Over the past three years, and having lived in the shadow of Wrigley from 2010-14, I've noticed a big difference in how the Rockies are perceived locally versus older teams in more traditional baseball cities. Patrons of Coors Field seem to have a great time regardless of what's happening between the lines. No matter the consequences of the game, the feel around the park is generally upbeat. And why not? Coors is absolutely beautiful, LoDo is constantly adding places to pre-game (for Rockies fans and otherwise), and the weather is killer. It's a great place to see a ballgame.
Additionally, I've always gotten the feeling the fans are just so happy to have a team at all. And the Rockies, with Coors Field the perfect backdrop, are fun to root for. They've always played a casual-fan-friendly type of baseball, and regardless of outcome, it's exciting to see teams combine for 15-plus runs on the reg.
Throw in the fact they've typically had fun players on the roster, and it's no wonder the franchise has had top-10 attendance numbers for the past decade. They don't need to win to put butts in seats like most teams in similar markets do.
More on this later, just some musings; let's get to it. I want to know where Colorado's first 25 years compare with the league's other expansion teams. I know the results, but they're in a bit of a vacuum for me.
For starters, the history of baseball's expansion is quite meandering. The National League got its start back in the late 1800s, with a cavalcade of teams participating before finally settling on 8 permanent members in 1900. The league's constitution changed only geographically between 1900 and 1961, with the Braves moving to Milwaukee in '53 and the two Brooklyn franchises heading west to California in '58. The AL followed a similar formation. Neat-o!
In 1961, we have what I'll refer to as the first modern expansion era of baseball, with the AL adding the Anaheim Angels, moving the Washington Senators to Minneapolis to form the Twins and doubling back to Washington to re-add the Senators. That last move is kind of strange, but I'm sure there were sound reasons.
1963 brought two new teams to the NL: the New York Mets and the Houston Colt .45s. (Fun fact: the Mets' colors are a combo of Dodger Blue and Giants orange, filling the gap the two left in the city when they high-tailed it for warmer climes.)
To recap, baseball now has 5 new franchises in the Angels, Senators, Twins, Mets and Colt .45s. Let's focus on one still existing as the same entity today and see how its first quarter-century fared.
From their inception in '61 through the end of the decade, the Angles found a home in Anaheim after renting from a nearby land owner (sounds familiar). They also managed to finish over .500 three times while coming as close as 7.5 games to a division title in '67, but were still searching for their first playoff appearance as the calendar reached the 1970s.
During the '70s, the Angels established an identity of dominance on the pitchers' mound thanks to some guy named Nolan Ryan. They tried to bolster their offense with several aging sluggers, including friend of the Rockies Don Baylor, Bobby Bonds, Frank Robinson and Rod Carew. This big-spending approach led to their first playoff appearance (and division title) in 1979. They'd go on to win the division again in '82 and '86, while finishing one game back of the Royals, who'd go on to win the World Series.
While the Angels never did crack the World Series in their first 25 seasons, they did log 3 90-win seasons, 3 divisional crowns and 2 ALCS appearances and totaled a .481 winning percentage.
Quick pause, as I think those are fair criteria to use to compare these franchises' first quarter century in existence. 90-win seasons, divisional titles, LCS appearances, World Series appearances and total winning percentage.
From that original expansion in 1961 to 1998, the league added the Royals, Padres, Expos, Brewers (a few times), Blue Jays, Mariners, Marlins, Rockies, Rays and Diamondbacks.
In the interest of making this as apples-to-apples as can be, I'm going to eliminate the Twins from consideration. They brought a contender from Washington, including their owner, and basically picked up in Minnesota right where they left off in DC. The other 13 clubs had fairly fresh starts, so that's where we'll focus.
Here are the results, sorted by winning percentage:
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| ** Diamondbacks and Rays have only existed for 21 seasons |
Okay, aside from this looking like shit on the page, this chart tells us a few things. First, the Royals are an outlier, winning more than half of their games in their first 25 years. Gentleman by the name of George Brett had a hand in that.
The Dbacks have also enjoyed a great start to their franchise, highlighted by their magical 2001 World Series win over the New York Yankees. That team signed Randy Johnson in 1999 to make a splash then traded for Curt Schilling at the trade deadline in 2000 before ascending to the title while those two cornerstones shared co-World Series MVP honors.
Toronto also used a savvy front office to build a perennial contender in the 1990s, adding aging stars like Dave Winfield and Paul Molitor through free agency to pair with Joe Carter and Roberto Alomar who were acquired in the same trade with the Padres. Oh, and don't forget homegrown talent John Olerud, who began his All-Star career without needing one game in the minors.
Milwaukee made their World Series run with the famous "Harvey's Wallbangers" squad, and were generally competitive, if unspectacular.
Then come the Rockies, tied for 8th with the Florida/Miami Marlins, a team synonymous with losing. These are the only two on this list without a division title, with Montreal relocating to Washington and those demons having since been put to bed.
The painfully glaring difference being the Marlins have turned their two Wild Card appearances into World Championships.
To be honest, I'm a little surprised. I entered into this expecting these results to reflect poorly on the Rockies' first quarter-century, but I did not expect them to share a bed with the Marlins of all teams. I mean, by pretty much every meaningful measure of on-field success, their inaugural 25 years have been among the three worst in baseball, right there with Seattle and San Diego.
Then again, each have won their respective divisions and have done some spectacular things in the process, be it as an individual or as a team. The Mariners famously won the most games in a season ever, and the Padres had one of the best pure hitters ever. Goddamnit.
Sadly, there's a real argument to be made that the Rockies have had the most impotent start to any franchise in baseball history. And certainly in the modern era.
I think the fanbase know this, but I'm not sure they KNOW this. It's painful.
Up next, we'll take a closer look at those early Rockies teams, the Coors Field conundrum and the well-known thread weaved throughout.
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