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.

Rapids History By The Numbers: #1

As expected, #1 is the realm of the goalkeepers.  Here's the full list of who's worn #1 over the years:

Chris Woods (1996)

Marcus Hahnemann (1997-1999)

David Kramer (2000-2002)

Scott Garlick (2003)

Joe Cannon (2004-2006)

Bouna Coundoul (2007-2008)

Clint Irwin (2014-2015, 2020)

Tim Howard (2016-2019)

First, its easy to forget that Pickens never wore #1, and apparently none of his backups did either, so there's a gap for 5 years.  Secondly, there's a few of these that are clearly not in the running.  Woods, Kramer, Garlick, and Bouna (I love you Bouna!) aren't in the same category as Hahnemman, Cannon, Irwin, and Howard.  So its really a four way race.

Some of the notable accomplishments for the four of them:

Hahnemann - Second all-time in Team Wins (behind Pickens)

Cannon - 2004 MLS Best XI, 2005 & 2006 All-Star, 2004 MVP Finalist, 2004 MLS GK of the Year, 2005 & 2006 MLS GK of the Year Finalist, Rapids All-Time Leader - Saves

Irwin - 2015 All-Star, Second all-time in Team Minutes and Shutouts (behind Pickens in both)

Howard - 2017 MLS All-Star, 2016 MLS GK of the Year Finalist, 2019 MLS Humanitarian of the Year Finalist

I think that alone shows that Cannon and Howard are on a different level in their Rapids careers than Hahnemman was.  Marcus was probably the first real name to leave the Rapids and go on to success overseas but even then it took a couple of years for him to find his home at Reading.  Irwin appears high in a number of team categories but most of them are counting stats due to his longevity.  Cannon is not far behind him with notably less games played.  In the end though this comes down to Joe vs. Tim.

When you look at the Rapids record book Howard leads Cannon in appearances, starts, and minutes, but Cannon leads Howard in Wins, Losses, Saves, Shutouts, and Goals Against Average.  All but the latter are counting stats, not averages, which means he did more in less time.  That. combined with the list of accomplishments, makes this an easy call for me .  Joe Cannon is the best Rapid to ever wear the #1 jersey.

Rapids History By The Numbers: Overview

Ok, I've been finally inspired to write about something Rapids related even with the pandemic shutting down the league.  This is the first in a series discussing which is the best Rapid to wear each number all-time.

The goal of this series is to focus on their play as a member of the team.  If the focus was just the best player overall then clearly Tim Howard would be the best player to ever wear #1 and El Pibe would be the best #10.  Were they the best player to wear their numbers when playing for the burgundy boys though?  A lot of the criteria is subjective, obviously.  While I won't be looking at their careers outside the team any National Team appearances while wearing the green/blue/burgundy will have an influence, since National Team callups are based on their club play.

Now there have been 47 numbers used over Rapids history.  I've had to piece the number history together from John Persing's original archive, Wikipedia, game reports, Rapids statistics, random game photos found online, and some help from Richard Fleming.  So don't be shocked if the data isn't 100% correct.  Also, I'm not writing 47 different columns.  Some of the numbers were used by one or two players total, so I can combine those into one column.  Others are very obvious as to who the best player was (Balboa/17, Mastroeni/25) so we won't need to spend a lot of space on them.  I'm hoping to keep this to about 30 total, and to get through them in a month or two.

#1 will be posted later tonight, and I'm hoping to get at least #2 and #3 out this week.