Rapids By The Numbers: #12

As we move past the traditional numbers our first stop is at a number that has not served the Rapids well over the years.  12 has a number of players, none of them are standouts.

Matt Kmosko (1996-1997)
Marquis White (1998-1999)
Wes Hart (2000-20003)
Mike Petke (2007-2008)
Pat Noonan (2009)
Quincy Amarikwa (2012-2012)
Hendry Thomas (2013)
John Berner (2014-2017)
Niki Jackson (2018-2020)

That is certainly a list of former Rapids players.  Its not much more than that though.  The only time any of these names appear in any sort of national recognition or Rapids record book is Amarikwa being part of the Cup winning team and Petke being in a tie with a number of other players for 6th in career red cards with 2.  Kmosko played all 90 minutes in the loss in MLS Cup '97 as well.  Combined they had 18 goals and 12 assists in 345 appearances.  Which is...not good.  Looking purely at longevity the top three are Wes Hart (78), Matt Kmosko (62) and Mike Petke (50 while wearing #12).  Marquis White also had 42 appearances, the rest had a season or less total.

Matt Kmosko played 62 of the original 64 games in club history, more than anyone in both of those years.  He was a fan favorite and, given the skill of the league, was a strong player for the time.  I only know this because of what other fans and write-ups have said, I didn't start watching the team until 1998.  Still, I think the original #12 is likely still the best.

It was so long ago though, and the league was so small, that I couldn't find a single non-Getty Image picture of him online to include in this post.

Rapids By The Numbers: #11

We come to the last of the traditional numbers, usually given to the right midfielder/winger.  The Rapids have had a number of positions represented but the top options do weem to f all into the traditional assignment.

Sean Henderson (1996)
Adrian Paz (1997-1998)
Jorge Dely Valdes (1999-2000)
Imad Baba (2001-2002)
Zach Kingsley (2002-2004)
Joey DiGimarino (2004)
Jeff Cunningham (2005)
Terry Cooke (2006-2009)
Colin Clark (2010)
Brian Mullan (2010-2014)
Marcelo Saravas (2015)
Shkelzen Gashi (2017-2019)
Jonathan Lewis (2019)
Diego Rubio (2020)

The two options here are obvious (and both right mids/wingers), Cooke and Mullan.  I loved watching JDV play, but he's not in the same tier as those two.

The only league-wide honor either one has is Mullan winning MLS Cup 2010.  Cooke is second all time in assists in team history behind Chris Henderson (those two are also 1-2 all time in corner kicks taken) and tied for fourth in game-winning assists.

Both players were part of the team for five seasons (though Mullan joined late in the 2010 season), but Cooke has 30 more appearances in that time, despite only being on the squad for 9 more games than Mullan was.  From a goal creation perspective, Brian Mullan had 3 goals and 12 assists, plus 2 playoff assists (he's credited with an assist in the 2010 Cup run, but I can't find which goal it was), while Terry Cooke had 4 goals and 34 assists, plus a playoff goal and 2 assists.

A few minutes ago when I started writing this entry I thought the pick was going to be Mullan.  Certainly his leadership has been pointed to by many as a key to that Cup winning run and I figured that would make his the choice.  Looking at the number though, I think the answer to the best #11 is a personal favorite player of mine, one I've had a chance to talk to on multiple occasions, Terry Cooke.

Now that we've completed the "traditional" numbering system, lets look at what our "best by the numbers" looks like in the traditional formation:

That's a solid midfield and attack, but that back line is just a penalty waiting to happen with Larentowicz and Beckerman in the center.

Rapids By The Numbers: #10

Now we come to the famed #10.  Some of the biggest names in the history of the game wore number 10.  Pele, Maradona, Cruyff, and Messi all sported 10 on their backs.  Sadly the Rapids don't have a great history with their 10s, making it tied for the most used number in team history.  Per a request in the comments on an earlier entry I'm moving the photo of the choice to after the list:

Roy Wegerle (1996-1997)
Steve Rammel (1997)
Waldir Saenz (1998)
Anders Limpar (1999-2000)
Carlos Valderrama (2001-2002)
Jean Phillippe Peguero (2004-2006)
Alain N'kong (2006)
Herculez Gomez (2007)
Christian Gomez (2008)
Facundo Diz (2009)
Macoumba Kandji (2010-2011)
Martin Rivero (2012-2013)
Gabriel Torres (2014-2015)
Marco Pappa (2016)
Joe Mason (2018)
Kellyn Acosta (2018-2020)

That's...quite a list.  Pretty quickly this whittles down to three obvious names, Limpar, Valderrama, and Acosta.  While Kandji has responsibility for the second most famous goal in team history (Balboa's bike is still more famous than the MLS Cup own goal) and will always be a club legend, he's not the best 10 in the club's history.  The rest are a mix of "who?", "decent enough one year player", and "solid but unspectacular".

