Moments we’d love to see this year

Happy Valentine’s Day!

It’s been a tough couple of weeks for Rockies fans but that doesn’t mean we have to be sour on the day of love.

For that reason let’s take a break from bleak season projections, farm system rankings and the post-Nolan gloom to think about some moments in 2021 that we would LOVE to see and are guaranteed to make all of us feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Larry Walker’s Hall of Fame induction

The first player to ever go into the Hall of Fame as a member of the Colorado Rockies will finally get his moment of shine at the induction ceremony on July 25. The ceremony will obviously be a special day for Walker but it’s also a huge day for the Rockies and their fans to finally be represented in Cooperstown. Walker has now paved the way for future Rockies like Todd Helton to get the honor and respect they deserve. Even with Helton now making the Hall of Fame climb, Rockies fans should celebrate and savor the special moment because their’s no guarantee they’ll be another.

33 retired forever

Also originally scheduled for last year, Walker’s number 33 is expected to be the second retired Rockies number alongside teammate Todd Helton. The ceremony’s date has not yet been officially announced and probably won’t be until the Rockies can be sure that they can safely have a ballpark full of fans to celebrate Walker. It’ll be a chance for Rockies fans to show their appreciation and love for the Hall of Famer.

If the Rockies decide they want to hold the ceremony when the Cardinals visit town, like they were scheduled to last season, it could make for a very busy Fourth of July of weekend.

Nolan’s return to Coors

This one will be the most difficult one but it’ll be a bittersweet moment seeing Nolan Arenado return to Coors Field as a visitor. Like I mentioned earlier, this is scheduled to take place July 1st, meaning ironically we could be celebrating a Hall of Fame Rockie turned Cardinal while welcoming back a future Hall of Fame Rockie turned Cardinal.

If fans are allowed in by that time, expect to see however many attending give him a standing ovation. Nolan was a generational talent that Rockies fans got to enjoy for nearly eight seasons. His relationship with the front office deteriorated but his relationship with the fans remains stronger than ever.

Fans back at 20th and Blake

Although we don’t know exactly when or how many fans will safely be allowed at Coors, CBS Denver’s Kelly Werthmann recently shared a promising tidbit from Colorado Governor Jared Polis.

This along with the steady increase of available COVID-19 vaccines, makes it increasingly likely that some amount of fans will be allowed into Coors Field at some point this season. For those who’ll be there, it’ll have been a long journey to get back to the stands and enjoy a ballgame. No matter how many are there, the television viewing experience will benefit from real crowd roars, boos and an overall live environment for players and fans to feed off of. Whenever fans return to Coors, it’ll be a welcome return to (somewhat) normalcy.

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Trevor Story is headed to Rockies spring training– and it doesn’t make any sense | The Denver Post ($)

Matt Schubert grades the week and makes his case for why the Rockies should trade Trevor Story now and kickstart a rebuild, explaining, “Some might argue Colorado could get a better return if it waited until July. But what’s more valuable? A full year of Trevor Story or a half year?”

SF Giants Podcast Ep. 15 ft. Thomas Harding: Rockies & NL West | Sound the Foghorn

Thomas Harding visits Sound the Foghorn’s podcast to give insight into what the Rockies have done this offseason, their plan moving forward and his thoughts on the NL West division. It’s a great listen for an offseason recap and division preview.

Josh Fuentes on 2021, NL West | MLB.com

Josh Fuentes recently spoke to MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM and gave his thoughts on facing stiff competition in the division, what his offseason has been like and his reaction to Arenado being dealt. The video linked above is only 55 seconds of the interview it but here’s a couple more segments from Twitter.

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