The 5 Games That Truly Defined Our Season

I promised that I would get to this list. I don't particularly feel any tingle of excitement to relive the 5 worst performances exhibited by the Rockies this season, but hey, I need something to write about to take my mind off the problems of yours, mine, and our Denver Broncos. These will appear chronologically so you can witness first hand the steady decline of the 2007 National League Champion Colorado Rockies.

1. April 4 vs. D-Backs, 8-1 Loss
- This was supposed to be the Rockies coronation as a major player in not only the Denver sports scene, but for the national stage as well. This was the home opener of the National League Champions following our first very successful season. The city was abuzz with Rockies fever and the only prescription was to see their beloved boys in purple take the field and receive their championship rings. The stands were packed, the players were pumped, and an unprecedented air of confidence covered Coors Field. Unfortunately, it was the last time we were to be hopeful the rest of the season. In a game that was supposed to be a thank you letter to the dedicated fans who have stuck by this team when they yearned to even be knocking on mediocrity's door, we sent.......Mark Redman to the hill. That's right. Mark Redman. A journeyman pitcher who had a couple decent starts in our 21 day run to the NL pennant in 2007. He of the 66-80 career win-loss record. Well, he pitched every bit of his career stigma by going 5.2 innings and giving up 5 runs on 9 hits on route to an 8-1 Rockies loss. Micah Owings, who went on to pitch so poorly during the season for the D-Backs that he was traded to the Reds, gave up 2 hits in 6.2 innings and struck out 9 in an unfortunate bit of foreshadowing for the rest of the season for the Rockies. Nobody hit, every Rockies pitcher gave up at least one run, Holliday struck out four times, and we lost to the D-Backs....what would become a trend as we did it 15 more times throughout the course of the year. It was a sad start to a sorry season.

2) May 26 vs Phillies, 20-5 Loss
- It's not that this loss was as devastating as it was spirit-crushing. We were already well into our early season free-fall when Jorge de la Rosa took the hill with one goal in mind.....to be as bad as he wanted to be. Apparently, he wouldn't stop until he reached the suck quotient of High School Musical, Creed, and the American economy combined (too soon?) Staked to a 3-0 lead in the first inning, Jorge proceeded to cough it right back and then some. His final line of 3.1 inn, 7 runs, and 3 walks wasn't the worst line from a starting pitcher this season (see Redman, Mark and Wells, Kip), but it was what followed from the 5 pitchers out of our bullpen that really lit the fuse on the stinkbomb that was our 2008. Those 5 pitchers gave up a combined 13 more runs (and that was with Alberto Arias and Corpas throwing scoreless frames.) There's nothing like praying for the 10 run rule in a Major League baseball game to demoralize an already down and out ballclub.

3) May 30 vs Cubs, 10-9 Loss
- After this game, I immediately turned on my computer and posted a scathing, strictly emotional response to the Rockies heartless defeat. I called this the lowest point of the season and frankly, with the luxury of 4 months of hindsight, I'm not sure I was too wrong. With our ace Aaron Cook on the mound staked to an 8-0 lead which then eventually turned into a 9-1 lead, we blew it. Cook blew it by giving up 7 runs in 6.1, Corpas then proceeded to screw things up royally by surrendering the last 3 runs and the go ahead 2 run jack to Mark DeRosa. That ballooned Manuel's ERA to 6.59 and completely took the bloom off the rose that Corpas laid so beautifully at the foot of the heart-shaped bed we called the 2007 season (was that a bit too eloquent?) My sticking point of why this was the lowest point of the year was this: we did everything possible to lose that ballgame. We hit three home runs, had our ace on the hill, had an 8 run lead and still found a way to lose the contest. How could we go anywhere but up after a defeat like that?

4) August 7 vs Nationals, 6-3 Loss, 6-3 Loss
- No, I'm not repeating myself. Those identical losses to the worst team in the National League in a doubleheader matchup were the cherry on top of the shit sundae that was 2008. The Rockies had somehow found a way to hang around in the National League West race. Yes, it was mostly because everybody else in the division was too busy downloading copies of Metallica albums off Napster, but still. We had just finished a pivotal 10 game road trip with a relatively successful record of 6-4. With 7 games coming up against the lowly Nats and Padres, the two worst teams in the NL, I was thinking to myself that maybe, just maybe, there was a chance for this 2008 club to duplicate the late season run of our beloved National League champs. Alas, it was not meant to be....and how. Cook lost the first game, the second game was only saved by an Ian Stewart pinch hit 2 run dinger in the 8th, but then came games 3 and 4. Jeff Francis made his first start in over a month and lost, then Ubaldo trying to unsuccessfully pitch like it was July lost another 6-3 decision. When the Rockies, who had come home with some much needed momentum, couldn't best the immortal Jason Bergmann and Odalis Perez with their three best pitchers on the hill, I knew it was over. I posted the Rockies obituary on this day.

5) September 28 vs D-Backs, 2-1 Loss
- The Rockies had been eliminated for about two weeks at this point, so this wasn't one of those losses that effectively ended our season or anything......except that it was the loss that officially ended our season. I hate losing on the last day of the season. Well, I hate losing in general, but especially when I know I won't be seeing a final score for another 6 months. With as much as I read about sports (obviously the Rockies) it hurts to have to see them with that L in the box score until hope springs eternal. This game wasn't very significant in the grand scheme of things. Ubaldo and Randy Johnson challenged each other to fisticuffs, Marquise de Queensberry Rules, and each held their own for the majority of the ballgame. U-Ball threw 7 scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts and RJ used his power mullet to go the distance, giving up a run and striking out 9. These were not the reasons why this game is on this list. No, we must venture to the 9th to see how this one makes the cut. First, in the 8th, Manny Corpas does his best Manny Corpas impression by giving up a solo homer to Chris Young. Sweet. Then, in the 9th, in the last ballgame of the season, in a tie game, who does Clint send out to the hill but Luis Vizcaino....the biggest disappointment in a season chock full of 'em. Given the largest contract ever given to a relief pitcher in Rockies franchise history, Vizcaino had an ERA over 5 and was never counted on by Hurdle to get any significant outs the entire year until this game. He only subsequently loaded the bases on two walks and a hit then with the count 3-2 to Chris Young, the end of the season hanging on the pitch against a team in which we had a record of 3-16 against, he throws it up and in allowing the winning run to score. There was no more fitting ending to the 2008 season than this one.

Yeah, that wasn't fun to do, but I at least hope it was fun to read.

Next up, the 5 best games of 2008.