“There’s no hope,” Jeff Mielnicki, a Colorado Rockies fan said. “I don’t turn on the Rockies. I don’t go to games. I’m not going to spend money to sit through the game where half of the fans are for the other team. I don’t even turn on the TV for my four-and-a-half-year-old son. It’s not worth it.”
Jeff has been a lifelong fan — since the beginning. In third grade he told the nurse he was sick even though he wasn’t. He was pulled out of school to watch the first home game of what was then the newest Major League Baseball team, The Colorado Rockies. “I went home and saw Eric Young hit a homer on TV.”
He still has the pennant with the date of that first home game: April 9th, 1993, played at Mile High Stadium, the same place as the beloved NFL’s Denver Broncos.
Unlike the Broncos, the Rockies, in nearly 30 years of existence, have little to show in way of success:
No division titles
Only five playoff appearances — all wild card entrances
One World Series appearance in 2007 (ended in a sweep by the Boston Red Sox)
Only eight winning regular seasons (27%)
One Hall of Famer: Larry Walker
What the Rockies and their ownership have built though is a world class stadium with a parade of perks: picturesque mountains in the background, joyful summer night temperatures, live music, a hearty beer culture — an engaging downtown area. Sure, there’s a baseball game, but that’s a small draw to go to Coors Field. “It doesn’t matter if you win,” Jeff said of the stadium and the high attendance numbers, “people go.”
Despite four-straight losing seasons (and a smattering of other bad seasons in the last decade) an average of over 30,000 people swarm to Coors Field for every game. The Rockies have found a way to sustain mediocracy while losing a powerful asset: deep, true fandom. (Rockies attendance has been in the top-ten over the last few years).
What brings true fans is the hope of winning, and that hasn’t existed since the 2018 campaign when the Rox won 91 games. Since then, the Rockies are a rock sinking to the deep abyss. MLB writer Will Leitch shared his thoughts on the Rockies’s hopes this year and moving forward:
Even if you squint really hard, it’s hard to see how the Rockies win the division this year. There is some talent on the roster, but probably not enough of it to win enough games to overtake the other teams in the West. The Rockies have a loyal fan base that turns out for games, but they still have never won this division, and it’s still unclear when they will.
And less than one week into this year’s spring training, the Rockies have lost some of their precious talent: second baseman Brendon Rodgers and their best lefty reliever Lucas Gilbreath are probably out for the season.
Since their World Series appearance in 2007, the Rockies have made constant missteps in the front office:
Trading high quality players Troy Tulowitzki, D.J. LeMahieu, Nolan Arenado, and Trevor Story away to other teams.
Big contracts for players who haven’t proven worth the money (e.g. Ian Desmond for $70 million in 2016 and the current highest paid Rockie, Kris Bryant — seven-year $182 million contract — who only played 42 games last year due to injury).
Weak front office and ownership. It’s well documented and expressed that the owner/chairman and CEO, Dick Monfort’s hands-on executive style has wobbly executed vision. Recently, Monfort declared that the Rockies “can play .500 ball.” In a letter to season ticket holders (who must be dwindling), Monfort wrote that he wants to win a “Rockies championship.” That’s not clear. Why not just say, win a World Series championship? Clarity of vision shows commitment, and it’s clear that the Rockies — from the top — aren’t committed to winning.
This past off-season, other teams have shown off their commitment by spending big, hot dollars on their rosters. Record numbers. How? Because the MLB is the only major sport without a salary cap. The clubs get taxed and have to pay fees if they go past a certain spending limit, but they can still speed past that limit. It’s an easy game to play: spend money and they can put together a great team with great ability. All they need is money. Last time I checked, MLB owners have money, tons of it. Monfort’s net worth is $700 million. Monfort inherited money, position, power through his father’s meatpacking and distribution company. Maybe Rox fans should “Moo” instead of “Boo” at games to encourage Dick to spend more money.
Here’s what’s going on across the league:
Mets’s new owner Steve Cohen put his foot down past that limit. The Mets have nearly a $300 million payroll. If you include their taxes, they will have a $450 million dollar baseball team. That’s never happened before. It’s a paradigm shift. “Every baseball fan’s dream…is for the owner of their team to care about winning just as much as we do. Because yes, if we had your money, guess what we would do? We would get all these guys, just as seemingly Steve Cohen tried to do,” Pablo Torre said on his podcast ESPN Daily with MLB sport writer Jeff Passan.
Rockies’s division rival, The San Diego Padres, a even smaller market than Denver, have participated in that paradigm shift and fully loaded their roster with the 6th highest payroll at $232 million. They are one of the highest anticipated teams going into this season. Monfort questioned that process, not “100% agreeing with” the Padres. “Our fans probably agree with it. We’ll see how it works out.” My guess is that the Padres and Rockies won’t be dueling it out for last place. Padres might even take the division.
MLB’s profit sharing system from TV contracts should give the Rockies more money to create better rosters (or to spend their money more wisely).
Is Monfort afraid he will have to spend money? He joined the newly formed “economic reform committee” to addresses the big payrolls, waning local TV contracts. Maybe he hopes to put restrictions so he doesn’t have to feel bad for not spending money. Fans don’t want to hear about a multi-millionaire saving money, or being financially conservative, when the product they have created creates such dismal results. Or takes hope out of the equation for the next decade of existence.
To me, the Rockies’s situation is a bit like President Jimmy Carter’s administration around healthcare in the late 1970s. His chief rival, Senator Ted Kennedy was a champion of a national healthcare system. After fellow Democrat Carter was elected, Ted thought he would be able to push major legislation through. That wasn’t the case.
In the second volume of Ted Kennedy’s biography Against the Wind, the author Neal Gabler writes that Ted called Carter’s plan “creeping incrementalism.” Meaning Carter was “scared that he would be attached to and attacked for a new government program; scared that there wasn’t sufficient money for such a program; scared that a program would wind up wrecking his mission for a fiscal prudence and political moderation; in short, scared that a plan would undermine him politically.”
Not to compare a professional baseball team to a national healthcare plan, but here’s the takeaway: If you want to make a difference and an impact, you need to commit. Don’t be scared. Spend the money, go for it, get behind the mission of winning games.
Your team won’t creep forward incrementally. You can’t wait for your farm system to put forth golden stars. You need to be active, aggressive, show that you have a heartbeat.
The mission shouldn’t be to just save money. Coors Field is like an outdoor night club where the baseball game is just a giant Jenga set someone may pay attention to. Make the game the entertainment. Make your mission to win games. Give fans hope that they can win and reach the playoffs and compete. You need good players, management, facilities to win games.
What do you have to lose, Monfort?
Short answer: more games and true fans.
“Maybe we need a wholesale change,” Jeff Mielnicki offered. “Montreal wants a team. Maybe they would be happy to have a team and do something with them. Maybe we’d learn to appreciate a baseball team then.”
It’s a gloomy prospect when lifetime fans start asking if there should even be a team. “I want them to be good. I love them. I have bled purple and black for a long time, ” Jeff said.
Here’s the point: For now, leaders take note: this is not how you run a business. Create a good product. The point of sports, the magical creativity and ability from athletes from a fans perspective, arguably the most important perspective, is to win — having the possibility to win. This year, and likely many to come, the Rockies will stay low and wait for the day their leaders want to pull them upward.
ENDIT.
Non-linked source
https://theathletic.com/2467223/2021/03/22/communication-failures-poor-decisions-and-messy-breakups-how-it-all-went-wrong-for-the-colorado-rockies/
I didn't know! Thanks for the info! Love Tori