Editor’s note: In the Colorado Classics series, The Denver Post takes a weekly look at individuals who made their mark on the Colorado sports landscape and what they are doing now.
It wasn’t necessary to have the batting cage in sight to know Andres Galarraga was taking batting practice.
Just being within hearing distance was good enough to know the “Big Cat” was tuning up for the day’s game as the first baseman for the Rockies. Galarraga was surrounded by other members of the fabled Blake Street Bombers, but the sound created by his strength and bat speed connecting with a baseball was distinct and world class. None of the other Bombers – Dante Bichette, Vinny Castilla, Ellis Burks or even Larry Walker – could duplicate the audio-identifying thwack that told it was Galarraga in the cage.
Galarraga provided visual identification as well.
On May 31, 1997, the Rockies faced the Florida Marlins and Kevin Brown at Pro Player Stadium (now Dolphin Stadium) in Miami. Galarraga hit a colossal home run during that game.
“The ball almost went out of the stadium,” Galarraga said. “They said it was 579 feet. They later cut the distance to 529 feet, but I had the longest home run ever for a couple of innings.”
Hitting the longest ball wasn’t necessary for Galarraga to be a home run for the Rockies and their fans. He brought instant credibility to an expansion franchise that danced through a magical first season in 1993. At the Rockies’ first home game, 80,227 fans at Mile High Stadium set a major-league record for a regular-season game.
Almost every game that year was a milestone of sorts, and Galarraga put enough milestones together to win the National League batting title, hitting .370. The batting crown gave Rockies fans their first individual baseball champion and hero, and cemented a spectacular comeback from baseball’s scrap heap for Galarraga.
Over the next four seasons, Galarraga was one of baseball’s most dynamic hitters before leaving the Rockies after the 1997 season.
Galarraga is hitting once again. He will accept induction Tuesday night into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame, the first such honoree with a Rockies connection.
“No doubt, my best five years in baseball were my five years in Colorado,” Galarraga said. “I was probably the first player who signed with the Rockies. When Don Baylor became the Rockies’ manager, he asked me to go with him from St. Louis to Colorado. Everything was perfect for me in Colorado and being with Don Baylor. It was quite a turnaround for me.”
Baylor, as a hitting coach, and Galarraga were together in 1992 with the St. Louis Cardinals. It wasn’t a good year as Galarraga hit only .243 with 10 home runs in 95 games. The fans in St. Louis weren’t kind.
“I felt my best chance was to be with Baylor and the Rockies,” Galarraga said. “We changed a lot, my stance, my mechanics, everything. I opened my stance at the plate so I faced the pitcher. That helped me see the ball with both eyes.”
Galarraga saw the ball, all right. Besides the batting title in 1993, he led the National League in home runs in 1996 with 47 and in RBIs with 150 in 1996 and 140 in 1997. He won the Silver Slugger Award in 1996, and his performance in 1993 earned him the league’s comeback player of the year.
The batting championship in 1993 didn’t happen easily. On July 25, Galarraga and second baseman Roberto Mejia collided as both chased a foul ball down the first-base line. Galarraga had to have knee surgery and missed 24 games, but returned to the lineup in time to gain enough at-bats for the crown and comeback player honors.
But there was a more rewarding comeback later in his career while playing for the Atlanta Braves. Galarraga was diagnosed with cancer during the 1999 season, and his future in baseball was in doubt. He returned to play for another five years, completing a 19-year career that included 18 postseason games.
“When I came to Colorado, everybody was thinking my career was finished,” Galarraga said. “But I never was thinking that way. But with cancer, I didn’t know if I would play again or not.”
Galarraga, 45, lives in West Palm Beach, Fla., but still returns home to Venezuela during parts of the year. His attention has turned to golf, and he boasts of his paintings of some favorite golf courses in Florida and Venezuela. He still is called the “Cat,” a nickname given him by his first manager, Bob Bailey, in Montreal’s minor- league system.
“He came up with the name because I could run fast and was agile,” Galarraga said. “He also said he was calling me ‘Cat’ because he couldn’t pronounce Galarraga.”
Galarraga says the best teams he played for were the 1995 and 1996 Rockies.
“Pitchers were afraid to face us, especially with the lineup we had at that time,” Galarraga said. “Nobody wanted to face that team, especially in Colorado.”
He misses baseball, but sees only a game or two a year. The Marlins, the Braves and the New York Mets have sought his services as a hitting instructor. So far he has said no. Maybe he is waiting for a call from the Rockies and a chance to return to where he had his best days in baseball.
Irv Moss can be reached
at 303-954-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
