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.
Thursday, May 28, 2020
Monday, May 25, 2020
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.
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.
Thursday, May 21, 2020
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.
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.
Monday, May 18, 2020
Rapids By The Numbers: #9
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!
Sunday, May 17, 2020
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...
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