Tucson – The Blake Street Bash has been put on hold.
The Rockies had hoped to honor their famed sluggers with a Coors Field reunion in conjunction with Andres Galarraga’s induction into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame on April 10. However, because the Rockies are in the middle of their first road trip at that time, plans had to be altered.
“We are still looking to do something to honor the Bombers, possibly this year, but right now there are some scheduling conflicts,” Rockies president Keli McGregor said Tuesday.
One possibility, McGregor said, would be to bring the Bombers back individually to honor them.
The Blake Street Bombers launched homers at Coors Field from 1995 through 1997. The original crew consisted of Dante Bichette, Larry Walker, Vinny Castilla and Galarraga. Ellis Burks joined the cast in 1996 when he hit 40 bombs. During a three-year span, the average season for each Bomber was 35 homers and 110 RBIs.
Shallow outfielders
In an attempt to cut down bloop hits at Coors Field, the Rockies plan to move their outfielders in 5 to 10 feet on average this season. The experiment begins today with their first spring-training game.
“We believe our outfield is athletic enough to cover ground, and by doing this we can take away a lot of the stuff in front of them,” manager Clint Hurdle said.
Atkins gets slight bump
Garrett Atkins paid the price for the Rockies’ strict discipline regarding non-arbitration eligible players. Atkins will make $400,000 this season when his contract is officially renewed Thursday. That’s a $65,000 raise, but all but $20,000 is a product of the league’s new $380,000 minimum salary.
Players with less than three years of major-league service who have signed include Chris Iannetta ($60,000 minors, $381,000 majors), Ubaldo Jimenez ($60,000, $381,000), Omar Quintanilla ($101,954, $381,000) and Ryan Spilborghs ($125,859, $383,000).
Footnotes
The Rockies open Cactus League play today against the White Sox. Right-hander Aaron Cook is scheduled to start and pitch two innings.
Patrick Saunders can be reached at 303-954-1428 or psaunders@denverpost.com.
