There wasn’t a player that was beloved by all Rockies fans quite like Tony Wolters. “Papers”, as called by many teammates for always being prepared on and off the field, didn’t start with the team where ultimately he would find the most success. He was drafted by Cleveland in the 2010 MLB draft out of High School in Vista, California. After playing 3 seasons as a middle infielder, he moved to catcher in 2014, only playing 2 more seasons in the Cleveland organization before being Designated for Assignment in 2016.
Here Come the Rockies
In 2016, the Rockies claimed Tony Wolters off waivers and he immediately made the Opening Day roster as backup to Nick Hundley. He debuted as a defensive replacement and then had his first career start a few days later. Tony would ultimately play 71 games for the Rockies in 2016, slashing .259/.327/.395 with 3 HRs and 30 RBIs. His defense started to shine as the major part of his game throwing out 12 base stealers in his debut season, besting the league caught stealing percentage by 3.4%.
In 2017, Tony saw a minor uptick in playing time but a major uptick in cutting down base stealers. While less players attempted to steal against Wolters, he ended up nabbing 14 players that season for a Caught Stealing rate of 38.9%, which was 11.4% higher than league average and higher than the likes of Martin Maldonado, Gary Sanchez and Buster Posey. This helped the Rockies reach the postseason for the first time in 8 seasons, ultimately culminating in a Rockies loss 11-8 at the hands of fellow NL West member Arizona Diamondbacks.
Rocky Mountain Marathon Miracle
The following season, Tony played in 74 games serving as a backup to Chris Iannetta, who was on his second stint with the Rockies. While only slashing .170/.292/.286 with 3 Homers and 27 RBIs, the biggest hit of Tony’s career was on the horizon.
The Rockies finished 2018 at 91-72, ultimately losing Game 163 and the division to the Los Angeles Dodgers by a score of 5-2. This sent them to their second straight one-game wild card and this time the Chicago Cubs awaited them. Only 2 years removed from their curse breaking World Series win, the Cubs were loaded with talent and World Series winners. The game had Jon Lester pitted against Denver native Kyle Freeland, who would finish 4th in NL Cy Young voting that year. Both pitchers came out dealing with Kyle going 6.2 innings and not giving up a run, while Lester opposed with 6 strong innings of his own, but the Rockies bounced him from the game with a 1-0 lead. 6 outs away from their first postseason win since 2009, Adam Ottovino gave up a run in the bottom of the 8th, giving the Cubs a chance to win the game in the 9th. Cubs All-Star from the season before and current Rockie Wade Davis shut the door in the 9th to get the Rockies into extras. After innings 10-12 went scoreless, enter Tony Wolters. After two quick outs the Rockies had back to back hits. Trevor Story singled, with Gerado Parra knocking Story to third. With two outs, in the top of the 13th inning, a minor league grinder from Vista, California stepped to the plate and cemented his name as a Rockies legend. Tony, down to his last strike, singles up the middle off Kyle Hendricks to give the Rockies a 2-1 lead, a lead that would survive this marathon in bottom of the 13th inning, ending with a Scott Oberg and Tony Wolters embrace.
In a 2018 Article by MLB’s Thomas Harding, Tony was quoted to say, “Are you kidding me…Yeah that was definitely the biggest postseason hit of my career, that’s for sure.” While many will argue this was the biggest hit of his career period, he no doubt cemented himself as the hero of the Colorado Rockies’ last postseason win.
The Rest is History
Tony would end up playing two more seasons in a Rockies uniform, mainly finding defensive success over offensive prowess. He played 121 games in 2019 as the Rockies primary catcher and played in 42 games as part of the shortened 2020 Covid Season. In December of 2020 Tony was let go by the Rockies, but not without cementing his legacy as a Postseason Hero for the Mile High City’s beloved franchise.
Tony would bounce around the league to end his career. He played for the 2021 Pirates in Spring Training before signing a Major League deal with the team he crushed in 2018, the Chicago Cubs. He only played three games for the Cubs as an injury replacement before being Designated for Assignment. He was picked up by the Dodgers in late 2021 ultimately finishing his season with the Oklahoma City Dodgers, the team’s Triple-A affiliate. After a cup of coffee with the Dodgers in 2022, he elected free agency and retired after playing 2023 in the Minnesota Twins organization.
Legend Becomes Coach
In 2024, the Rockies announced they were bringing Tony Wolters back to the organization, this time as a coach, a position he currently holds today. He is the Bench Coach for the Arizona Complex League Rockies and although his career and the hype behind it didn’t yield the results we all wished, it was still a perfect story. Devastated from losing game 163 and a shot at their first NL West Crown, the Rockies needed a hero. The season had been too perfect and too successful to have it end in the one game wild card that day against the Cubs. In the heat of the moment, in the first game of Rocktober, Tony Wolters was the hero we all needed. Tony Wolters will forever be a Colorado Rockies legend.
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