The 1988 Baltimore Orioles began the season with a 6-34 record through the first 40 games of that season. They “rebounded” to finish the season 54-107. Cal Riplen, Sr. was unceremoniously fired after only six (6) games into the season when the O’s got off to an 0-6 start. It was a strange dynamic in that Cal, Sr. wasn’t given much of a chance to right the ship, and awkward because the starting middle infield consisted of his two sons, Billy Ripkin and Cal Ripken, Jr. It was just odd.
And it was a bit perplexing because the Orioles didn’t have a horrible roster. In fact, they had two future Hall of Famers with Jr. at shortstop and Eddie Murray across the diamond at first base. And while they didn’t have spectacular years, they had quite typical years that would be in line with the back of their respective baseball cards.
The rest of the roster was sprinkled with role players who were either not yet ready or past their prime, like Freddy Lynn. But what really did the Orioles in was the horrible pitching performances all around. It was as if a bug was going around the team and everyone succumbed to it. Only it wasn’t an injury or illness, it was just plain poor performances and basically nobody was immune to it.
So even when Hall of Famer and former Oriole Frank Robinson took over, nothing much happened to change things around. There was no magic pill. The Orioles did not continue on pace and end up losing more than the magic 120 games lost by the 1962 Mets. But it didn’t look or feel any better.
The 2025 Colorado Rockies, by winning their 40th game, managed to eke out of being worse off than those 1988 Birds, and are sitting at 7-33 after 40 games into the season. If the Rockies are to continue on the same pace through the season, they would likely finish with 28 wins, a “winning” percentage of .172, and demolish the record of 121 losses set by the woeful 2024 Chicago White Sox set last year.
The Rockies would finish with 134 losses. It’s hard to fathom that any Major League Baseball team could lose that many games. While the Orioles were able to stem the tide, a bit, in 1988, they had the benefit of two future Hall of Famers on their roster who at least gave the team some legitimacy. Some. The Rockies don’t have a recognizable name for any MLB fan to even remotely want to check a box score. The only player that might be familiar to fans outside of Colorado may be third baseman Ryan MacMahon or possibly pitcher Kyle Freeland.
The team batting average? .219. The team ERA? 5.77. The team defense? Let’s not even go there.
The Rockies were destroyed 21-0 by the San Diego Padres and the fans were revolting in the stands calling for ownership to sell the team. The owners responded by firing Manager Bud Black and his bench coach Mike Redmond. We all know that the manager is always the first to go. But, in reality, Bud Black had NOTHING to work with. And he hasn’t for some time.
The Rockies came into the National League in 1993 and by 1995 were in the playoffs. They have only been to the post season five times in their history, and made it to the World Series once, losing a four-game sweep in 2007. The last time the Rockies made the playoffs was in back to back seasons of 2017 and 2018 in Black’s first two seasons at the helm.
But even given the fact that the Rockies have never had a championship team, the one thing you could rely on was an exciting product on the field. Who could forget the offensive juggernaut with Andres Gallaraga, Larry Walker, Dante Bichette, Vinny Castilla, and Ellis Burks? They were usually, if nothing else, a fun team to watch.
The Mets are coming in to Denver for a weekend series beginning June 6. I bought the tickets before the season. The Rockies have been offering tickets for half-price. I am fairly certain there will be more Mets fans in the stands than Rockies fans. Anyone for a Coors beer?
