No Championship Parades Planned for Area Teams
Trevor Phipps
When the 2023 baseball season first started much of the state of Colorado was riddled with 30+ days of rainy weather which made getting out to a game risky.
But now, the sun has finally come out and baseball fans across the state (including myself) are starting to catch the fever and get out to the stadium.
Well, for those of you who have yet to catch live baseball action at either a Rocky Mountain Vibes or Colorado Rockies game, it is safe to say that you haven’t missed much. For both teams, the year has been left void of exciting moments and big wins.
In fact, the Rockies have broken records this year and trust me not in a good way. But we’ll get to that later.
And even though the Vibes’ higher-ups were super excited to start the year, injuries have riddled the team making them worse than what was anticipated.
The truth of the matter is: Both teams unfortunately are sporting losing records and are sitting in last place in their respective divisions. So, aren’t you glad you haven’t risked getting rained or hailed on to see your team lose?
Besides, the halfway mark of the 2023 baseball season is not quite here and let’s face it, there really is A LOT of room for improvement. In fact, at this point, I hate to say it; but it would be really tough to make either team much worse.
Rocky Mountain Vibes Team Riddled with Injuries
I am purposely starting my update with the Vibes over the Rockies because they are actually the better team of the two. I even think that if the Pioneer Rookie League Vibes played the MLB Pro Rockies team that they would come up on top.
The Vibes currently have a 12-20 record, but the good news is they had won two games in a row at the end of last week. Last Thursday, the Vibes squeaked past the Billing Mustangs with an 8-6 win. Then Friday, they smoked the Grand Junction Jackalopes 16-8.
Even though the Vibes haven’t performed as well as their coaches and management thought they would at the outset of the season, the managers were correct in noting that the offense would be carrying the team. The Vibes have looked pretty decent at bat, and they probably fared better if their five top starters didn’t get inflicted with so many injuries.
The Vibes’ top hitter, Brandon Crosby, is ranked 11th in the league with a .407 average, including 10 runs. Number 21 ranked Dusty Stroup is second best on the team with a .377 average, and has 46 hits and 33 runs.
The place where the Vibes have really struggled is on the pitching side of the ball. The Vibes’ best pitcher Zac Hottinger has a less-than-impressive 3.24 ERA and is ranked 24th in the league. Right behind him sits pitcher Chris Macca with a 3.29 ERA.
The Vibes finished up their series in Grand Junction on Sunday, and they started a three game home stint against the 16-17 Northern Colorado Owlz on Monday. The Vibes stay at home this Thursday thru Saturday to challenge the 15-19 Jackalopes.
Rockies Are So Bad They’ve Made History
Well, at least the Vibes have injuries to blame for their shortfalls this season. What is the Rockies excuse?
Some fans will just simply say, “Well, they are always bad!” I definitely don’t disagree with that statement, but does it always have to be this way?
This season I think the Rockies have already answered my question by replying, “Oh it can be much worse!” And they have proven it with breaking records no baseball fan ever wants to see their team shatter.
Fans were momentarily thrilled when the Rockies started their season off with two wins against the San Diego Padres. But this excitement definitely did not last long.
The first record the Rockies broke was their worst start in history. The Rockies did not win a series in their first seven they played, which was the worst mark in franchise history.
The team’s winning percentage for their first 23 games was the worst in the National League, the third lowest in the MLB, and the worst winning percentage in franchise history at that point in the season.
The season went on and fans didn’t think it could get any worse, but they were wrong.
On June 24, the Rockies suffered their biggest loss in team history when they were absolutely obliterated by the L.A. Angels 25-1.
And to make matters even worse, the Angels earned their biggest victory in their team’s history that day. Even Governor Jared Polis chimed in when the Rockies were losing 23-0 in the fifth inning of the game by saying, “Put me in, Colorado Rockies!”
(It’s even unsure if this idea wasn’t explored, except the current owners appear oblivious to the idea of winning, period. They need to sell the team to investors who want to make some big winning changes and get some free agents and better players. As far as Polis taking the field as a Rocky, who knows, as the governor supposedly is quite a fan and played a little ball himself.
The baseball diamond doesn’t know whether you are a Democrat or Republican, or if you are a big political executive or just living on the street. As the late Al Davis, former owner of the Oakland Raiders once said, “Just win baby, win.” RL).
