You’ve no doubt heard of the Curse of the Bambino. What about the Curse of LeMahieu?
The thought popped into my head Friday when the baseball gods decided to punish the Rockies further.
As they returned home from a 1-5 road trip that left them with a 4-15 record, news broke that hitting coach Hensley “Bam Bam” Meulens posted a viral video showing him in the cockpit of a United Airlines charter flight from Denver to Toronto. The video sparked a federal investigation and provided fans with an easy target on social media.
Early Friday afternoon, we learned that left-hander Kyle Freeland, the Denver native, was placed on the injured list with an elbow strain. Late Friday afternoon, the Rockies postponed their game with the Mariners because of cold weather and a chance of snow.
Those three incidents are just the tip of the Rockies’ iceberg of woes.
Before I dive in, a quick history lesson. The Curse of the Bambino was born in 1920 when Red Sox owner and Broadway producer Harry Frazee sold Babe Ruth, a star nicknamed the “Bambino,” to the Yankees for $125,000 and a $300,000 loan that he used to pay Fenway Park’s mortgage and stage the musical “No, No, Nanette.” The curse explained the countless heartaches suffered by Red Sox fans as the team suffered an 86-year drought from 1918 until 2004, when their beloved Sox finally won another World Series.
The Rockies’ relentless losing, spate of bad luck and terrible personnel moves can be traced back to the club’s decision to let All-Star second baseman DJ LeMahieu walk away as a free agent after their 2018 playoff season. The Rockies didn’t even attempt to re-sign LeMahieu, even though he wanted to stay in Colorado.
“In hindsight, losing DJ LeMahieu was a big deal,” owner Dick Monfort admitted on a gloomy February day in 2021 as he scrambled to explain the Rockies’ decision to trade star third baseman Nolan Arenado to St. Louis. “In hindsight, I wish we could’ve figured out a way to keep DJ. We wish we could redo that. … I know DJ wanted to stay a Rockie.”
Since LeMahieu left Colorado and signed with, yes, the Yankees, misfortune has been the Rockies’ constant companion. Consider:
• The Rockies have suffered through five consecutive losing seasons and are headed for their sixth. Last year’s 103-loss season was the worst in franchise history.
• Arenado, one of many players upset by LeMahieu’s departure, feuded with former general manager Jeff Bridich, made it clear he wanted out of Colorado, and eventually got his wish when he was traded to the Cardinals. And, oh yeah, the Rockies gave the Cardinals $51 million to close the deal.
• Instead of retaining LeMahieu, the Rockies signed 34-year-old free agent Daniel Murphy to a two-year, $24 million deal, paving the way for LeMahieu to sign an identical contract with the Yankees. Murphy, on his last legs, was a bust. LeMahieu hit .327, mashed 26 homers for the Yankees in 2019, and was their MVP. He hit .364 and won the American League batting crown in 2020.
• Injuries continue to haunt Rockies pitchers. Last year, lefty reliever Lucas Gilbreath and right-handed starters German Marquez and Antonio Senzatela underwent Tommy John surgery. Also, top pitching prospects Gabriel Hughes, Jackson Cox and Jordy Vargas had TJ surgery last July.
Last week, we learned that former closer Daniel Bard will undergo season-ending surgery to repair his right flexor tendon. Bard is in the second season of a two-year, $19 million contract extension he signed with the Rockies in late July 2022. Needless to say, that deal was cursed.
Now Freeland, the team’s opening-day starter, is hurt, though manager Bud Black said he hopes Freeland can return to the mound in “anywhere from a month to six weeks.”
• Searching for a marquee player to replace Arenado, the Rockies signed Kris Bryant to a seven-year, $182 million deal during spring training 2022. He’s on the injured list — again — and has played in only 39.5% of Colorado’s games since signing the deal.
When Bryant has been on the field for the Rockies, he’s slashed .249/.329/.391 with 16 home runs. In six-plus seasons with the Cubs, he slashed .279/.378/.508 and hit 160 home runs, including a career-high 39 in 2016 when he was named the National League MVP and helped lead the Cubs to their first World Series title in 108 years.
Yes, I know, the Rox aren’t the Sox, and LeMahieu is no Bambino. But then, it took Boston 86 years to reverse the curse. The Rockies have only been around for 32 years. So maybe there’s hope.
In 2001, based on the advice of a Tibetan Buddhist monk, a Red Sox fan placed a Red Sox cap at the summit of Mt. Everest and burned a Yankees cap at base camp.
So what can the Rockies do? It starts with the front office making better decisions and the team fielding more talented players. Maybe that would make the baseball gods smile on the ballclub in LoDo.
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