Wednesday Bombers #5

Wednesday, 18 July 2012

I'm back on track after a one day absence with the next installment of Wednesday Bombers.  As you may recall, I have been delving into the Rockies deadline deals from the 20th century and checking out the results of said deals.  First, I looked at the Bret Saberhagen deal from 1995 and last week I wrote about the Bruce Hurst deal from the expansion 1993 team.  Both of those deals were designed to improve the Rockies pitching staff which has been an ongoing project since the Rockies were born.

Today's deal will be involving offense and a big contributor to their short history at the time.  Much like the Hurst deal with the Padres, this trade was also completed intradivisionally with the Giants. 

Let's take a look and see if this deal was a tad more successful than that one.


July 31, 1998

Rockies receive                                                                Giants receive
OF - Darryl Hamilton                                                       OF - Ellis Burks
RP - Jim Stoops
SP - Jason Brester (as PTBNL August 18, 1998)

ROCKIES HAUL

Darryl Hamilton was the key major league piece of this trade for the Rockies.  He immediately took Burks' spot as the starting center fielder upon arrival from San Francisco.  Hamilton wasn't bad for the Rockies.  He hit .335 for the remainder of the 1998 season, but he did not have the power or speed of Burks.  He was mainly a singles hitter, which is useful for a team.  Hamilton would spend exactly one year on the Rockies roster, but I'll explore that more next week.

Jim Stoops was a high Class A relief pitcher in the Giants organization with an ERA under 1.00 at the time of the trade.  The Rockies immediately promoted him to AAA.  He barely missed a step with a 1.23 ERA in Colorado Springs which earned him a September call up to the big leagues.  He pitched in 3 games and got a victory over the Giants in 1998.  Unfortunately, he would never see the big leagues again.  He spent the next two seasons in the Rockies minor leagues before moving on to the Yankees.

Jason Brester was potentially the jewel of this trade.  He was the Giants 2nd round pick in 1995 out of high school and had already moved up to AA.  AA proved to be Brester's peak as a pro ball player though.  He stayed with the Rockies until mid-1999 before being sent to the Phillies.

GIANTS HAUL

Ellis Burks had spent 4 1/2 seasons with the Rockies after being signed to a five year free agent contract in the 1993 offseason.  The Rockies believed they were going to lose him at the end of the year, so they decided to trade him.  The Giants were trying to track down the Padres in the NL West, so they bit.  Burks played well for the Giants in 1998, but not as well as he did in Colorado and the Giants faded to a 2nd place finish.  He did re-sign with the Giants and spent two more years there where he proved he was no Coors Field fluke. 

THE JUDGMENT

On the surface, it appears that the Giants won this trade by a large margin.  However, a deadline deal involving a star for prospects usually means a team is loading up for a playoff run that year.  The Giants fell short in this case, losing the wild card by 1 game to the Cubs.  If Burks had not re-signed, this trade would have been a push.  Since he did re-sign, Hamilton didn't match Burks's stats in Colorado, and the pitchers proved to be not much more than minor league filler, I'd have to say the Giants win this one.  But not by as much as it you first think.

This is also the last trade completed between the Giants and Rockies.  It is the longest current trade drought for the Rockies with any team in the majors. 

The Rockies lose this trade as well to bring their deadline deal record to 1-2.  There was one other deadline deal in the 20th century which I will explore next week.  Will it bring the Rockies up to .500 or will it just drag the record down even further?  Tune in next week to see.

Thanx for reading.

comments | | Read More...

Wednesday Bombers #4

Wednesday, 11 July 2012

The trade deadline still looms with several Rockies including Jeremy Guthrie, Ramon Hernandez, and Marco Scutaro among others rumored to be moving elsewhere.  With the trade deadline in mind, last week I discussed one of the major deadline deals from the Blake Street Bombers era, that being the Bret Saberhagen trade of 1995.  This week I am going to take a look at the major trade from the expansion year of 1993 involving the Rockies and their division rivals, the San Diego Padres.

The 1993 Rockies had a lot in common with this year's version of the team.  Much like 2012, the 1993 Rockies needed a veteran presence in their youthful starting rotation.  They had attempted to use former Expo Bryn Smith in that role, but he was largely ineffective and was released in June (much like this year's Rockies and Jamie Moyer).  So throughout their first summer in the league, the Rockies had a young and inexperienced rotation that was susceptible to giving up a lot of runs (man, this sounds familiar). 

