There were hugs all around from those Rockies who knew Weiss back in the day.

And jokes about his newfound internet fame.

“You don’t mess with Walt, as everybody has seen now,” Rockies longtime trainer Keith Dugger said with a laugh.

The thing is, the 62-year-old Weiss never expected to go viral. But there he was, sparking memes, inspiring T-shirts, “Come put on the pads, Skip.”

In case you missed it (how could you?), that broke out between the Braves and the Angels in Anaheim, Calif., on April 8.

As fists started to fly between Braves pitcher Reynaldo Lopez and Angels designated hitter Jorge Soler, Weiss sprinted from the dugout, flipped off his hat, and tackled the 6-foot-3, 235-pound Soler.

The 6-foot, 180-pound Weiss, who still lives in Parker during the offseason, is a soft-spoken gentleman. But just beneath the surface flows white-hot competitive intensity. Sporting biceps like Schwarzenegger’s, Weiss goes to the gym nearly every day. He’s a martial artist with a black belt in taekwondo and has training in MMA, including jiu-jitsu.

Soler was the 2021 World Series MVP for the Braves when Weiss was the bench coach. But that didn’t matter in the heat of the moment.

“I love Soler. We were teammates here,” that night. “But that����ap a big man, and so I just felt I’ve gotta get him off his feet because he’s gonna hurt somebody. And so that was my instinct, just to get in there and get Jorge off his feet, yeah, because he was on a warpath.”

Weiss is way past all of that now, but the moment inspired the Braves.

“We could not get enough of it,” said Braves reliever Tyler Kinley, who pitched for Colorado from 2020 through part of 2025 before he was traded to Atlanta. “Guys rally around different things throughout the year, and that, for us, was huge. Guys already knew that Walt was tough and a bad dude.

“I mean, everyone knows that Soler is a big dude, and he’s not a gentle giant. To see Walt zone in on Soler, find him, and then take him down and end the whole scrum was amazing. Guys were already ready to run through a brick wall for Walt.”

An evolution from player to skipper

Weiss’ baseball card is impressive. He played 14 years in the majors and was the American League rookie of the year in 1988 with the Oakland A’s, with whom he won three pennants and the 1989 World Series. He played shortstop for the Rockies from 1994-97. He was an All-Star with the Braves in 1998 at age 34.

After retiring as a player in 2000, Weiss served as a special assistant and instructor with the Rockies from 2002 to 2008. He managed the Rockies for four seasons (2013-16) and was Atlanta’s bench coach for eight years before replacing Brian Snitker as manager.

Former Rockies general manager Dan O’Dowd hired Weiss to replace Jim Tracy after the Rockies’ 98-loss season in 2012. The Rockies went 283-365 under Weiss, and while owner Dick Monfort wanted him to continue after the 2016 season, Weiss resigned because of his strained relationship with Jeff Bridich, the GM who replaced O’Dowd.

The Rockies improved to 75-87 under Weiss in 2016, and many of the building blocks were in place for the 2017-18 Rockies teams that made the playoffs under Bud Black, most notably an infield that included third baseman Nolan Arenado, shortstop Trevor Story, and second baseman DJ LeMahieu, as well as All-Star outfielders Charlie Blackmon and Carlos Gonzalez.

“The circumstances are worlds apart,” Weiss said Friday when asked what he learned managing the Rockies. “The first time I did this, back here, I had been out of the game for four years, which is an eternity in this league. I mean, I was coaching high school football (at Regis Jesuit) when I interviewed for that job.

“I had a lot to learn, had to learn on the fly. But I had a good staff around me that helped me through those early years.”

Weiss has evolved a lot since then.

“I saw the game probably more through a player’s eyes back then, because that’s what I leaned on,” he said. “In some ways, that’s good. In some ways, probably not so good.

“I was the bench coach (with the Braves) for eight years, so I know this team very well. The trust has been established. But this is a very different scenario. This is a team that’s built to win, right now. I’m certainly more comfortable in my own skin, in this role, right now.”

The Braves beat the Rockies 8-6 in comeback fashion on Friday night and entered Saturday’s game at Coors with a big-league-best 23-10 record and were 9-0-1 in series this season.

