11 JUNE 26-JULY 2, 2025 westword.com WESTWORD | CONTENTS | LETTERS | NEWS | NIGHT+DAY | CULTURE | CAFE | MUSIC | The Colorado Rockies are at an all-time low. The club lost more than 100 games each of the past two seasons, with another triple- digit disaster on the way. And while the 2025 Rockies will certainly exceed the twenty victories registered by the 1899 Cleveland Spiders, Major League Baseball’s biggest- ever losers, they stand a better-than-decent chance of unseating the modern MLB stan- dard-setters for ineptitude, the 2024 Chicago White Sox, who fi nished 41-121. But despite this scenario, one veteran member of the Rockies organization could be having his fi nest year ever: Drew Goodman. The play-by-play announcer for Rockies TV, 62-year-old Goodman has long been a top talent in a sport whose leisurely pace may put a larger demand on broadcasters than any other. The degree of diffi culty is even more pronounced when a team is get- ting eviscerated, as has been happening to the Rockies regularly. Yet at such moments, Goodman almost always hits the perfect tone. He’s empathetic but also realistic, clear-eyed, capable of sly humor and, above all else, professional. In describing his approach, Goodman undersells his achievements. “I have great respect for the fan base,” he emphasizes, “and great respect for my job, which is to be an informative and, I hope, occasionally enter- taining component as part of our television team. People who’ve been busting their ass all day come home and want to watch a ball game, and they want the home team to win. I hope to be a non-intrusive accompaniment to that whether they win or not.” That modesty feels excessive to Goodman peers such as Chip Caray. The grandson of the late Harry Caray, iconic voice of the Chicago Cubs, and the son of Skip Caray, a fi ne announcer for the Atlanta Braves who died in 2008, Caray is a third-generation baseball broadcaster; he calls contests for the St. Louis Cardinals. Given that the Cards haven’t excelled of late (they last won a playoff game in 2020), he can identify with the diffi culties Goodman is facing. “Let’s be honest: Times haven’t been so great for the Rockies in recent vintage,” Caray says. “When the team’s at its worst, you have to be at your best. And I’ve never seen a day when Drew wasn’t prepared, and I’ve never seen or heard a highlight where he’s taken a pitch off. He’s exceptional at what he does.” Each game, the challenge for Goodman is considerable, just as it can be for home viewers trying to fi gure out how to watch the Rockies in action (see sidebar, page XX). But the meet-up with the New York Mets on Friday, June 6, at Coors Field was differ- ent from any he’d yet faced in this dreadful season — because the Rockies were on a winning streak. At the end of the road swing that preceded the Mets match, the Rockies completed a three-game sweep of the Miami Marlins. Granted, the Marlins, the last-place franchise in the National League East, didn’t qualify as world-beaters. But because the Rockies had lost 22 consecutive series dating back to 2024 prior to stringing up the Marlins, the Ws remained noteworthy — although they didn’t silence jokesters who’d made the Rockies a national punchline. Case in point: Days before, Stephen Colbert had pointed out during his CBS late-night show that MARCUS MURRAY continued on page 12
