Well, they’ve got 159 chances to blow this.
But right now, I’ll admit it, it’s fun. Friday is opening day at Coors Field, the adorable Rockies are 3-0, and we can all agree that winning, as the great baseball philosopher Ebby Calvin LaLoosh once explained, is “like, better than losing.”
But consider this: Three games into a baseball season is comparable to about one and a half holes of the Masters. So the Rockies are currently on the No. 2 fairway on the first day.
But a hot start for one particular Rockie is actually rather relevant. And revealing.
Carlos Gonzalez is back to deserving his cool-guy nickname, CarGo, one that befits swagger and not swings-and-misses — “CarGo meekly strikes out!” just doesn’t sound right.
WATCH:
For years, I’d watch CarGo strut into the clubhouse fashionably late, jewelry catching the light just so, vain veins bulging from his forearms. It worked when he was CarGo; last season, he was Carlos. Battling physical pain from injuries and emotional pain from family issues, the former batting champion hit .238.
But, as became apparent during spring training, Gonzalez is much hungrier this season. He is also in much better shape. All that stuff sounds good, but it’s, like, actually working. Through three games CarGo is hitting .385 with a preposterous 1.023 on-base-plus-slugging percentage (OPS).
So, yeah, a hot start for a team means little. Recall your excitement in April of 2013, when Colorado started out 13-4, even though, if memory serves correctly, they played the paltry San Diego Padres in every single game that month. But a hot start for CarGo is vital because psychologically it tells him — hey, man, the changes were worth it. A hot start, even for 27 innings, is instant confidence. And a hot start is symbolic of a rebirth for this man, just like you’re smiley today because, and this is OK to feel this way, a small part of you thinks the Rockies have started something magical.
To be fair, Colorado improved to 3-0 for the first time since 2001, back in the Denny Neagle days. And the Rockies haven’t been 4-0 since 1995, back when Corey Dickerson was 6.
CarGo seems to have a strong relationship with the fans in Denver — as he reminds us in the Taco Bell ads, he’s got your tacos right here — but the reality is, the better CarGo plays, the more likely he’ll be playing for someone else. The Rockies pitching staff cannot win in the National League West. Man, I hope I’m wrong, because there are few things better in this town than when folks go to Rockies games to actually watch Rockies games. But I see Colorado, at best, flirting with .500 by season’s end. So, really, Carlos getting back to being CarGo is probably most important to the front office, which will have a rejuvenated batting champ as a trade chip coming summertime.
For now, we’ll enjoy Gonzalez because he’s ours, and because he’s playing baseball with a swagger that can’t be enhanced by a jeweler.
Gonzalez is 5-for-13 with three doubles and a home run. After Wednesday’s dramatic win, he told The Post’s Patrick Saunders: “I’m putting a good swing on the ball.”
No, “putting a good swing on the ball” is that big guy from your office smacking a single in company softball. What CarGo is doing to the ball is illegal in 14 states. His mammoth home run against the Milwaukee Brewers actually had a layover (old-timey joke, but I couldn’t resist).
On opening day, we get the urge to be gushy and mushy and poetic and prophetic. Well, then, here I go — there is nothing prettier in baseball than a CarGo swing.
Enjoy it while you can.
Benjamin Hochman: bhochman@denverpost.com or