A hard-nosed ‘father figure’

Weiss steered his club through some early-season turbulence.

During spring training, the Braves lost right-hand Spencer Strider to an oblique strain. He’s scheduled to make his season debut on Sunday against the Rockies.  Starters Spencer Schwellenbach and Hurston Waldrep went down with elbow injuries and have yet to return.

Catcher Sean Murphy was sidelined with a hip labral tear, and shortstop Ha-Seong Kim tore his finger tendon. Both players are expected to return in the next few weeks. But outfielder Jurickson Profar was suspended for the second time for PEDs and is done for the season.

“Walt is very consistent with what he does, and he puts a good, positive outlook on everything for everybody,” said Atlanta utility infielder Kyle Farmer, who played for the Rockies last season. “He’s a very good communicator and checks in on guys all the time.

“For a bench guy like myself, he lets me know what’s going on. Our roster is loaded with talent, but for a guy like me who doesn’t play every day, he’s been very considerate and approachable.”

Utility player Mauricio Dubon, who hit a three-run triple in the eighth inning against Colorado on Friday, called Weiss a “father figure.”

“Walt’s ability to relate to guys and speak the players’ language is unique,” Kinley said. “He shows up every day and is diligent about what he does. He has an intention for everything he does. He understands it’s not an easy game, and he knows how to communicate with guys. He’s amazing at that.

“And Walt walks the walk. He’s in there, busting his butt with us in the weight room. He’s intense,  and guys feed off that.”

As a player, Weiss was hard-nosed, so he expects the same from those who play for him. He also expects them to be on time, work hard, and hustle — all of the time. Arenado found out about that when he played for Weiss.

In July 2014, Arenado was benched after jogging to first base on a groundout against the Pirates at Coors Field. Arenado had failed to hustle up the first-base line several times in the minors, and Weiss wasn’t about to accept that in the majors.

“You don’t know how a player is going to take that, especially someone as good as Nolan,” Weiss told The Denver Post in 2019. “It can go either way. Managers and catchers almost always show up to the ballpark earlier than the players, but the next day, there’s Nolan, waiting in my office. I really didn’t know how that was going to go. Was he mad because he thought I had embarrassed him?”

“But then Nolan actually thanked me for benching him. Imagine that? He was there early to tell me how much he appreciated me pulling him out of the game.”

When Arenado was feuding with Bridich near the end of his career in Colorado, one of the people he sought counsel from was Weiss, who has a sterling reputation throughout the game.

“One of the finest men I’ve ever known in baseball,” Dugger said. “One of my favorite people — ever.”

Vinny Castilla, a member of the famed Blake Street Bombers and a Rockies special assistant for the past 21 years, has known Weiss for 32 years. During Weiss’s first managerial stint, Castilla saw signs pointing to success if Weiss ever got another gig.

“He’s a players’ manager, and he’s going to do whatever he can to protect them,” Castilla said. “He’s a very nice man, and I love him, and I miss him. But he’s a black belt, so don’t mess with him.”

The 28-year-old relief pitcher entered a game that appeared hopelessly lost. Yet, when all was said and done, he’d won. It was the story of his baseball career — told in two innings.

When the undrafted right-hander strolled to the mound at Coors Field to in the eighth inning on Aug. 1, few took much notice. The Rockies trailed the Pirates, 16-9. Many in the crowd of 36,030 had drifted off into the sweltering Friday night. But in the Rockies’ family section, a dozen fans lived and died with every pitch.

Darnell’s parents, Dan and Mary Lou, were there. So was his brother, Grady, and assorted aunts and uncles. When his fiancée, Emily Tatge, heard “Square Dance” blare through the speakers, she got goose bumps.

Darnell’s arduous journey from part-time Division III college pitcher to independent leaguer with the , to winter ball in Australia, to a desk job in finance had finally paid off. His investment in the weight room, on the mound, and networking on his laptop had all been worth it.

