Kyle Freeland is hurt, Scott Oberg’s career is most likely over, Trevor Story won’t be at short much longer and of course, Nolan Arenado no longer plays for the Colorado Rockies. Things are not looking good ahead of the 2021 season for the boys in purple pinstripes.
I dread writing that, I dread seeing it, I dread everything that surrounds the trade of a once in a lifetime player, along with all the other emotions of being a fan of my favorite team, in all of sports, the Colorado Rockies. Boy it feels, honestly, dumb saying that, the Rockies are my favorite team. It is so incredibly hard to be excited about this team, the front office, run by Harvard Brain Scientist GM Jeff Birdich and “baseball guy” Dick Monfort have turned one of the most exciting, promising teams in baseball, into another side show for your trip to Denver’s best bar, Coors Field.
Not too long ago, the playoff bound Rockies, with arguably one of the best infields in baseball (sans first base of course) fought their way past the Cubs in the 2018 Wild Card and, well got dusted by the Brewers in NLDS. BUT, the promise was there. The pitching staff was showing huge signs of promise, a lockdown closer was in Purple and man that infield, Nolan Arenado, Trevor Story AND DJ LeMahieu. The foundation was set for the Rockies to be the contenders I’d always dreamed they could be.
Then… the pieces started falling, the foundation crumbled and Rockies fans are again left in the dust of the rubble of a beloved superstar traded away.
Why do I still care? I ask myself every day, why? Why do I invest so much time into a team, run by people who don’t seem to get it? What’s the point?
The point is fandom. I guess?
This offseason was a nightmare for the Rockies faithful, the few that remain. Although few, there are still legit Rockies fans! Myself included. I thought I was going to be switching teams or shifting my focus away from the Rockies to other teams, or maybe I wouldn’t watch that much baseball this season. I was lying to myself, on both accounts. I love baseball, I love watching exciting teams play baseball, but I still love the Rockies. I still love my hometown team and as some of us know in sports, fandom, comes with pain.
I went to Ohio University, located in incredible Athens, Ohio. The cool part about OU, yes, I said OU, was that it brought people from every corner of Ohio, and the surrounding regions, to this small town, where sports play a huge role. NFL Sundays were a sea of jerseys from, mostly from the AFC North. The most passionate fans out of all of them? Cleveland Browns fans. I saw more people fully decked out in Browns gear than any other pro team (except maybe the LeBron James lead Cavs who were battling with Golden State most of my time in College). I knew so many Browns fans who every Sunday, no matter how busy, how hungover, how frustrated with their team, never miss a game. They sat through defeated seasons, 27 different QBs, and loss after loss. I asked myself, how? Why?
They were from Cleveland, and they loved the Browns. It was that simple. They were mad, disappointed frustrated all the adjectives you could use to describe emotions during horrid streak for the Browns. But there they were, every Sunday, every snap, every play. Bet it feels good to a Browns fan now.
Sports, especially the teams we grew up watching, infect fans in such fascinating ways. Sports and fandom often become part of one’s personality and identity. Watching the Rockies has been part of every summer I can remember. We were part of a season ticket package, Dad and I did a lot of our hanging out either at the ballpark, or at home with the game on. In classic Big Ed fashion, we’d have the radio broadcast on with the game muted. Every time a big play happened or a home run, the radio would call it, then he’d look at me and say, bet he hits a homer here. Sure, enough they always did.
I moved away for college and while I used to get home during breaks and such, I’ve spent less and less time in Colorado over the years. It’s a natural part of growing up but being away from where you come from is hard, especially when where you come from is way different and some of the connections are gone. My parents left cold weather behind and moved to Florida for well-deserved retirement, one of my brothers hasn’t lived in this country for years, and the last Holden holdout in Colorado moves in a few weeks. It’s weird seeing your childhood home go up for sale, even more weird when every time you go back “home” you are just visiting. I appreciate where I am and the adventures ahead, but the Rockies are the one thing I always feel I am a part of, no matter how far away I am. Pretty cheesy, but like ballpark nachos, sports and sports fandom is fully loaded with cheese.
I’ve spent money and countless hour supporting this team. I do, honestly, implore people to consider if investing in this team is worth their time and money. The front office and ownership have done a great job making it seem like it’s not. The mishandling of stars like Tulo and Arenado, the lack of quality free agency signings and an abysmal record of communication and public interaction, it is CLEAR the Rockies are in desperate need of an overhaul. They will never reach the goals we have in mind as fans if this remains status quo.
But… in the end the fans only have so much say, but you do have a voice and I hope you use it. In constructive ways! atRockies only handles the social media, not the transactions, it isn’t their fault! (Guilty of yelling myself, so I’ve worked to be better!) Write to the front office, wear the Fire Birdich shirt to Coors, (chant it everytime Nolan comes to town too), support the writers and media members who have the megaphone to amplify your voice.
If you end up taking your family or friends to Coors for a beautiful evening of baseball and summer in Denver…well that’s okay too, honestly! That’s the experience the Rockies have built right now. Enjoy coming back to the park and a little bit of baseball, doesn’t matter how the Rox are doing, the Party Deck is still there!
So much of it does feel like shouting into the void, the ship is sinking now and we don’t know how to stop it. For better or worse, guess I’ll hang on and see where it goes, maybe it’ll get better, maybe it’ll get worse, but one things for sure:
Nolan Arenado doesn’t play for the Rockies anymore and that sucks.
Go Rockies.
Paul Holden 