Limpar and Valderrama were each all-stars once.  They're both tied for 4th in team history in game-winning assists with 7, despite neither of them having more than 20 total assists.  Valderrama is 10th in overall assists with 19 in his 39 games, which is a crazy average.  Limpar, somewhat surprisingly, did not participate in the U.S. Open Cup semifinal or final in 1999.  He was the one who sent 'Celo the cross for his bike in 1999.  Acosta can't keep up with the numbers of the other two, despite his longer and ongoing stay at the club, 4 goals and 5 assists pales compared to Limpar's 3 & 15 or El Pibe's 1 & 19.

In the end, more so than other numbers so far, I'm going to have to go on the impression their play left on me over the stats.  As good as Limpar was at whipping in crosses from the right, Valderrama was just on another level with his passing.  Its been a long-time MLS joke that El Pibe would spend all 90 minutes of a game in the center circle, but the joke is funny because its got a kernel of truth in it.  The other 21 players on the field would run up and down for 90 minutes, fighting for position and looking for open space.  Valderrama would saunter his way between the center circle and the top of the box, never looking like he was working hard, and would ping pinpoint passes to the feet of his teammates without a second thought.  His control and read of the field is still some of the best MLS has ever seen.  Despite the best of his MLS career being while he was playing for the Florida teams, he's still the best Rapid to wear #10.

Rapids By The Numbers: #9

This one is easy:

Shawn Bartlett (1996-1997)
Paul Bravo (1999-2001)
Nat Borchers (2004-2005)
Clint Mathis (2006)
Jose Cancela (2007)
Conor Casey (2008-2012)
Edson Buddle (2013-2014)
Kevin Doyle (2015-2017)
Yannick Boli (2018)
Nicolas Benezet (2020)

There are some notable names in that list, including two Gallery of Honor members,  but the choice is clear.  The supporters only ever wrote one song about a player and the number he wore:

He runs as though his boots were lead

Conor, Conor

He puts a razor to his head

Conor, Conor

He used to play in Germany

But now he’s back at DSG

Conor Casey, Rapids number nine!

Rapids By The Numbers: #8

Now we get to #8, a surprisingly short list of largely middling players.

Dominic Kinnear (1996)
Paul Bravo (1997)
Tim Martin (1999)
Seth Trembly (2000-2004)
Hunter Freeman (2005)
Luchi Gonzalez (2006)
Mehdi Ballouchy (2007-2010)
Eddie Ababio (2011-2012)
Dillon Powers (2013-2017)
Johan Blomberg (2018-2019)

Since Paul Bravo changed to 9 after one season, there's really only one choice here.  Dillon Powers was the rookie of the year in 2013 and is in the top 10 in team history in games, starts, minutes, assists, game-winning assists, fouls suffered and fouls committed.  Nobody else on this list is even memorable.  Well, a couple are memorable, but not for good reasons...

Rapids By The Numbers: #7

Lucky number 7 hasn't been that lucky for the Rapids.  Its been one of the five numbers tied for most used in team history.  However there is one or two standouts, unlike some of the other oft-used numbers.  The list:

Troy Edwards (1996)
Rafael Amaya (1997)
David Vaudreuil (1999-2000)
John Spencer (2001-2004)
Luchi Gonzalez (2005)
Jovan Kirovski (2005-2007)
Cory Gibbs (2008-2009)
Claudio Lopez (2010)
Josh Janniere (2011-2012)
Kevin Harbottle (2013)
Vicente Sanchez (2013-2015)
Sebastian Le Toux (2016)
Stefan Aigner (2017-2018)
Giles Barnes (2018)
Diego Rubio (2019)
Jonathan Lewis (2020)

Despite two players who experienced Champions League finals in their careers* neither of them are the best #7 in Rapids history.  That honor is clearly reserved for the one man in this list who is in the team's Gallery of Honor, John Spencer.  Spencer was a two time MLS Best XI and two time All-Star (2001 and 2003 for both) and a MLS MVP and Goal of the Year finalist in 2003.  He also won Comeback Player of the Year in 2003.