“He’d always told me, ‘I can’t wait to hear my walk-up song play at Coors Field,’ ” Tatge said. “So, to hear that song and see him take the mound was incredible. But you know what? I stayed relatively calm. I was confident of Dugan’s abilities.”

Darnell pitched a scoreless eighth, giving up a single before inducing a double-play grounder to end the inning. Colorado scored two runs in the bottom of the frame, trimming Pittsburgh’s lead to 16-12. Darnell pitched a one-two-three ninth, striking out Pirates shortstop Jared Triolo on three pitches for the final out. His first career K came on a 94.9 mph fastball that caught Trilolo looking.

“I had tunnel vision,” Darnell said. “I had been mentally preparing for the moment for a long time, so I told myself, ‘Control your emotions and do your job.’ It was my night, so I told myself, ‘Put your best stuff out there and see what happens.’ ”

What came next was like something out of “The Natural.”

The Rockies scored five runs in the bottom of the ninth, winning the game 17-16 on a two-run homer by center fielder Brenton Doyle, the first walk-off home run of his career. Doyle is Darnell’s best friend on the team. Doyle’s wife, Rose, is besties with Tatge. The two met at Double-A Hartford and formed a sisterly bond.

“When Brenton hit that walk-off homer, I turned around and gave Rose a gigantic hug,” Tatge recalled. “That moment was phenomenal. For Brenton to hit his first walk-off homer and for him to get Dugan his first career win by hitting that homer was incredible. It was insane.”

‘I had the stuff’

Word of Darnell’s debut victory reached Jon Weil quickly. Text messages lit up his phone. He got a little choked up.

A long-shot player that Weil believed in, but someone whom the Rockies never scouted in person, had made it.

“This is why some of us get into baseball, for moments like that, for what it means for the players, their families,” Weil said.

Weil now works for the Dodgers as a pro scout. Back in the winter of 2021, he was the Rockies’ assistant general manager of player personnel. Weil was used to fielding unsolicited emails and videos from hopeful young players trying to get their foot in the door.

“I would probably get five of those a month,” he recalled. “Guys would send videos, stats, and Trackman numbers, and data, and all kinds of stuff. I made it a practice, out of respect, to respond to each kid.”

Most of his responses were boilerplate: “Thank you for your inquiry, but our rosters are full at this time.”

“That’s true 999 times out of a thousand,” Weil said. “We had a practice of never signing a player unless a scout had seen them in person.”

But several things about Darnell struck a chord.

There was Darnell’s 0.39 ERA and 37 strikeouts in 23 innings as a third baseman and part-time reliever as a senior at He also had a 0.31 ERA and 52 strikeouts in 28 2/3 innings in 2020 with the independent Eastside Diamond Hoppers of the United Shore Professional Baseball League. Plus, Weil watched Darnell’s video.

“The video was just of a bullpen session, but I felt like his arm worked well and all of his pitches were coming out really well,” Weil said.

Then there was Darnell’s persistence. He sent emails, with a video, to all 30 major league clubs, often to five or six people in the organization. He realized it was a long shot, but he figured it was his only shot.

“I knew, deep down inside, that I could pitch in the majors, I had the stuff,” Darnell said. “I sent stuff to as many people as I could — emails, direct messages, LinkedIn. I was all in. I didn’t want to look back someday with any ‘what ifs.’ ”

Because Weil took time to respond, Darnell latched on to the Rockies. Multiple times, he asked Weil for an in-person tryout, but none were forthcoming. Still, Weil remained intrigued. He asked Ed Santa, the Rockies’ area scout whose territory includes Michigan, to check up on Darnell. Santa was friends with Craig Rainey, the longtime head coach at Adrian. Rainey raved about the pitcher and the person.

Ultimately, Weil went with his gut. He called Zach Wilson, the Rockies’ assistant general manager of player development at the time, into his office.

“Zach and I were in lockstep and we trusted each other,” Weil said. “I had him look at the video of Darnell. Zach said, ‘That looks pretty good.’

“I told Zach, ‘I just want to sign him, I want to bring him to camp. … If it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out.’ ”

Wilson gave Weil a green light. It was the first time he had ever signed a player without having a scout get an up-close look.

