FanPost

Why I am a Rockies (or baseball) fan...

Doug Pensinger/Getty Images


Like most baseball fans, I inherited the love of the game from my parents. I was raised a Tigers fan, being from Michigan, and to be honest, they were always the team I followed the closest growing up. 1993 was a fun year though. I was five, and for some reason, my family got caught up in expansion fever. It was somehow determined that my sister would be a Marlins fan, and myself a Rockies fan. That year, our grandparents and parents would get us merchandise from those teams, and the thing that sticks out the most was my 5th birthday present. My grandparents gave me a matching shirt/short set with socks. It was incredibly 90's, and probably only socially acceptable for a five year old, if that.

Either way, ever since then, I have kept my eye on the team. Dante Bichette was my favorite player, then Brad Hawpe, then Tulo. I made my fandom a little more immersive in 2014, when I had the privilege of writing for Rockies Zingers, led by current Purple Row writer Richard Bergstrom. I got to dive deep into the farm system, finding myself rooting for Raimel Tapia, Rosell Herrera, Ryan McMahon, and so on. Even though Jake McGee has been superb and the outfield is a logjam, I miss Corey Dickerson in the lineup, but alas, so goes baseball. To see the team having some success and a promising future with the farm system, it's an exciting time and appears a window is opening.

In the meantime, I haven't forgotten my Tigers, as well as have picked up other rooting interests. I now have a career in minor league baseball, where I have had the privilege to meet individual players and get to know them on a personal level. Trust me, that will really throw a wrench in your fandom. These days, I keep an eye on the Tigers and Rockies, root for my employer organization, and keep track of the guys I've gotten to know in my five seasons working in the industry.

I hope one day to pass my love for the game on to my children, and whether they end up a Rockies fan, a Tigers fan, or charter their own path of fandom, there's nothing better to me than sharing a love for a game that brings people and generations together.

Eat. Drink. Be Merry. But the above FanPost does not necessarily reflect the attitudes, opinions, or views of Purple Row's staff (unless, of course, it's written by the staff [and even then, it still might not]).