Home

Tom Ross

Tom Ross' column appears Tuesdays and Sundays in Steamboat Today. Contact him at 970-871-4205 or tross@SteamboatToday.com.

For a brief moment Tuesday, I thought Colorado Rockies slugger Matt Holliday was going to knock an A-10C Thunderbolt right out of the sky. But I quickly reminded myself that the thick skin of the Air Force war bird was designed to withstand all sorts of ground fire and flak.

Holliday had just launched a monster batting-practice home run over the center field fence at one of the back diamonds at Hi Corbett Field in Tucson, Ariz. The ball took off in a high arc in the general direction of a pair of Air Force ground attack jets that had been making repeated low passes over the baseball diamond on their way to the airstrip at nearby Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. Holliday just missed.

The shot to center field was roughly Holliday's fifth in a row. The previous four bombs had cleared the left field fence. I didn't actually count Holliday's long balls - after all, it was batting practice. But I know for certain that Holliday's shift was impressive enough to elicit some exclamations from bullpen coach Rick Mathews.

We drove down to Tucson from Phoenix the day before the Rockies' first spring training game of the year, specifically because I read that the atmosphere around the practice fields behind Hi Corbett is surprisingly informal during the early stages of spring training.

There is no published schedule of the Rockies' daily workouts, and it was dumb luck that we showed up just in time for late-morning batting practice. "Informal" turned out to be an understated description of the scene we encountered.

It took a moment for the recognition to set in that shortstop Troy Tulowitzki had just walked within 5 feet of me on his way to the batting cage.

If you want to get a feel for the Rockies' practices, picture four diamonds grouped in a cloverleaf with all four home plates at the center. Other than the field arrangement and the fact that the grass is meticulously cared for, it's not that different from standing around watching Triple Crown warm-ups at Howelsen Hill.

Yet, there were Garret Atkins, Todd Helton and Brad Hawpe, chatting casually 15 feet away while they waited for their turn in the cage.

There were perhaps 30, no more than 40, fans hanging around.

One middle-aged fan was asking for autographs, and the players patiently explained that they needed to concentrate on their business. But one boy, who was calling out greetings to the different players, was getting a lot of attention. He never asked for an autograph, but left the fields with a baseball and a bat that had been broken cleanly in half.

Manager Clint Hurdle was nowhere in sight, but General Manager Dan O'Dowd was standing just inside the chain link infield fence in shorts and running shoes, his cell phone stuck to his ear.

I had to pinch myself. Don't mistake me. I've been around enough athletes to know they are just regular guys and gals with extraordinary hand-eye coordination and a will to work. They are not gods and goddesses descended from Mount Olympus, and I am no autograph hound from Mount Werner.

However, since I was a youngster who struggled to pick up groundballs, I've felt like Major League baseball players were bigger-than-life figures. Ballplayers spend most of their lives in airplanes and on television screens. Don't they?

It was difficult to photograph the players through the fences at Hi Corbett, but I discovered that the gates to the dugouts were left standing open, and I was able to get clear shots by standing just a few inches to the side of the opening.

Someone brushed against my shoulder on his way to the batting cage and said, "Excuse me please." I glanced up and read the name Torrealba on the back of his black uniform shirt.

The Rockies' starting catcher is a regular guy - just like you and I, only with better hand-eye coordination.

Tom Ross is a longtime Steamboat resident. His column is published Tuesdays and Saturdays in Steamboat Today.