“It sounds pretty innocuous, like, no big deal,” Weil said. “But really, not having a scout see Darnell, not having a lot of data, and just kind of going off his stat line was unique. I was going off my gut instincts.”

On Feb. 5, 2021, Weil made one of the favorite phone calls of his career.

“I went all ‘American Idol’ on him,” Weil recalled. “I said, ‘Dugan, this is Jon Weil of the Colorado Rockies, and I’m sorry, but we don’t have any interest in you working out any more at all.’ ”

Taken aback, Darnell said,  “What do you mean by that?”

Weil, still playing it cool, responded, “We have no interest in working you out because we have interest in signing you. We would love to invite you to spring training.”

Darnell responded with tears and a promise: “I’m going to dominate hitters and I’m going to be a big leaguer, you just watch and wait.”

More than five years later, Darnell fulfilled that promise.

“Jon Weil means the world to me,” he said. “He opened up his heart and gave me a chance.”

‘He wanted this so badly’

Rockies interim manager Warren Schaffer played six seasons in the minors as an infielder, making it as high as Triple-A Colorado Springs. He managed eight seasons in the minors. He’s seen dreams rise and fall. He’s never seen anything quite like Darnell’s journey.

“All of the stuff he’s had to overcome? Always being the underdog? It’s amazing,” Schaeffer said. “This game is really hard. I know what it’s like to be a minor league player who’s not good enough. I got to the point where I said, ‘This is not for me, and I have to change directions.’

“But not Dugan. He worked his way through it, and it’s worked out.”

Of course, it’s not like Darnell didn’t have talent. He could always throw hard, but so can thousands of others. But through hard work and vision, he built himself into a major league pitcher. He trained at 2SP Sports Performance in Madison Heights, Mich., alongside former Rockies and Yankees infielder DJ LeMahieu and Astros ace Hunter Brown.

“I was able to get to know those guys and learn and get better,” Darnell said.

From 2019, when he left Merrill College, to 2020, when he started playing independent ball for the Diamond Hoppers, his fastball velocity improved from 88-90 mph to 91-93, touching 95 on occasion. In addition to his 75-76 mph curveball, he added a slider and a splitter.

He now has an arsenal that the Rockies believe plays in the big leagues. Entering the weekend, Darnell had pitched in four games (five innings), posting a 3.60 ERA.

His transformation from a raw pitcher to major leaguer impressed LeMahieu.

“I was struck by what a hard worker he was, and his perseverance,” LeMahieu said. “There aren’t a ton of major leaguers up here in Michigan during the offseason, so it’s kind of a small group during the offseason. We get to know each other.

“From my point of view, he didn’t need a whole lot of help from me. He showed up every day ready to work, and then worked another job. So he was not somebody who needed a whole lot of pushing.”

The “other job” was a short stint as a recruitment consultant with Huxley Associates in Chicago. Darnell used his degree in marketing to land the gig in what he calls “the real world.” But baseball always beckoned.

His fiancée bursts with pride when she talks about the road he’s traveled.

“He knew he didn’t want to be at an office desk, doing office work,” Tatge said. “He wanted this so badly. He wanted to play baseball, and he’s done everything in his power to make this his career.”

The couple met at Northville High School in Michigan, but didn’t start dating seriously until after Tatge graduated from Michigan State. She’s been alongside for the long, winding road that took him from independent ball to Low-A Fresno to High-A Spokane to Double-A Hartford to Triple-A Albuquerque and, finally, to the Rockies.

“It wasn’t an easy road,” she said. “Persistence is such a perfect word to describe Dugan. And you have to have passion, too, to go through the five levels to get where he is today. And it’s even more if you count high school and college.”

Tatge was at home in Michigan, taking a nap on Thursday afternoon, when she got the news that he would be going to the majors and might debut the next night.

“Dugan usually doesn’t FaceTime me, we just talk on the phone,” she said. “So, when I saw the FaceTime come across my screen, I kind of knew. Deep inside, I said to myself, ‘This is it.’ He didn’t have to say anything. I cried, absolutely. So did he, and I don’t see him cry all that often.”

