The team's stretch run was among the greatest ever for a Major League Baseball team. Having a record of 76–72 at the start of play on September 16, the Rockies proceeded to win 14 of their final 15 regular season games.[1] The stretch culminated with a 9–8, 13-inning victory over the San Diego Padres in a one-game playoff for the wild card berth, a game that is considered to be part of the regular season. The Rockies then swept their first seven playoff games to win the National League pennant — the franchise's first-ever pennant. Thus, at the start of the World Series, the Rockies had won a total of 21 out of 22 games. Fans and media nicknamed the Rockies' improbable run in October Rocktober,[2] a play off the two names.
The streak then ended, as the Rockies were swept in the World Series by the Boston Red Sox. The Rockies drew 2,376,250 fans for the season, their highest total since 2002. The average home attendance was 28,978.
As of 2024 this was the only season the Rockies have ever made the World Series.
December 5, 2006: LaTroy Hawkins was signed as a free agent by the Colorado Rockies.[3]
December 12, 2006: Jason Jennings was traded by the Colorado Rockies with Miguel Asencio to the Houston Astros for Willy Taveras, Taylor Buchholz and Jason Hirsh.[4]
January 30, 2007: Choo Freeman was released by the Colorado Rockies.[5]
February 18, 2007: Matt Herges was signed as a free agent by the Colorado Rockies.[6]
February 24, 2007: Steve Finley was signed as a free agent by the Colorado Rockies.[4]
The Rockies ended the 162-game regular season with 89 wins and 73 losses. They were tied with the San Diego Padres for second place in the NL West and first in the NL Wild Card. A tie-breaker game was played on October 1, 2007, at Coors Field in Denver to determine which team would continue on to post-season play. The game lasted 13 innings, spanning four hours and 40 minutes. The Rockies won the game with a controversial play at home plate where Matt Holliday appeared to not touch home plate but was called safe resulting in a final score of 9–8, sending them to only their second post-season in franchise history. The tie-breaker game counts toward all team and player statistics in the regular season; so, the Rockies' official 2007 win–loss record stands at 90-73.
Colorado had an 11-game winning streak toward the end of the 2007 regular season, which set a franchise record for most consecutive wins in a season.[16]
The Rockies finished ahead of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the division for the first time in franchise history.[17]
Colorado set an MLB record for fielding percentage in one season (.98925).[18] Despite the Rockies record-setting performance, the National League coaches and players didn't vote in any of Colorado's players for the NL Gold Glove award. The two most puzzling omissions were first basemanTodd Helton and shortstopTroy Tulowitzki. Both players had a better fielding percentage, more total chances, better zone rating, more putouts, more double plays turned, better range factor and more assists than their counterparts who won the award instead (Chicago Cubs first baseman Derrek Lee and Philadelphia Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins). Helton also had fewer errors (2) than Lee (7), while Tulowitzki had as many errors as Rollins (11), but did so on 834 total chances compared to Rollins' 717.[19]
The Rockies became the first team in MLB history to sweep the New York Yankees (on June 19–21) and New York Mets (on July 2–4), both at home, in one season and second team to sweep two New York City teams in one season after the Milwaukee Braves in 1956.[20][21]
Baseball America named the Colorado Rockies the "Organization of the Year" for their accomplishments during the 2007 season.[22] "We knew they were bringing great talent through their farm system, but we certainly didn't expect it to pay off with big-league success so quickly", said Will Lingo, editor of Baseball America. "They won with homegrown players, have more talent on the way and have maintained stability in their front office, so they had pretty much everything we look for in an organization."
Colorado started the series with the Philadelphia Phillies on October 3, 2007, at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies had a potent offense with NL MVP candidates Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley. The Rockies swept the series in three games with scores of 4-2 in Game 1 and 10-5 in Game 2 in Philadelphia. In Game 3, with the score tied in the bottom of the 8th and two outs, Jeff Baker singled to bring in the go-ahead run. Manny Corpas then pitched a perfect ninth inning to seal the Rockies' first postseason series victory.
Colorado started the series with the Arizona Diamondbacks on October 11, 2007, at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks came into the game having swept the Chicago Cubs in the NLDS in three games. Colorado took the first two games, including a 3-2 extra-inning victory in Game 2.
On Sunday, October 14, the Rockies would play in a cold, wet Coors Field in Denver. There, they would find a way to hit the ball over the wall even in the harsh weather. The Rockies hit two homers that night, one in the 1st inning from Matt Holliday and the other in the 6th inning from Yorvit Torrealba. Colorado won the game 4-1. This win gave the Rockies a 20-1 record over their last 21 games. This made them only the third team in the last half-century, and the first in the National League since the 1936, to have a 20-1 stretch at any point of a season.[23]
Colorado won its first NL Pennant on Monday, October 15, at home, with the deciding blow, a 3-run HR by Matt Holliday, to sweep the AZ Diamondbacks (6-4) in the midst of a historic 21-1 sprint with only one loss (September 28) since September 15.
Matt Holliday was the 2007 NLCS MVP Award winner. The Rockies became the first team to win their first 7 playoff games in 31 years. It should also be noted that they also became the first team to do it since MLB added the division series to the playoffs. The 2014 Kansas City Royals passed the record with winning their first 8 playoff games in the wild card game, the ALDS, and the ALCS.
The Rockies lost the first two games at Fenway Park, by a score of 13-1 in Game One and a score of 2-1 in Game Two. The 13 runs are the most ever scored by a team in the first game of a World Series. Returning to Coors Field for the final two games, the Rockies lost Game Three by a score of 10-5 and Game Four by a score of 4-3.