Mike Hampton last pitched for the Colorado Rockies in 2002. They are still paying him.
It’s one of those things you knew, but had forgotten, since it had happened so long ago … but when I saw the headline, my memory was jogged and I started to remember. The Rockies have paid Hampton for the past six seasons so he could play for another team four of those years, and not play at all for two of them.
Remember?In their free-spending days, the Rockies gave Hampton an eight- year, $121-million contract in December 2000.Wow. You might notice that there should still be yet another year left on that contract, and the Rockies have already bought out the option for 2009.
I’m not a Rockies fan, so I don’t know what the proper reaction is to this. Anger? Sadness? Indifference? It could be anything. Just know that from an outsider it’s purely hilarious.
Of course, fans could and should take the view that this colossal gaffe led to a chain reaction that indirectly helped your team reach the World Series last year. I’ll let the GM explain.
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