There was a time when Jeff Francis was on top of the world. As the best pitcher on the improbable 2007 National League champion Colorado Rockies squad, Francis pitched many pivotal games during the team’s Rocktober march, including starting all three postseason Game Ones. He even landed on the cover of Sports Illustrated, a rare feat for a Colorado Rockies team that rarely finds itself the subject of national attention:

Francis, one of the more humble baseball players I’ve ever come into contact with, who actually could have done anything he wanted to in life (he was a physics major in college) copped to buying up every copy of that issue he could find. He even sent autographed copies of it to his former coaches, which is a pretty cool thing to do.

That issue was dated Oct. 15, 2007. He landed on the cover because at that point he and the Rockies were rolling. When it landed on newstands, the team had won 20 of its last 21 games, and would win again that night to send the Rockies to their first and (still) only World Series berth. Francis had pitched admirably along the way. In Game 1 in Philadelphia, he pitched six innings of two-run ball, striking out eight. Eight days later, in the desert against the Dbacks, he arguably pitched even better. He didn’t have his strikeouts working, but he netted 13 ground balls, and allowed just one run over 6.2 innings. He was bestowed with the “W” in both outings.

In fact, while Francis had lost the only game the Rockies lost from mid-September until late October, he had pitched pretty well in the second half, and for the season overall. His 3.7 WAR in 2007 still represents the eighth-best single-season Rockies total, and his 14.2 WAR with the Rockies is still the third-most on their career pitching leaderboard. That second half, he mixed efficient quality starts with total drubbings, as he did for most of his career — the crafty Francis was often at the mercy of the home plate umpire.

Speaking of drubbings, that second loss, the one he endured in late October at the hands of the Red Sox, was a rude awakening for the Rockies and their fans. Facing the behemoth Boston lineup, Francis coughed up six runs in four innings in Game One of the 2007 World Series. Dustin Pedroia would lead the game off with a home run, and Red Sox hitters made it tough on Francis all night. He never recorded four consecutive outs, and allowed baserunners in every inning. In fact, Francis’ Game Score for the outing was a lowly 18. As it turns out, this is one of the worst Game Scores in Game One World Series history:

Worst Game Scores, World Series Game One History

Year	Pitcher	Team	GSc
2004	Woody Williams	STL	11
1945	Hal Newhouser	DET	16
1996	Andy Pettitte	NYY	17
2007	Jeff Francis	COL	18
1997	Orel Hershiser	CLE	21
1919	Eddie Cicotte	CHW	22
1979	Bruce Kison	PIT	25
2014	James Shields	KC	25
1940	Paul Derringer	CIN	26
1932	Guy Bush	CHC	27
1959	Roger Craig	LAD	27
1965	Don Drysdale	LAD	27
1980	Dennis Leonard	KC	27

SOURCE: Baseball-Reference

Find the full list of World Series Game One Game Scores here.

Despite this, there’s actually an argument to be made that the Rockies were better off with Francis in the game. Franklin Morales — who, at the time, was still a stud phenom (though not as much after this night) — was brought in to start the fifth, and he and Ryan Speier proceeded to torch any small chance the Rockies had of coming back. The pair allowed 10 baserunners and seven runs in just 0.2 innings pitched (Speier didn’t even retire a batter), and suddenly it was 13-1. An hour or so into the World Series, the life had been sucked out of the Rockies. Boston would only trail for four innings during their tidy four-game sweep.

Today, Jeff Francis announced his retirement, and 2007 seems like a long time ago. In 2008, Francis would begin to have shoulder trouble, and was rarely ever the same pitcher he was in 2007 on a consistent basis. But he still ground out a pretty decent career. Most kids who grew up loving baseball would be ecstatic if they were told they could pitch in the majors for 11 seasons, and even more so if you told them that in one of those 11 seasons they’d wind up on the cover of Sports Illustrated. No, 16 WAR isn’t going to get Jeff Francis into the Hall of Fame, but even if it ended without a parade, he’ll always have Rocktober, and that’s pretty good.