By Jordan Long
The Colorado Rockies decided to extend Manager Bud Black’s contract. He will be in the Mile High City for at least 3 more years. The deal will end in 2022. His body of work shows he deserves this extension.
Black agreed to be the Colorado Rockies’ Manager prior to the 2017 season. Colorado fired Walt Weiss after 4 seasons. Weiss was a disappointing 283-365, a winning percentage of .437. Colorado was hoping Black would be the answer to turn the Rockies around. He brought 9 years of managerial experience to the Colorado Rockies. His strength was pitching since he had been a pitcher in the Majors for 15 years.
In 2017, Colorado played well under him, going 87-75. They finished as the 2nd Wild Card team. Unfortunately, they faced their National League West division foe the Arizona Diamondbacks in the Wild Card game. Colorado came up short, lossing 11-8, ending their season.
Last year Colorado was hoping to win the National League West Division and play a series, the Division Series. The Rockies ended up needing to play game 163 to decide the division. They came up short against the L.A. Dodgers 5-2. That forced them to travel to Wriggly Field to take on the Chicago Cubs for the National League Wild Card game. This time the Colorado Rockies came up on top in 13 innings by the score of 2-1.
Colorado made their goal of playing a series. They faced the Brewers but it wasn’t much of a series. The Rockies were swept in 3 games, outscored in the series 13-2. At least they made it further than 2017.
Black is deserving of this extension. The Rockies have improved in terms of wins each year with him. Black’s overall record with Colorado is 178-147, a winning percentage of .548, ranking him #1 in Colorado Rockies’ history. Behind him is Jim Tracy who took the Rockies to the playoffs in 2009. His winning percentage was .488 with the Rockies from 2009 to 2012.
According to ESPN, Black said, “I’m excited to be here because of where we are. People in the game, people in the know, are talking about the Rockies, which is a great thing.”
The Rockies know how important Black is to their team. He is the first manager in Colorado Rockies’ history to claim back to back postseason births. With this extension, Colorado expects to be in contention for the National League West Division title and have a chance to win a World Series. This is all the Rockies could ask for. Hopefully, Black can bring a World Series title to the Mile High City in the next 3 years.
Leave a Reply