James Keating | April 3, 2025

The run to Rocktober in 2007 wasn’t just good. It was magic.

The Colorado Rockies won 14 of their final 15 regular-season games to force a one-game playoff. Game 163. (The only Game 163 that matters in these here parts.) Colorado won in the most dramatic fashion with a plate at the plate in extra innings.

More from the 30 in 30 Series

• Coors Field Moment No. 1 – Game 163: Colorado completes their improbable run to Rocktober
• Coors Field Moment No. 2 – Dante Bichette christens the Rockies’ new baseball cathedral
• Coors Field Moment No. 3 – Todd Helton, Troy Tulowitzki and the Colorado Rockies are World Series bound
• Coors Field Moment No. 4 – Nolan, Bloody Nolan: Arenado’s walk-off cycle spurs Rockies to end postseason drought
• Coors Field Moment no. 5 – The Toddfather delivers a walk-off domino for Rocktober

They kept up the momentum to sweep the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League Division Series before doing the same in the National League Championship Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Colorado won 21 of 22 games to punch their ticket to the only World Series in franchise history. It was the kind of heater that makes you believe the baseball gods reside near Pikes Peak.

Let’s be clear about something: Winning a pennant is hard. Like, really hard.

Most franchises go can decades without winning one… I’m looking at you Milwaukee Brewers, Pittsburgh Pirates and Cleveland Guardians. Some are still forever from sniffing one… sorry, Seattle Mariners.

On October 15, 2007, the Rox didn’t just win the NL pennant, they made it look really easy. And they did it in style in front of the hometown faithful.

The Game 4 victory that sent Colorado to the 2007 Fall Classic brought with it thousands of memorable images, none greater than the final out. Todd Helton throwing his arms up in celebration before seemingly even before catching the ball is absolutely iconic. If someone asked me to picture the greatest moments written on the walls of Coors Field, that single image is the first thing that comes to mind.

“What about what happened in the World Series?”

Let’s be clear about another thing: Pennants are forever.

For one special spell of weeks when calendars across the globe renamed the month Rocktober, the men in purple pinstripes weren’t just good. They had baseball fun in a way that can’t be replicated. They had an MVP candidate in Matt Holliday, a rookie phenom in Troy Tulowitzki, an ace in Jeff Francis and a captain in Todd Helton whose heart-and-soul always gave Colorado an advantage every single day.

So yeah, pour one out for the 2007 Rockies. Not because of how it ended, but because of how damn perfect it was before it did.

When thinking about the four game that followed the final out that sent Colorado to a place they had never been — and still haven’t been since — it’s bittersweet. The NLCS win was the high point, ultimately, but the World Series was a reminder that in sports, the best stories don’t always get the best endings.

Almost two decades years later, the question lingers: Will they ever get back? Before you get pessimistic, try this palate cleanser that works for even the most critical fan: A YouTube deep-dive of the best moments from ’07. Because that was truly the best time to be alive.