Colorado Rockies OF Corey Dickerson embraces off-kilter fan following

DENVER -- While coming up through the minors, Corey Dickerson wasn't going to let anybody get in the way of his ultimate goal of reaching the big leagues.

"I was from a small town so there weren’t many scouts around," Dickerson said of his baseball upbringing. "I just tried to outwork people on and off the field, and success came from that."

In just a few short years, Dickerson went from unheralded eighth-round draft pick to All-Star in the making. He did it by hitting really well at every single level of the minors:

Dickerson began attracting notable buzz here during that 2010 season, eventually finding himself on six of our Purple Row Prospects lists and topping out at No. 7 shortly before his arrival in the big leagues. The lefty-swinging outfielder never really caught the attention of national prospect hounds, though. Dickerson was left off of top 100 lists throughout his minor league career and his performances were largely dismissed as a product of stellar hitting environments.

Rockies fans knew they had something special from Dickerson's first day in the big leagues, though. The McComb, Miss. native finally got the call on June 22, 2013. That same day, "Dickmania" was born.

Dickerson went on to hit a respectable .263/.316/.459 in his first exposure against major league pitching. It's been all uphill from there.

In his age 25 season, Dickerson mashed to the tune of a .312/.364/.567 line for the 2014 Rockies. That's when everyone else began to take notice. Rockies manager Walt Weiss began routinely throwing out analogies to describe Dickerson's ability to hit:

"He could wake up on Christmas morning and hit."

"He could hit under water."

"He could hit with one hand tied behind his back."

At this point, with Dickerson off to a .329/.378/.605 start through 21 games in 2015, who's going to argue? Either way, Dickerson loves it.

"That’s funny," Dickerson said of his apparent cult status, specifically talking about Dickmania. "It’s something for people to hold onto and connect with me and the way I play."

It's not hard to understand why Rockies fans to want to build a personal connection with a player who owns a .300/.352/.541 line through 773 big league plate appearances and is only getting better with each passing day. Through all of that, though, Dickerson remains humble, crediting his teammates for helping maintain a good offensive mentality.

"It’s confidence and aggression that the whole team feels," Dickerson explained. "We're gonna have success if we get behind in a ballgame. We know we’re going to come back."

As Dickerson continues his path toward stardom, the Rockies as a whole might not follow the same trajectory, whether it's because of inconsistent pitching, injuries to key players or subpar depth. That won't keep fans from continuing to support a player with a good story -- and great on-field ability -- like Dickerson.

"It’s pretty cool to have success and have fans enjoy it," Dickerson. "That’s what I like: being able to have a good fanbase."