Let's analyze the fallout from the Rockies' first big deadline deal.


July 26, 1993

Rockies receive                                                Padres receive
P - Bruce Hurst                                                C - Brad Ausmus
P - Greg Harris                                                 P - Doug Bochtler
                                                                        P - Andy Ashby

ROCKIES HAUL

Bruce Hurst was recovering from shoulder surgery earlier in the season, but the Rockies were confident that he would be okay for the remainder of the season.  They would proven incorrect as Hurst only started 3 games for the Rockies and pitched only 8.2 total innings near the end of the season.  Following the 1993 season, Hurst left the Rockies via free agency and joined the Rangers where he pitched 3 more months before retiring in mid-1994.  The card pictured is actually a Rangers card, but is the closest thing to a Rockies card that Hurst would ever get.

Greg Harris was a great reliever with the Padres that had been converted into a starter a couple of years before.  Harris did not do well with the Rockies by any stretch of the imagination.  Harris had a combined record of 4-20 with a 6.60 ERA over the 1993 and 1994 seasons.  He was released following the 1994 season and pitched one more year in Minnesota before his major league career ended.

PADRES HAUL

Brad Ausmus was selected from the Yankees with the 54th pick in the 1992 Expansion Draft.  He never played in the majors for Colorado, but he arguably had the most successful career of anyone involved in this trade.  He immediately joined the Padres as their starting catcher and played 3 1/2 relatively good seasons for San Diego.  He was traded to the Tigers in mid-1996, before finding his greatest success later in Houston.

Doug Bochtler was selected from the Expos with the 32nd pick in the 1992 Expansion Draft.  Much like Ausmus, Bochtler had never joined the big league club in Colorado.  Unlike Ausmus, it would take Bochtler two more seasons to make the majors.  He joined the Padres bullpen in 1995 and pitched for three seasons with them.  He was pretty good with the Padres posting a 3.78 ERA in 151 games before being traded to Oakland in the 1997 offseason.

Andy Ashby was selected from the Phillies with the 25th pick in the 1992 Expansion Draft.  Ashby was originally a PTBNL in this deal, but he proved to be the crown jewel of the trade (at least for the two teams involved).  Unlike the other two players in this deal, Ashby had already played with the big league club in Colorado going 0-4 with an 8.50 ERA.  He did much better once he joined the Padres.  He spent a total of 8 seasons in San Diego compiling a record of 70-62 with a 3.59 ERA.  He retired after rejoining the Padres in 2005.

THE JUDGMENT

This judgment is absolutely simple, The Padres won this trade by a long shot.  Each of the three players the Padres received in this deal proved to be more successful than both of the Rockies combined.  The Rockies have never had a catcher the caliber of Ausmus in their history, so that would've helped the team immensely throughout the late 20th century.  I still have no idea why the expansion Rockies traded prospects for older pitchers other than for leadership.  It made little to no sense then and continues to this day.  Even if the Padres players had not been successful, this trade was a major head scratcher.

The Rockies lose this deal to make their deadline deal record so far 1-1.

Thanx for reading.

comments | | Read More...

Wednesday Bombers #3

Wednesday, 4 July 2012

Before I begin, I would like to wish a Happy Fourth of July to everyone in the U.S. and a Happy July 4th (it is still that date) to the rest of the world.  July has always been my favorite month for many reasons.  As a kid, it was the month that was furthest away from school and I have always preferred warm weather.  In baseball season, July is my favorite month for one particular reason...the trade deadline.  I love the season of buyers and sellers and old faces in new places.  In the early years the Rockies were relatively quiet at the deadline, but there were a few deals made in the last week of July.  Throughout this month, I will be shining the spotlight on these deadline deals and seeing whether the trade was beneficial for the Rockies, the other team, or both (or neither for that matter).

Let's start with the rare deal in which the Rockies were the buyers.

July 31, 1995

Rockies receive                                                   Mets receive
Bret Saberhagen                                                  Juan Acevedo
David Swanson                                                   Arnold Gooch

ROCKIES HAUL

Bret Saberhagen was acquired to be the ace that the Rockies had never had.  He is, to this day, the only Cy Young Award winner to ever wear the Rockies uniform.  Saberhagen started 9 games down the stretch for the Rockies and had a 2-1 record with a gaudy 6.28 ERA.  While Saberhagen was not that beneficial for Colorado with regards to stats, his veteran leadership and presence probably helped quite a bit.  It didn't hurt because Colorado ended up winning the Wild Card in 1995 before losing in the playoff to Atlanta.

