The Colorado Rockies are an American professional baseball team based in Denver. The Rockies compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West Division. The team plays its home baseball games at Coors Field, which is located in the Lower Downtown area of Denver. The club is owned by the Monfort brothers.
The Rockies began as an expansion team for the 1993 season and played their home games for their first two seasons at Mile High Stadium. Since 1995, they have played at Coors Field, which has earned a reputation as a hitter's park, as demonstrated by the 1995 team that had four players (Dante Bichette, Vinny Castilla, Andrés Galarraga, and Larry Walker) each hit for 30 home runs; they were nicknamed the "Blake Street Bombers". The Rockies have qualified for the postseason five times, each time as a Wild Card winner. In 2007, the team earned its only NL pennant after winning 14 of their final 15 games in the regular season to secure a Wild Card position, capping the streak off with a 13-inning 9–8 victory against the San Diego Padres in the tiebreaker game affectionately known as "Game 163" by Rockies fans. The Rockies then proceeded to sweep the Philadelphia Phillies and Arizona Diamondbacks in the NLDS and NLCS and entered the 2007 World Series as winners of 21 of their last 22 games. However, they were swept by the American League (AL) champions Boston Red Sox in four games.
At the end of 2025, the Rockies have an all-time record of . This winning percentage is the worst among active MLB franchises. After the Denver Nuggets won the 2023 NBA Finals, the Rockies became the only one of Denver's franchises in the major North American professional sports leagues yet to win a championship. They are also one of only two MLB teams to have never won a division title, alongside their 1993 expansion counterparts, the Miami Marlins.
The Rockies have played their home games at Coors Field since 1995. Their spring training home, Salt River Fields at Talking Stick in Scottsdale, Arizona, opened in March 2011 and is shared with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
History
Denver had long been a hotbed of minor league baseball as far back as the late 19th century with the original Denver Bears (or Grizzlies) competing in the Western League before being replaced in 1955 by a Triple-A team of the same name. Residents and businesses in the area desired a Major League team. Denver's Mile High Stadium was built originally as Denver Bears Stadium, a minor league baseball stadium that could be upgraded to major league standards. Several previous attempts to bring Major League Baseball to Colorado had failed. In 1958, New York lawyer William Shea proposed the new Continental League as a rival to the two existing major leagues. In 1960, the Continental League announced that play would begin in April 1961 with eight teams, including one in Denver headed by Bob Howsam. The new league quickly evaporated, never playing a game, when the National League reached expansion agreements to place teams in New York City and Houston, removing much of the impetus behind the Continental League effort. Following the Pittsburgh drug trials in 1985, an unsuccessful attempt was made to purchase the Pittsburgh Pirates and relocate them. However, in January 1990, Colorado's chances for a new team improved when Coors Brewing Company became a limited partner with the AAA Denver Zephyrs.
1990s In 1991, as part of Major League Baseball's two-team expansion (along with the Florida (now Miami) Marlins), an ownership group representing Denver led by John Antonucci and Michael I. Monus was granted a franchise. They took the name "Rockies" due to Denver's proximity to the Rocky Mountains, which is reflected in their logo; the name was previously used by the city's first NHL team, now the New Jersey Devils. Monus and Antonucci were forced to drop out in 1992 after Monus's reputation was ruined by an accounting scandal. Trucking magnate Jerry McMorris stepped in at the 11th hour to save the franchise, allowing the team to begin play in 1993. The Rockies shared Mile High Stadium with the National Football League (NFL)'s Denver Broncos for their first two seasons while Coors Field was constructed. It was completed for the 1995 Major League Baseball season.
In 1993, they began play in the National League West. That year the Rockies set the all-time Major League record for attendance, drawing 4,483,350 fans, still the MLB record. The Rockies were MLB's first team based in the Mountain Time Zone.
2000s In 2007, the Rockies advanced to the World Series, only to be swept by the Boston Red Sox. The team's stretch run was among the greatest ever for a Major League Baseball team. Having a record of 76–72 at the start of play on September 16, the Rockies proceeded to win 14 of their final 15 regular season games.2007 Colorado Rockies Schedule and Results. Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 15, 2014. The stretch culminated with a 9–8, 13-inning victory over the San Diego Padres in a one-game playoff for the wild card berth. Colorado then swept their first seven playoff games to win the NL pennant. At the start of the World Series, the Rockies had won a total of 21 out of 22 games. Fans and media nicknamed their improbable October run "Rocktober".
2010s Colorado made postseason berths in 2017 and 2018. In 2018, the Rockies became the first team since the 1922 Philadelphia Phillies to play in four cities against four teams in five days, including the 162nd game of the regular season, NL West tie-breaker, NL Wild Card Game and NLDS Game 1, eventually losing to the Milwaukee Brewers in the NLDS.