In team records he's second to Paul Bravo in game-winning-goals, second to Conor Casy in penalties scored, third in multi-goal games, fourth all time in goals scored, and in the top 10 in shots and shots on goal.  He's also tied for 5th in red cards all time (with 2).

Really, the only other player to come close is Vicente Sanchez but as good as he was. he's no wee Scotsman.

* Claudio Lopez played in Valencia's loss to Real Madrid in the 2000 final, while Jovan Kirovski watched his Borussia Dortmund side win the 1997 Champions League from the stands, but was on the bench for the first leg of the semifinal and played in multiple group stage games.

Rapids By The Numbers: #6

Up to number 6 already.  There's quite a mixed bag here:

Ian Butterworth (1996)
David Patino (1997)
Peter Vermes (1998-1999)
Ross Paule: (2000-2001)
Steve Shak (2001)
Danny Jackson (2002)
Darryl Powell (2003-2004)
Mike Petke (2005-2006)
Brandon Prideaux (2007)
Jose Burciaga Jr. (2008)
Greg Dalby (2009)
Anthony Wallace (2010-2013)
Jose Mari (2014)
Sam Cronin (2015-2017)
Benny Feilhaber (2019)
Lalas Abubakar (2019-2020)

16 different players, tying the record with #2 and three other numbers for the most used number.

Immediately I dismiss anyone who used the number for a single season.  None of them stand out as anyone with a claim on best ever.  That leaves us with Vermes, Paule, Powell, Petke, Wallace, Cronin, and Abubakar.  Paule was #20 his first three years here, which were his best ones, and we'll reevaluate him then.  Vermes was #2 for his first year but his other two years in #6 stand up well.  Powell (18), Wallace (23), and Abubakar (24) all have less than a season's worth of appearances even though they were on the team for multiple seasons.

Cronin was an All-Star in 2015 and of course Wallace started and won MLS Cup 2010.  Those are the only league-wide awards in the group.  Vermes did start during the USOC final run in 1999.  Other than Paule's assists (two thirds of which were while he was wearing #20) the only appearance in the team record books are Petke's, for card accumulation.

So again, much like 2, we're left with a list of journeyman players.  In this case we have a three way battle between Vermes, Petke, and Cronin.  I'm going to eliminate Petke as being not quite as good as the other two (which is backed up by the other two being All-Stars) and for being a walking card magnet.  Seriously, the third highest yellow cards/game total in the top 10 (Burling, Azira), he had as many yellows as Drew Moor does as a Rapid, in less than half the time.  The final decision between Vermes and Cronin is really hard to choose.  I could go either way.

In the end I'm going to side with Sam Cronin but I don't feel strongly about it.

Rapids History By The Numbers: #5

I have a feeling the best #5 isn't going to make some people happy.  First, the list:

Denis Hamlett (1996)
Jason Bent (1999-2000)
Geoff Aunger (2001)
Rivers Guthrie (2001)
Kyle Beckerman (2002-2007)
Facundo Erpen (2008)
Ty Harden (2009)
Joseph Nane (2012)
Diego Calderon (2013)
Thomas Piermayr (2014)
Michael Harrington (2015)
Mekeil Williams (2016-2017)
Tommy Smith (2018-2019)
Auston Trusty (2020)

No, I have no memory of Rivers Guthrie either.  Despite a personal favorite in Jason Bent, the clear answer here is Kyle Beckerman.  Yes, the traitor.  He appears all over the Rapids record book:

• 6th in Games, Starts, and Minutes
• 9th in shots
• 10th in Shots on Goal
• 3rd in Fouls Committed
• 6th in Fouls Suffered
• 2nd in Yellow Cards
• 3rd in Game-Winning Assists

Yeah, nobody else come close.  As much as he's turned to the dark side, he was a key component of those mid-2000's teams.  He also gets credit for calling out Clavijo's tactics in a live interview, which is probably what got him traded.

Rapids History By The Numbers: #4

Now we come to the first number where I'm not even sure as I write this sentence who the best player who wore it is, #4.  Lets take a look at the list and see which candidates stand out.

