Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
After the final tally, Michael Cuddyer brought yet another National League Batting Title home to the Colorado Rockies. His .331 average was enough to win going away as Atlanta Braves’ Chris Johnson had a small slump and fell to .321 by season’s end. The fact that Cuddyer won the title is great for him and should get him a nice payday, hopefully sooner rather than later and hopefully by the Rockies who still need his bat. The fact that a Rockies’ player won it should be surprising to anyone.
As it turns out, winning the batting title has become a kind of tradition for the Rockies. Cuddyer won this season but you only have to go back to 2010 to find the last one when Carlos Gonzalez took the 2010 title with a .336 average. The Rockies won four consecutive batting titles from 1998 through 2001. All but one of those belonged to Larry Walker; the other was newly retired Todd Helton in 2000.
They even won a title early on when Andres Galaraga won the 1993 batting title with a .370. The highest among all of the winners was Walker’s outstanding mark of .379 in 1999. Whether there is something in the water or something in the air, great hitters seem to have already become a tradition in the young history of the Rockies franchise. Helton is the best of them all and Cuddyer could be the next legend to retire a Rockies great with one more extension. After this batting title, he more than deserves it.
David Miller is a Senior Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @davidmillerrant, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google
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