Kile at Coors

Here is an excellent article posted on Viva El Birdos on the third anniversary of Darryl Kile's death. The article deals with Kile's time with the Rockies, a subject I'm becoming more interested in.

What interested me was that Kile had pitched fairly well during the first half of 1998

"as the season reached its midpoint, kile stood 5-10 with a 4.40 era, but let's parse that: on the road, 85 innings with a 3.19 era; at home, 40 innings, 6.97 era. moreover, four of the losses should rightfully have been wins, and at least two no-decisions also could/should have been wins as well. kile pitched well enough to end the first half at 10-6 or so, rather than 5-10"

I had always thought Kile just didn't pitch well for the Rockies at all. Of course he never pitched well at Coors perhaps because his curveball was flat but also because his control wasn't great in those days which will get you in trouble at altitude. Things really didn't fall totally apart until June of 1999 when he lost a 9-1 lead to the Cubs who went on to win 13-12. After that his days in Denver were numbered.