Darnell was never in “pinch-me mode” when he took the mound for his debut. He always believed he could make it to the top of the hill. He was reflective.

“There are so many people who helped me along the way and pushed me in the right direction,” he said. “My parents, Emily, so many others. I kind of looked at it like this: you take one step at a time and then you look up and you’re where you dreamed you’d be.”

The Road Taken

Rockies relief pitcher Dugan Darnell made his major league debut on Aug. 1 at Coors Field. Undrafted out of Division III Adrian College in Michigan, he followed an unusual path to the big leagues:

2019
• Adrian College: Posted a 3-1 record with a 0.39 ERA in 20 games. Also hit .314 with four homers, two triples, 12 doubles, and 43 RBIs while playing primarily third base.
• Rockford Rivets (Northwoods League): 2.65 ERA in seven games (17 innings).
• East Side Diamond Hoppers (United Shore League, independent): 1.76 ERA in seven games (15 1/3 innings).
• Gary SouthShore RailCats (American Association, independent): 3.00 ERA in three games (5.0 innings).

2020
• Gary SouthShore RailCats: 0.31 ERA in 22 games (28 2/3 innings)

2021
• Low-A Fresno: 0.66 ERA in eight games (13 2/3 innings).
• High-A Spokane: 2.38 ERA in 36 games (41 2/3 innings).

2022
• Double-A Hartford: 5.29 ERA in 38 games (47 2/3 innings).
• Canberra Cavalry (Australian Baseball League): 2.41 ERA in 15 games (18 2/3 innings).

2023
• Double-A Hartford: 1.55 ERA in 22 games (29 innings).
• Triple-A Albuquerque: 6.04 ERA in 18 games (29 1/3 innings).

2024
• Double-A Hartford: 0.00 ERA in three games (4.0 innings).
• Triple-A Albuquerque: 5.58 ERA in 40 games (40 1/3 innings).

2025
• Triple-A Albuquerque: 3.52 ERA in 35 games (53 2/3 innings).

Source: Baseball Reference

The Rockies traded the third baseman to the Yankees in exchange for New York pitching prospects Griffin Herring and Josh Grosz, the team announced Friday afternoon.

It marks the end of McMahon’s nine-year tenure in Colorado that saw the 2013 second-round pick emerge as a fan favorite and a National League All-Star last season. This year, McMahon has struggled offensively, but he still has 16 homers and is one of the best defensive third basemen in baseball.

“We’re trying to continue to build our talent base,” GM Bill Schmidt told The Denver Post. “We appreciate everything Ryan did, and wish him nothing but the best going forward. But at the end of the day, we’re trying to add to our depth (in the minors).

“… We like these two arms. Herring is a guy we think has tremendous upside in his first full year as a starting pitcher. And Grosz is a mid-90s arm who has been up to 98. They are two guys who add to what we have as we continue to try to get better.”

McMahon was well aware he was on the trading block ahead of the July 31 deadline, but Schmidt said the front office didn’t have direct conversations with him about it. The 30-year-old has two years and $32 million remaining on his contract after this season.

“I’ve loved playing here,” McMahon told The Denver Post earlier this week. “I’d love to continue playing here and hopefully win. But again, whatever the organization decides to do, I can say from the bottom of my heart, I’ve enjoyed every moment I’ve had interacting with fans here.”

In New York, McMahon will get the chance to be an impact player on a contender for the first time since 2018, his true rookie season and the last time the Rockies made the playoffs. The Yankees, the reigning American League champions, entered Friday night 4.5 games out of first place in the AL East and holding on to the top wild-card spot.

New York’s need for a third baseman was tied to the fate of another former Colorado player. The Yankees designated DJ LeMahieu for assignment on July 9 and officially released him the next day, ending the seven-year New York tenure of the ex-Rockies All-Star and batting champion. LeMahieu made 34 starts at third before his release — a move that came in tandem with shifting Jazz Chisholm Jr. back to second base.

The Yankees are looking to McMahon to bring plus defense to the position, while also betting that he will hit like he did in the first half of ’24. McMahon has struggled to consistently produce on offense since the second half of last season, when he batted .188. Earlier in this season, McMahon set a franchise record with an 0-for-35 hitless streak.

