rockies pitches against the Houston Astros during the game on October 1, 2004 at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas. The Rockies won 4-2. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /

On Saturday, I decided to update the rosters to close to what they would have been in mid-April, minus the players who just simply aren’t in the game and play a game like it was on Opening Day 2005 for the Rockies since that’s the closest we’ll be to an Opening Day for the foreseeable future.

In 2005, the Rockies opened the season up at Coors Field against the San Diego Padres. The Padres had a lot of losing in the previous five or so years but they had turned the corner in the offseason.

They signed starting pitcher Woody Williams (who was just a year removed from being an All-Star), former Rockie Eric Young, Sr., and some bullpen help. They also saw the development of starter Jake Peavy in 2004. Eventually, they won the NL West in 2005 but they only went 82-80.

But on this day, Williams would get the start for the Padres and he would oppose Rockies ace, the late Joe Kennedy … and it would be a Coors Field game. The Rockies walked Trevor Hoffman off and won 12-10.

In the video game, though, it was the exact opposite. The lineups were exactly the same as the real Opening Day lineup, except for Luis Gonzalez starting at third base instead of Jeff Baker.

This was the Rockies Opening Day lineup in 2005.

DENVER – APRIL 4: Clint Barmes #12 of the Colorado Rockies is swarmed by his teammates after hitting a walk-off game-winning home run against the San Diego Padres in the bottom of the ninth inning at Coors Field on opening day on April 4, 2005 in Denver, Colorado. The Rockies won 12-10. (Photo by Brian Bahr/Getty Images) /

More from Rox Pile

The video game was scoreless through the first two innings until Khalil Greene plated Xavier Nady on an RBI single to center field. Nevin got on with a single to lead off the inning. After a few more hits, Brian Giles struck out with two men on to end the inning.

The Padres scored again in the fourth on the first pitch of the inning, a fastball down and in to Phil Nevin. He launched it near the left-field scoreboard and hit it 430 feet away. The Rockies would score in the bottom of the fifth inning on an RBI single by JD Closser after Dustan Mohr singled to lead off the inning to make the score 2-1.

The Padres tacked on another run in the top of the ninth inning as Xavier Nady singled in Ryan Klesko, who got on base with a triple when he launched the ball into the right-center field gap. The Rockies got two hits off of Trevor Hoffman but weren’t able to cash in as Hoffman slammed the door on San Diego’s 3-1 win. Much different than what actually happened on Opening Day 2005 when Hoffman blew the game and the Padres lost 12-10.

After the win in the real game, the Rockies would go on to lose 21 of their next 26 games, which effectively knocked them out of contention by early May (if not before).

Next. The Colorado Rockies Top 5 Catchers in franchise history. dark

Little did they know that there would be a light at the end of the tunnel after the 2005 season. They’d just have to wait a little bit longer.

Home / Colorado Rockies History

Colorado Rockies: A look back at 2005 … in video game form

2005 was not a good year for the Colorado Rockies. They finished with a 67-95 record and were the worst team in the National League. Would it be different in video games?

More from Rox Pile

Schedule