Charlie Blackmon Will Retire as Second Greatest Player to Wear a Colorado Rockies Uniform

Charlie Blackmon, who has spent his entire 14-year MLB career with the Colorado Rockies, announced yesterday he would retire at season's end.

Blackmon, who is known for his long hair and long beard and is affectionately known as Chuck Nazty, will retire as the second greatest player to wear the Rockies uniform.

While Hall of Famer Todd Helton is indisputably the greatest player in Rockies history, Blackmon has dibs on second place. Consider these achievements.

Blackmon, 38, is second on the Rockies' all-time list after Helton in games played (1618), at bats (6146), hits (1797), doubles (333), extra base hits (626) runs scored (991) total bases (2942). He is also second in team history in stolen bases (148) after Eric Young, Sr. while ranking third in walks (482), and fourth in RBI (797). Blackmon ranks number one in Rockies franchise history in triples (67). 

I do hope Blackmon gets at least three more hits and three more RBI so he can reach 1,800 hits and 800 RBI. 

The Dallas native was the Rockies second round pick in 2008 after playing college baseball at Georgia Tech. Blackmon made his MLB debut in 2011. His career peak was between 2014 and 2019 when he was selected to four NL All Star Teams. Blackmon's best season came in 2017 when he won the NL batting title with a .331 average. He also led the senior circuit in hits (213), runs scored (137), triples (14) and total bases (387). 

In 2024, Blackmon is hitting a career low .249 with 11 HR and 48 RBI in 118 games played. Blackmon would have been a free agent at the end of this season. With the Rockies nearing 100 losses along with declining productivity, it is not clear if the Rockies would have offered him a contract in 2025. It is clear that Blackmon didn't want to play anywhere else and has decided to bow out gracefully.