But he increased his trade value lately with a .313 average over the last two weeks and a 1.139 OPS. The advanced metrics also indicated McMahon’s pop is still there, as he ranks in the 98th percentile in baseball in average exit velocity and in the 87th percentile in barrel rate. He leads the National League with 127 strikeouts, but he also ranks in the 86th percentile in walk percentage with 49 free passes this year.

Defensively, he is fifth among NL third basemen with four defensive runs saved, according to FanGraphs. McMahon’s been a Rawlings Gold Glove Award finalist four years in a row.

In exchange for McMahon, the Rockies added a couple of starting pitchers to their farm. Herring, a left-hander, was the Yankees’ No. 8 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, while the right-handed Grosz was ranked No. 21.

Herring has a 1.71 ERA in 16 starts in Low-A and High-A this season, while Grosz has a 4.14 ERA in 16 games (15 starts) in High-A. Herring was a sixth-round pick out of LSU in 2024, while Grosz was an 11th-round pick out of East Carolina in ’23. Both pitchers will report to High-A Spokane in the Rockies organization, with the potential to advance to Double-A Hartford next season.

In his initial statement announcing the trade, Schmidt said Herring and Grosz both have “the potential to make a meaningful impact at the major league level in the near future.”

The trade underscores the Rockies’ continued push to stockpile starting pitching prospects, both via deadline trades over the past couple of years as well as through the draft.

Those trades include sending Mike Moustakas to the Angels for Connor Van Scoyoc in 2023; C.J. Cron and Randal Grichuk to the Angels for Mason Albright and Jake Madden in ’23; Pierce Johnson to the Braves for Tanner Gordon, plus reliever Victor Vodnik, in ’23; and Nick Mears to the Brewers for Bradley Blalock and Yujanyer Herrera last year. Van Scoyoc and Madden have since been converted to the bullpen.

Schmidt said the Rockies will “continue to listen” to offers for other players on the roster ahead of next week’s deadline.

What if the Rockies had made some dramatic moves to improve the club at the 2018 trade deadline?

What if the club had re-signed All-Star second baseman DJ LeMahieu — considered the toughest player on the team — instead of letting him walk away at the end of the season, only to see him become a star with the Yankees?

What if the Rockies’ front office and owner Dick Monfort had improved the core of that 2018 team that won 91 games before losing the National League West title to the Dodgers in Game 163?

“Oh yeah, I think about it,” Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado said Monday night before playing the Rockies at Coors Field. “I mean, we’ve talked about it. I’ve talked to DJ about it and (Trevor) Story about it.”

Arenado, 34, a 10-time Gold Glove winner, is on the back end of his career. He entered Monday’s game slashing .241/.299/.381 with 10 homers and 42 RBIs.

After signing an eight-year, $260 million contract in February 2019, Arenado was traded from the Rockies to the Cardinals in February 2021 in one of the most infamous trades in Colorado sports history.

But in 2018, the Rockies had a “special” team. Arenado’s words. Colorado fans thought so, too. More than 3 million watched baseball at Coors Field.

Arenado was nearing the peak of his powers, slashing .297/.374/.561 with an NL-high 38 homers and 110 RBIs. Of all of the “what could have beens,” it’s Colorado’s failure to go all out at the trade deadline in 2018 that sticks with him.

“I think we were more disappointed with the lack of deadline moves at the time,” he said. “If we had just gotten over the edge to win that division.”

Arenado paused for a moment, then added, “I think about some games that season that we didn’t win, and I think, ‘My gosh, we blew that game.’ Or, ‘We didn’t score enough runs.’ If we had added just a little bit more, we would have won the division. That’s what I believe.”

The Rockies lost Game 163, 5-2, at Los Angeles. They beat the Cubs, 2-1, in 13 innings in the NL wild-card game at Wrigley Field, but then got swept in three games by Milwaukee in the divisional round. It’s been downhill ever since, with Colorado closing in on seven consecutive losing seasons and now headed toward a third consecutive 100-loss season.