2020s In 2023 and 2024, the Colorado Rockies lost over 100 games each season (103 games in 2023 and 101 in 2024). In 2025, the Rockies obtained the worst start to a season of any team through 39 games, starting off at 6–33 (.154 winning percentage). The Rockies then fell to 30 games below .500, accomplishing that mark in just 44 games. Their record was 7–37, a .159 winning percentage. The Rockies continued their abysmal start to the 2025 season by setting the record for the worst team record through 50 games. Their record of 8–42 (.160 winning percentage) was worst 50 game start of any team in Major League baseball history, two games worse than the 2023 Oakland Athletics 10–40 start (.200 winning percentage). The 2025 Colorado Rockies' 10–50 (.167 winning percentage) record after 60 games eclipsed the 11-49 previous worst 60 game mark held by five teams: the 1886 Washington Nationals, the 1895 Louisville Colonels, the 1897 St. Louis Browns, the 1904 Washington Senators, and the 1932 Boston Red Sox. The Rockies finish, tied with the 2003 Detroit Tigers for the third most losses in baseball history since 1901. They had two less losses than the 2024 Chicago White Sox, and one fewer loss than the 1962 expansion New York Mets. In addition, the Rockies ended the season with the worst modern-era run differential of -424, easily shattering the previously held record by the 1932 Boston Red Sox who had a run differential of -349.
In June 2025, the franchise promoted Walker Monfort, son of owner Dick Monfort, to team president.
Season record
Uniforms
One of the Rockies' team colors is purple which was inspired by the line "For purple mountain majesties" in "America the Beautiful". The shades of the color used by the club lacked uniformity until PMS 2685 was established as the official purple beginning with the 2017 season.
The Rockies' home uniform is white with purple pinstripes, and the Rockies are the first team in Major League history to wear purple pinstripes. The front of the uniform has the word "Rockies" in silver trimmed in black, with letters and numerals in black trimmed in silver. During the Rockies' inaugural season, home uniforms lacked names on the back, but names were added for the following season. In 2000, numerals were added to the chest.
The Rockies' road uniform is grey with purple piping. The front of the uniform originally featured the team name in silver trimmed in purple but was changed the next season to purple with white trim. Letters and numerals are in purple with white trim. In 2000, piping was replaced with pinstripes, "Colorado" was emblazoned in front, chest numerals were placed, and black trim was added to the letters. Prior to the 2012 season, the Rockies brought back the purple piping on their road uniforms, but kept the other elements of their 2000 uniform change.
The Rockies originally wore an alternate black uniform during their inaugural 1993 season, but for only a few games. The uniform featured the team name in silver with purple trim, and letters and numerals in purple with white trim. In the 2005 season, the Rockies started wearing black sleeveless alternate uniforms, featuring "Colorado" letters and numerals in silver with purple and white trim. The uniforms also included black undershirts, and for a few games in 2005, purple undershirts. The Rockies retired the black sleeveless uniform in 2022, replacing it with the "City Connect" uniform (see below).
From 2002 to 2011, the Rockies wore alternate versions of their pinstriped white uniform, featuring the interlocking "CR" on the left chest and numerals on the right chest. This design featured sleeves until 2004, when they went with a vest design with black undershirts.
In addition to the black sleeveless alternate uniform, the Rockies also wear a purple alternate uniform, which they first unveiled in the 2000 season. The design featured "Colorado" in silver with black and white trim, and letters and numerals in black with white trim. At the start of the 2012 season, the Rockies introduced "Purple Mondays" in which the team wears its purple uniform every Monday game day, though the team continued to wear them on other days of the week.
Prior to 2019, the Rockies always wore their white pinstriped pants regardless of what uniform top they wore during home games. However, the Rockies have since added alternate white non-pinstriped pants to pair with either their black or purple alternate uniforms at home, as neither uniform contained pinstripes.
The Rockies currently wear an all-black cap with "CR" in purple trimmed in silver and a purple-brimmed variation as an alternate. The team previously wore an all-purple cap with "CR" in black trimmed in silver, and in the 2018 season, caps with the "CR" in silver to commemorate the team's 25th anniversary.
In 2022, the Rockies were one of seven additional teams to release Nike's "City Connect" uniforms. The set was predominantly green and white with printed mountain range motifs adorning the chest. The lettering was taken from the official Colorado license plates. The right sleeve had a yellow patch featuring the shortened nickname "ROX", the "5280" sign representing the altitude of Denver, two black diamonds representing Double Diamond skiing, and the exact longitude and latitude of Coors Field. The left sleeve had the interlocking "CR" in white with green trim, and purple piping was added to represent purple seats at Coors Field. Caps were green with a white panel, featuring a "CO" patch with various Colorado-inspired symbols, including colors from the state flag and mountain ranges. In 2023, the Rockies tweaked their "City Connect" uniform, pairing it with white pants on day games and green pants on night games. Their first "City Connect" uniform was worn until the end of the 2024 season.