Tucson
“Oh, my God, is this really even happening?”
That was the first thought dashing through Clint Barmes’ head when he tripped on the first step while walking up the stairs to his downtown Denver apartment, carrying a bag of deer meat last June 5. By now, you know the story.
Barmes broke his left collarbone, needed surgery, missed 78 games and ruined his radiant rookie season. In 55 games, he had hit .329. He returned on Sept. 1, played in 27 games and hit .216.
You know he omitted the part about being at Todd Helton’s home with Brad Hawpe for dinner, their ride on separate ATVs scouting deer, how Helton had given him the deer meat as a gift and his fear of implicating Helton or Hawpe in any way. How a connection with that outing might be drawn to the injury instead of what happened, he said. How he was forced a few days later to come clean with the whole story while insisting the injury happened just like he had said.
“I had the bag in my right arm and switched it to my left just before I tripped on the step,” Barmes said. “At first, there wasn’t much pain. I put the meat back in the bag and walked up to my apartment. And by the time I got there the shoulder started to hurt. I pulled my shirt off. Nothing felt right. My brother, Trevor, took me to the emergency room. Our trainer, Keith Dugger, met us there.”
One of the hardest parts was telling his teammates.
“I walked in and did not know what I was going to say,” Barmes said. “I apologized. That’s all I remember.”
Once the Rockies learned that he had been at Helton’s home before the injury, general manager Dan O’Dowd and assistant general manager Bill Geivett came to Barmes’ home. Barmes’ mother, Erma, was there, in from their hometown of Vincennes, Ind. All three questioned her son.
“He was told we wanted to know, eyeball to eyeball, how it happened,” Rockies president Keli McGregor said. “He was told this was a question important to the organization, that the integrity of everyone was in question if he did not tell the truth. And once he told the story, it came down at that point to a matter of trust. It was a tough lesson for him. It was a tough lesson for us.”
Geivett added: “(Having) his mom there was a plus. He wasn’t going to lie with his mom right there.”
Do you buy it? I do. I cannot say that I did before. But after sitting with Barmes, looking at him eyeball to eyeball and listening, he is convincing.
“This is a great guy, the epitome of the type of individual we want to wear the uniform,” Rockies owner Charlie Monfort said. “His character won out.”
Now Barmes – who turns 27 on Monday and is entering his second full big-league season – is back in spring training attempting to recapture last year’s early-season magic. He feels good, looks good. The 5-inch scar on his left shoulder is a constant reminder that the healing is over. The task is to prove himself again, not just as an overachiever but a pure achiever, a championship-caliber shortstop.
“I’ve always been pretty clumsy,” said Barmes, who was drafted in the 10th round by the Rockies in 2000 and got call-ups from the minors in 2003 and 2004 before sticking last year. “There was the game last year when I was running for a popup that a teammate caught, and I fell over the pitching rubber. That got a few laughs. The rubber has only been around for 100 years. If you watch long enough, I’m always going to do something pretty funny.
“I’ve heard the overachiever stuff my whole life. How many years do you have to play before people say, ‘He can play shortstop?’
“I’ve heard a lot of jokes about the injury. It’s not hurtful. I brought it all on myself. A kid at Coors Field last year when I returned asked for an autograph. Then he said, ‘As much money as you’re making, why are you carrying groceries? Can’t you get somebody to carry them?’ That was something. It rolls off my back. I can handle it.”
“Oh, my God, is this really even happening?”
That was the first thought dashing through Barmes’ mind when he hit that walk-off, two-run homer off San Diego premier reliever Trevor Hoffman in the Rockies’ season-
opening 12-10 victory over the Padres last year at Coors Field.
“Rounding the bases was a blur,” he said. “I saw the whole team in a circle and leaving a path for me to get to home plate. I don’t think that picture will ever leave my mind.”
The confidence he gained from that day, which included three other hits, helped boost him to a hot start that made him the early league rookie-
of-the-year favorite. His bat is quick but his fielding could be improved. He spent part of the fall in the Dominican Republic league working on both, stayed in Denver for the rest of the offseason to do the same, and reported to camp early here to continue his comeback.
The shortstop job is once again his to lose, but he prefers viewing it as his to win.
“Keep it simple” is his motto. “Fear no one but respect all” is another.
McGregor says this is a player with championship habits. aps differ throughout the organization on whether Barmes truly is a championship-caliber shortstop, or a player holding the position down until the Rockies can do better.
“His injury last year was a big kick in the stomach and one of the top five this organization has taken,” Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said. “The kid was playing his best baseball at the major-league level, we were about 20 games under .500 and we lose our everyday shortstop. You don’t go looking for adversity, but when it happens, if handled properly, you can grow from it.
“Major-league personnel may look at him and say he lacks credentials. Here is another opportunity for him to prove them wrong. Is he a championship-caliber shortstop? I believe he is. And people I trust say he is.”
Barmes, a lover of country music, was engaged to Colorado native Summer Dennison on Dec. 23. They plan to wed sometime after this season in Vincennes.
In a short big-league span, he has viewed the game from the top – and from the valley.
“Everybody has their opinions,” Barmes said. “I see a solid spring for us, and we hope to have a better start in the season. We can compete for the division. I’ve got a job and I’ve got to play to keep it. I’m glad for the opportunity.”
And confident that after his fall comes his biggest surge.
Staff writer Thomas Georgecan be reached at 303-820-1994 or tgeorge@denverpost.com.