But the ’18 Rockies were loaded, especially in the infield with Ian Desmond (22 homers, .729 OPS) at first, Gold Glove winner LeMahieu at second (15 homers, .749 OPS), and Story, the Silver Slugger winner, at shortstop (37 homers, .914 OPS).

In the outfield, the Rockies had Charlie Blackmon (29 homers, .860 OPS) and Carlos Gonzalez (16 homers, .796 OPS), as well as veteran Gerardo Parra (six homers, .714 OPS). Parra, along with CarGo, brought some levity to an otherwise all-business clubhouse.

Lefty Kyle Freeland (17-7, 2.85 ERA) and right-hander German Marquez (14-11, 3.77 ERA) anchored a strong rotation. Freeland and Marquez, along with right-hander Antonio Senzatela and third baseman Ryan McMahon (a role player in 2018), are the only players remaining from that team.

Does Freeland ever look back?

“Absolutely,” he said. “I feel like every organization can look at players that were dealt away or not re-signed in free agency. I mean, what if we did have DJ at second, Story at short and Nolan at third for a longer, extended period of time?

“There are so many ‘what ifs,’ but it always comes down to the fact that this is a business. Guys want to test free agency, and they want new contracts. And you have to ask, ‘Do they want to be here?’ ”

How good was that 2018 team?

“It was very good,” Freeland said. “You look at that core of veterans who moved on and what they have done in the game, and you do wonder, ‘What could have been?’ ”

Arenado said that the camaraderie on Colorado’s last playoff team was “special.” The work ethic was “exceptional.”

In his opinion, the game has changed.

“I think what I’m seeing now, compared to that group, was that that group was super excited to come to the field every day and get to work,” he said. “I felt like everybody was chasing being great — individually.

“We weren’t that good, we were pretty good, we weren’t great. But it was a totally different vibe from what I see now from players, compared to those players (in ’18). The guys got to the field at 12:45 every day. Guys were excited to get to the field early, and we stayed late all of the time. Now, it’s just different.”

Not. Good.

Full disclosure: Grading The Week’s baseball wonks, like most of us, can’t wait for the Rockies to get their 17th almost R-E-B-U-I-L-D — the dirtiest seven letters at 20th & Blake — since 2019 underway.

But it’s never going to get rolling, or much as it might, if Jake Bird and Ryan McMahon don’t pick it up.

Is Jake Bird cooked?  — D.

Bird’s a good dude, and relief pitching is notoriously volatile, especially at Coors Field. But brother, he’s picked a cruddy time (to put it kindly) for regression to kick in.

The MLB trade deadline is July 31. The Rockies are painfully short on — well, everything. But especially short on attractive veteran assets that might entice contenders to ship over a few prospects in return.

For almost three months, the 29-year-old righty reliever looked like one of the best-kept bullpen secrets in baseball. Through May 31, he’d sported a 1.67 ERA over 23 appearances with only one home run allowed — a sliver of light within the darkest season in Rockies history.

Since June 1, that carriage outta town has turned into some kind of pumpkin.

Bird posted a 4.91 ERA over 14 2/3 innings last month. Over his first four appearances in July, that ERA shot up to 23.62, thanks to seven earned runs allowed — four of them over a third of an inning of work in Boston this past Tuesday during a 10-2 beatdown at the hands of the Red Sox.

The Bird with the Beard went to bed Friday night with an season ERA of 3.62. Still sexy by Coors standards. But also not the kind of CV that’s going to catch the wandering eyes of opposing general managers. There’s time, dude. But with the All-Star break coming up, it’s running short.

McMahon perking up? —  B.

Bird notched the win against the Reds on Friday night to improve to 3-1 on the year, but not before giving up a run on two hits along the way.

McMahon’s weekend, by contrast, got off to a better start: A two-run homer in the fourth — his 13th — as part of a 3-for-4 night at Great American Ball Park.

The catch? Until Friday, it had been a rough 10 days for the Rockies’ affable third baseman. Over his first nine games in July, the left-handed slugger had hit .097 with a .281 OPS while striking out 13 times against zero walks.