The following season did not work out that well for Saberhagen.  He injured his shoulder and had major surgery which cost him the entire 1996 season.  The Rockies allowed him to leave via free agency after the season.

David Swanson was a pitcher that was selected in the 9th round pick in the 1991 draft.  He was originally a starter, but was converted to a reliever before he was traded to the Rockies.  He never made it out of Class A and was let go at the end of the 1995 season.

METS HAUL

Juan Acevedo was Colorado's #2 prospect in 1995 (#55 overall) and had already seen the majors earlier in 1995 with moderate success.  The Mets took their time with him.  He went to the minors and spent the rest of 1995, all of 1996, and a good chunk of 1997 with AAA Norfolk.  They called up in mid-1997 and he pitched in 25 games, mostly in relief.  After the 1997 season the Mets traded him to St. Louis for Rigo Beltran, who was later traded to the Rockies in a deadline deal.  Ah, the circle of life.  Acevedo pitched in the majors until 2003, including a second stint with the Rockies.  As of 2012, he is still active in the Mexican League at the age of 42.

Arnold Gooch, who has an awesome name, was a 9th round pick in the 1994 draft.  He was a very young starting pitcher in Class A.  He lasted in the Mets organization until 1998 making it as high as AA Binghamton.

THE JUDGMENT

Saberhagen never became the staff ace that he was acquired to be, but the Rockies made the playoffs.  Acevedo never quite lived up to his top prospect billing, although he did have a decent career as a journeyman middle reliever.  The minor leaguers are an obvious push.

I will give an ever so slight win to the Rockies on the basis of a playoff berth, although it was close to being a push.

Your thoughts?

Thanx for reading.

comments | | Read More...

Wednesday Bombers #2

Wednesday, 27 June 2012

Yesterday I showed the modern Rockies of which I have only one card in a Rockies uniform.  I have christened them "one card wonders" after the famous music term.  Today I will be showing the one card wonders that debuted during the Blake Street Bombers era.  Most of these will be the guys you have long since forgotten about, if you ever knew them in the first place.  However, there are a couple of grizzled veterans and notable names on this list as well.  Let's take a look at the 20th century Rockies.

BOMBERS PLAYER OF THE WEEK

The One Card Wonders

Total Cards Owned = 1 each

There are no Rockies that debuted in 1993 or 1994 on my one card wonder list, nor will there be according to my lists, so I'll start with 1995 debuts.  Jorge Brito, pictured on a 1995 Fleer Update card, was the first in a long line of "can't miss" prospect catchers.  They have all missed so far, but Brito did appear in 26 games for Colorado in 1995 and 1996.  One of the more notable names on this list is Craig Counsell, seen here on a 1996 Bowman.  He is remembered for being a Diamondback, a Brewer, and even a Marlin before being thought of as a Rockie, but he was a member of the very first Rockies draft class in 1992.  He made his major league debut for the Rox in 1995 and played a total of 4 games in Rockie purple before being traded to the Fish.

Moving onto 1996, we have a couple of oddity cards here.  Mike Farmer, the younger brother of Howard Farmer featured on Night Owl Cards yesterday, pitched in 7 games for the 1996 Rockies and never again in the big leagues.  The only card I have of him is this 1994 Upper Deck Minors in a Reading Phillies uniform, but he is listed as a Rockies Prospect so I consider it a Rockies card.  The other oddity is a bit different.  Mike DeJean is shown on a 2006 Upper Deck card.  The odd thing is that card showcases DeJean's 2nd less successful stint with the Rockies.  DeJean pitched in 264 games for the Rox with a stint from 1997-2000 and another from 2005-06.  You have to love the wonderful anonymity of middle relief.

Next up we have a pair of pitchers.  Jeff McCurry had his Rockies debut in 1997 and is shown on this 1998 Pacific Invincible Gems of the Diamond card.  He pitched 33 games in relief for the 1997 Rockies.  Fun fact about McCurry: Jeff was the 6th ever Japanese-born player to play in the majors.  I know the last name McCurry just gave that fact away.  Mark Brownson, shown on a 1999 Fleer Tradition card, made his Rockies debut in 1998.  He started 9 games for the Rockies in 1998-99 before ending his fledgling career in Philadelphia in 2000.

