ESPN MLB

Originally Published: July 22, 2003

Road woes continue to plague Rockies

While the Rockies continue to struggle on the road, the addition of more productive players is a must.

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By Rob Neyer
ESPN.com
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The weekend before the All-Star break, I was in Denver, where the Rockies were cutting through the (pitching-starved) Giants and the (hitting-starved) Dodgers like Germany's panzers through France in 1940.

Saturday night, the Rockies ran their winning streak to four games and their overall record to 50-46, prompting talk in the newspapers of a glorious second-half run to the wild card. They lost Sunday -- thanks, Denny Neagle -- but optimism was the mood du jour in LoDo that weekend.

Jay Payton, middle, is batting .326 at home, but just .269 on the road this season.

The subject of the Rockies' postseason chances came up after one of those four victories, and I said to my traveling companion, "Uh-huh. Wait until they go back on the road."

Well, they're back on the road. And after losing four of five, the Rockies are 51-51 and six-and-a-half games behind the Phillies for that fourth postseason berth. Perhaps worse, including the Phillies there are no fewer than seven teams ahead of them.

Which makes the wild card look like a distant and perhaps unattainable goal.

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Everybody knows that playing at home is easier than playing on the road.

What everybody might not know is the extent to which this is true.

From 1998 through 2002, 29 of 30 major-league teams won more games at home than on the road, with the lone exception being Cincinnati (the Reds were 192-214 at home, 210-195 on the road).

Basically, every team is better at home.

The Rockies, though, are especially better at home. Here are teams with the largest difference between their home and road winning percentages, 1998 through 2002:

          Home  Road   Diff
Rockies   .536  .395   .141
Rangers   .552  .433   .119
Marlins   .499  .381   .117
Pirates   .491  .375   .116
Giants    .620  .506   .114

Obviously, the Rockies are in a league of their own. This is a franchise that's actually quite respectable in the lofty confines of Coors Field, but can't even win 40 percent of its games when it leaves Colorado.

I talked to Rockies general manager Dan O'Dowd this past March, and of course he was well aware of his club's struggles on the road. What (I asked him) could the Rockies do about it?

O'Dowd told me that the Rockies planned to rest their hitters more, especially at home, because research told them that playing at altitude results in fatigue that takes a heavy toll when the Rockies hit the road. O'Dowd also felt that Clint Hurdle, who replaced Buddy Bell as manager during the 2002 season, would have a positive impact on the players' mindset during the road trips.

The results so far?

On the road this season, the Rockies are 16-35, the worst mark in the National League. The Rockies have scored 200 runs in road games, 14th in the league. The Rockies have allowed 285 runs in road games, 15th in the league.

Why can't the Rockies' hitters adjust to playing on the road? Some people suggest it's mental, while others believe it's fatigue, while some others even think their players just aren't very good.

Their lack of scoring success on the road is nothing new, but in many years the Rockies have actually done a pretty decent job of preventing runs on the road. Not this year, though, as they've actually got a better ERA at home than on the road.

Which is hard to do.

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It's a puzzle, this franchise. The question is often posed, "How do you win at altitude?"

But the proper question is actually, "How do you win when you're not at altitude?" Because the Rockies do just fine at altitude, just as most of Denver's (and Boulder's) sports teams do. Years ago, I studied home and road records of NFL teams, and found that the Broncos had the largest difference between their home and road performance. And without checking, I'd be willing to bet that the University of Colorado's basketball teams have an unusual difference between their home and road performances over the years.

So yes, there probably is something in the air (or lack thereof) that makes the Rockies play better at home and worse on the road.

Still, I look at the Rockies as they're currently composed and I can't help but wonder if a big part of the problem is that they're just not really so good.

The Rockies love Chris Stynes, because he can play a lot of positions and he's got a great attitude ... but he can't hit. A .361 on-base percentage and .435 slugging percentage just aren't good enough when you're a Rockie.

	Charles Johnson Catcher Colorado Rockies Profile
	2003 SEASON STATISTICS AB R HR RBI OBP AVG 230 26 11 42 .306 .222

Ron Belliard, such a disappointment in Milwaukee, has been a godsend for the Rockies ... but he can't hit. A .370 on-base percentage and a .395 slugging percentage just aren't good enough when you're a Rockie.

Jay Payton's batting .300 and he's going to score 100 runs this season ... but he can't hit. A .355 on-base percentage and a .475 slugging percentage just aren't good enough when you're playing left field for the Rockies.

Jose Hernandez and Charles Johnson came over in offseason trades, and both have been complete disasters. Hernandez has since been traded to the Cubs, but Johnson's still around and batting .222. Generally, I don't put much stock in batting average, but .222 with the Rockies is a problem.

Juan Uribe, the Rockies' starting shortstop, makes Tony Womack look like Honus Wagner. Which is good, because the Rockies just traded for Womack (unfortunately, he can't hit, either).

Recently, I was in Denver for the SABR convention, and O'Dowd spoke eloquently and entertainingly as part of a panel on "Baseball at Altitude." O'Dowd considered his remarks off the record, but I don't think he'd mind me repeating this quote: "The ballpark affects everything we do."

As it should. The bottom line, though, is that the Rockies are always going to struggle on the road and play well at home. O'Dowd knows this. The Rockies have to get better on the road. O'Dowd knows this, too. But the way to get better on the road isn't to rest the stars, and it isn't to hire a manager with a can-do attitude.

Sure, those things might help a little. But Coors Field masks the Rockies' glaring weakness: they simply don't have enough good players. The Rockies will win more road games when they have better players than Jay Payton and Juan Uribe.

Senior writer Rob Neyer writes four columns per week during the baseball season. His new book, "Rob Neyer's Big Book of Baseball Lineups," has just been published by Fireside. For more information about the book, visit Rob's Web site.