Steve Trittschuh (1996-1999)
Scott Vermillion (2000)
Robin Fraser (2001-2003)74
Adrian Cann (2004)
Ricky Lewis (2004)
Dan Gargan (2005-2007)
Greg Dalby (2008)
Ugo Ihemelu (2009)
Jeff Larentowicz (2010-2012)96
Marc Burch (2014-2017)
Danny Wilson (2018-2020)

Well, that list narrow down to 4 pretty quickly.  Trittschuh, Fraser, Larentowicz, and Burch are the only possible choices.  The only league awards for any of these players were in 2010 when Larentowicz was an All-Star and of course won MLS Cup that year.  Larentowicz and Trittschuh both appear in the team record book in the top 10 of yellow cards received but I don't think that helps their case much.  Otherwise none of the players appear anywhere in team records.  Fraser got his final U.S. National Team cap in 2001 while with the Rapids, while Larentowicz got all 4 of his career caps as a member of the Rapids.

So what we have is similar to our list for #2, a number of journeyman MLS players that really never stood out.  I think we can eliminate Burch.  He was a strong component of a single good season (2016) and not much else.  He also had the least appearances of the 4.  Of the other 3 Fraser had 74 appearances but no finals, Trittschuh had 91 appearances and appeared in the 1997 MLS Cup, but did not play in either the Open Cup semifinal or final in 1999.  The Ginger Ninja had the most appearances in #4, with 96.

I think the obvious answer here turns out to be Larentowicz.  He had the most appearances, was an All-Star, and won MLS Cup.  Interesting that our best #2 and #4 are midfielders when those numbers are traditionally defenders.

Next up, a pick at #5 that will likely upset some people.

Rapids History By The Numbers: #3

Moving on to an easier choice at #3.  First the list:

Richard Sharpe (1996)
Sean Henderson (1997-1998)
Lance Key (2000-2001)
Richie Kotschau (2002-2005)
Eric Denton (2006)
Greg Vanney (2007)
Facundo Erpen (2007)
Rafael Gomes (2008)
Drew Moor (2009-2015, 2020)
Eric Miller (2016-2017)
Kofi Opare (2019)

Yeah, there's only one choice here.  Drew Moor.  Just a small list of his accomplishments:

• MLS Cup Winner, 2010
• MLS All-Star, 2015
• 2nd All-Time Team Appearances, Starts, Minutes (Pablo 1st in all)
• MLS Ironman Record Holder for most consecutive 90 minute games in a row by a field player
• Team Ironman Record Holder for most consecutive 90 minute games in a row by any player

and when he retires he'll almost certainly be immediately added to the Rapids Gallery of Honor.

No more needs to be said.

Rapids History By The Numbers: #2

Next up, the number 2.  This is one of five numbers that has been used 16 times in 25 seasons, a record for the team.  Here's the full list:

Felipe Rodriguez (1996)
Peter Vermes (1997)
Matt McKeon (1999)
Keyeno Thomas (2000)
Chris Dawes (2001)
Rick Titus - (2002)
Gary Sullivan (2004)
Ricky Lewis (2005)
Hunter Freeman (2006)
Jordan Harvey (2008-2009)
Danny Earls (2010-2011)
Hunter Freeman (2012)
Nick LaBrocca (2013-2015)
Mike da Fonte (2017)
Edgar Castillo (2018)
Keegan Rosenberry (2019-2020)

Not surprisingly that with 16 different players in 25 years there's no real standout in the group.  The notables are Vermes, McKeon, Freeman, Harvey, LaBrocca, Castillo, and Rosenberry.  Vermes, McKeon, and Castillo can largely be eliminated due to their single season body of work.

None of these players appear in the Rapids record book with any sort of record.  Nick LaBrocca is 10th all time in appearances, but half of those were while he was wearing #22.  None of them won any MLS awards while with the Rapids.  What we have here is really the ultimate journeyman number.

I think, if we look at this list again in 4-5 years we'll see that Rosenberry has claimed the title of best Rapids #2, but he hasn't yet.  A season + 2 games isn't enough for that.  Out of Freeman, Harvey, and LaBrocca I think I have to give it to Nick just for the longevity of actually hanging around for three consecutive seasons, something nobody else who has worn the number has (yet) done.

So not a stirring endorsement, but an endorsement none the less.