A pair of veterans that made their Rockies debut in 1998 are shown here.  First up is reliever Chuck McElroy shown here on a 1998 Pacific Online card.  An interesting factoid about McElroy is that he wore a different uniform number on each of the 9 big league teams he played for.  He was 23 for the Rockies.  Next up is speedy outfielder Curtis Goodwin.  The card in question is from the 1998 Score Rookies and Traded set, which featured mostly players that were neither rookies nor traded.  Goodwin also changed numbers for each of the 5 teams on which he played. 

The 2000 MLB Showdown set provides my collection with 3 one card wonders.  Kurt Abbott is one of those guys that SHOULD be on more than one oddball card for the Rockies.  He appeared in 138 games over two seasons and was the starting second baseman for much of the 1999 season, but this card is a true one card wonder for unknown reasons.  There is much less of an argument for Jeff Barry having more than one card.  He appeared in 89 games over the 1998 and 1999 seasons in his final major league stints.  Dave Veres pitched in 136 games for the Rockies in 1998 and 1999 mostly as the closer.  He is a one card wonder only because my collection in these years is severely lacking.  I will eventually end up with a couple dozen different Dave Veres cards, hopefully.

Finishing up the one card wonder for the Bombers era is two cards from the 2000 Pacific Crown Collection set.  One of the great things about Pacific was that they mostly focused on lesser known players of Hispanic descent that were overlooked by the bigger companies, such as these two.  Henry Blanco (English translation: Henry White) played in 88 games for the 1999 Rockies as the back up catcher.  He is still active in the big leagues with Arizona.  Juan Sosa (English translation: John Corked-Bat) played in 11 games for the 1999 Rockies mostly as a late inning defensive replacement.  He would only play 2 more games in the bigs, but lasted until 2006 in the minors.


Thanks for joining me on this little trip through the lesser known players of the Bombers era.  Come back next week for more tales of the pre-humidor Rockies.  Thanx for reading.

comments | | Read More...

Wednesday Bombers #1

Wednesday, 20 June 2012

When I set up the initial "reboot" of the site I was going to call this Walker Wednesdays for the sake of alliteration, but I think that was a little disrespectful of the other Blake Street Bombers.  So now we have Wednesday Bombers which will focus on one or more Rockies that debuted during the Blake Street Bomber Era which I consider 1993-1999.  The one exception to that debut rule will be Todd Helton who debuted in 1997, but I think of him more with the second era which will be shown on Thursday.

BOMBERS PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Vinny Castilla

Total Cards Owned = 129

Rather than a card biography of Vinny Castilla that would be informative, but a little repetitive and a tad dry.  I have decided that we will have a little sing-along for Vinny.  Join in you know the words (and if you don't I will type them for you).  See if you spot a trend.

W eeeeeeeeeeeeee lllllllll

You know you make me wanna

Kick my heels up and

Throw my hands up and

Throw my head back and

Come on now

Don's forget to say you will

Don't forget to say-yay-ay-ay-ay
Say it right now baby
Come on, Come on
Say that a youoooo

Say that you love me

Say that you need me

Say that you want me
You wanna please me

Come on now
 Come on now
Come on now

I still remember, when you used to be 9 years old, yeah
I was a fool for you from the bottom of my soul, yeah-yeah
And now that you've grown up, and old enough to know
yeah-yeah
You want to leave me
You want to let me go

I want you to know
I said I want you to know right now
You've been good to me baby
Better than I've been to myself
 hey-hey
And if you ever leave me
 I don't want nobody else hey hey
I said I want you to know
 I said I want you to know right now

You know you make me want to

Yeah, yeah-yeah, yeah, yeah
alright alright
Come on now
 Come on now yeah yeah
Oh all right, oh all right
Yeah, yeah, yeah



Now wait a minute.......

I feel alright
Now that I've got my woman
I feel hey alright
You been so good to me
 you been so good to me

You know you make me want to 

Lift my hands up and

Throw my hands back and

Come on now, Come on now

 A little bit softer now

A little bit louder now

It doesn't get any better than that!

comments | | Read More...