As the old baseball adage goes, “three strikes and you’re out!” In this case, three 100-loss seasons in a row and I am done. I have called the Rockies and told them I will not be renewing my season tickets.
I started buying mini-season plans and then season tickets after the magical Rocktober run in 2007. The Rockies won 21 of 22 games down the stretch, forced the best Game 163 in history, and made it to their first and only World Series. Like many people in Colorado I fervently smashed my refresh button when those tickets went on sale.
Those halcyon days gave hope to fans like me that we would enter a period of ongoing success. Maybe get back to the World Series and bring a championship to Coors Field.
In retrospect, we never should have gotten our hopes up. The Rockies had six losing seasons in a row before 2007 and were barely a .500 club until they made that crazy run. They were 76-72 on Sept. 15, 2007, after losing to the Florida Marlins (their fellow 1993 expansion club who had already won the World Series twice by then). It took a historic 13-1 run just to force a tiebreaker game.
Since then the Rockies have won exactly one playoff series and never advanced past the Divisional Series. They have also managed 14 losing seasons out of the 18 since, culminating in their worst-ever year in 2025.
It is time to give up the ghost.
The Rockies stink and they have no real interest in getting better. Sure, they will pay lip service to that goal, and they may honestly want to do better, but they refuse to do the things that other clubs do to win. For example, in a shocking bit of nepotism, the Rockies promoted Dick Monfort’s 38-year-old son to vice president when the team fell to 18-62 earlier this season.
A team on the path to levels of ineptitude never plumbed before needed a seasoned baseball hand to help collect the wreckage. Instead, they got the owner’s son who spent most of his career in marketing and corporate partnerships. Maybe Walker Monfort is great at those things, but we are hardly talking about the next Theo Epstein.
Dick Monfort may as well have stood at the gates of Coors Field and offered a free stick in the eye to loyal Rockies fans.
But for a stretch in mid-August when the Rockies went 7-2, they would have almost certainly finished with the most losses in the modern era of Major League Baseball. Given that the “modern era” began in 1901, that would be an astounding feat. Nonetheless, the Rockies can still lose 119 games and tie the 2003 Detroit Tigers as the third worst team in history.
Except, the Rockies are worse than those Tigers. And worse than the 1962 inaugural season New York Mets, who lost 120 games. And worse than last year’s Chicago White Sox, who set the mark at 121 losses.
While those teams lost more, no team has ever been outscored by as much as this year’s Rockies. It is not even close. The Rockies had a -416 run differential heading into the final three games of the season. No other team in history has been anywhere near -440; the Boston Red Sox held the prior record of -349 for nearly a century (1932).
For comparison, last year’s White Sox had a -306 run differential. The Rockies may not have lost as many games, but they got blown out far more often. Simply put, the Rockies did not even make games interesting for their fans. More often than not they dug themselves into a hole before people in the stands could get a beer and a hotdog.
The future does not look brighter, either. While some young players have played well (Hunter Goodman, Ezequiel Tovar when not hurt, Warming Bernabel), none are stars, much less superstars. Players who were supposed to usher in a new golden era of mediocrity — Zac Veen — have not panned out. Ethan Holliday, the 18-year-old prospect with sentimental ties to home plate at 20th and Blake, will not be ready to help for at least three to four seasons.
In the meantime, the Rockies look set to challenge for the most 100-loss seasons in a row. The 1938-1942 Philadelphia Phillies hold the mark at five. While the White Sox have joined the Rockies in the 100-loss club in each of the past three seasons, the White Sox almost exited this year and look poised to end their streak next year. In contrast, the Rockies just keep getting worse.
The only thing the Rockies do well is draw a crowd.
The club continues to fall in the middle of the pack when it comes to attendance. It is a juxtaposition that has people in other cities scratching their heads. But it is pretty easy to explain. First, Rockies fans, like yours truly, can be incredibly forgiving. Give us a Tulo here, an Arenado there, and even the scent of the playoffs once a decade and we come back.
☀ MORE IN OPINION
Second, Coors Field is maybe the most gorgeous place to catch a game anywhere: the mountains, the sunsets, the spacious concourses, and all literally topped off by a giant bar. Plenty of people in the stadium likely have no idea who is playing; they just want a great rooftop to down a few beers.
Finally, Coors Field is the single greatest away team advantage in sports. Most teams draw as many of their fans to Coors Field as the Rockies themselves. If it is the Dodgers, Cubs, Yankees or Red Sox, the disparity reaches epic proportions. While it means the team is basically playing 162 games on the road every year, there isn’t a lot of incentive to change when other teams fill the coffers.
That brings me back to canceling my tickets (turns out you actually have to email seasontickets@rockies.com). I know it will not make much difference to either generation of Monfort, but maybe if enough fans do the same it will eventually send the message. Because right now? The Rockies keep striking out.
Mario Nicolais is an attorney and columnist who writes on law enforcement, the legal system, health care and public policy. Follow him on BlueSky: @MarioNicolais.bsky.social.
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