The series-opening blast against Cincinnati was his first since June 20. The multi-hit game was his first since June 24. If nothing else, maybe a strong showing on the banks of the Ohio

Et tu, DJ LeMahieu? — C.

Or maybe the Yankees, who could use a glove with pop on the hot corner, will swoop in and cycle out one Rockies infielder for another. Team GTW is pouring one out for DJ LeMahieu, the ex-Coors great who was designated for assignment by the Bronx Bombers last week despite a playable, if unspectacular, .266 batting average and a .674 OPS. DJ’s limbo isn’t expected to last long, though. This past Thursday, MLB Network’s Jon Morosi floated Seattle as a potential landing spot for LeMahieu, who struggled with third base in New York but offers a bat that still plays at first, second or DH.

NEW YORK — DJ LeMahieu was cut by the New York Yankees with almost $22 million remaining on his contract, one day after the two-time batting champion

“It����ap been a tough couple days. Some hard conversations,” manager Aaron Boone said before “But in the end, feel like this is the right thing to do at this time.”

LeMahieu, who turns 37 on Sunday, was designated for assignment Wednesday and fellow infielder Jorbit Vivas was recalled from Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

New York released LeMahieu on Thursday, owing $21,612,903 from the $90 million, six-year deal he signed with the Yankees prior to the 2021 season: $6,612,903 for the rest of this year and $15 million in 2026.

Any team can sign him for a prorated share of the $760,000 minimum.

“Tough decisions,” general manager Brian Cashman said. “It ultimately comes down to how this roster sits and what����ap best. You want to provide your manager with enough chess moves.”

LeMahieu, a three-time All-Star, was batting .266 with two homers, 12 RBIs and a .674 OPS. He made his season debut May 13 after recovering from a left calf strain and had a .310 average in his last 31 games since June 1.

A versatile defender in the past, LeMahieu has made all 35 of his starts at second base this year — even though he’s got plenty of experience at third and the Yankees essentially have a hole there.

Going back to the winter, LeMahieu expressed a preference to play second or first because third base “had become an issue physically” at this stage of his career, Cashman said.

So that����ap why LeMahieu played second exclusively throughout his minor league rehab assignment and was inserted there when he came off the injured list.

All-Star infielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. began the season at second base, his most natural position, after playing third for the Yankees last year. But he got hurt in late April and when he returned in early June from a right oblique strain, he moved back to the hot corner for a while as LeMahieu stayed at second.

“We gave him runway to see what he looked like, to see if this dimension with the current setup was going to be workable,” Cashman said. “At some point, you make some tough decisions.”

LeMahieu won three Gold Gloves at second with Colorado from 2014-18 — and another one in a utility role with the Yankees in 2022. But his range has been diminished by toe, foot, hip and calf injuries in recent years.

The athletic Chisholm, meanwhile, has made some wild throws from third base lately while hindered by a sore shoulder. So on Tuesday, Boone moved Chisholm back to second and put LeMahieu on the bench.

Boone said LeMahieu didn’t ask for his release and was willing to start working out at other positions — including third base — to provide options.

But a day later, after multiple meetings with Boone and Cashman this week, LeMahieu’s 6 1/2-year tenure with the Yankees came to an unceremonious end.

“Looking at what the next few weeks could unveil, kind of Cash and I decided today like, it was probably the day to go ahead and do it,” Boone said. “I just feel like now and how our roster’s built, maybe this gives us some more flexibility in the short term.”

Boone said third base going forward will be “some kind of combination” between Vivas and light-hitting Oswald Peraza, who started at the hot corner for the second consecutive night Wednesday.

Boone also said backup catcher J.C. Escarra could even “figure into that mix.”

Regardless, Cashman will be looking for a third baseman as the July 31 trade deadline approaches.

New York added depth by signing infielder Nicky Lopez and third baseman Jeimer Candelario to minor league contracts this month.

LeMahieu won his first batting title in 2016 with the Rockies and his second with New York in 2020, when he hit .364 with 10 homers and 27 RBIs in 50 games during the pandemic-shortened season.

“As widely respected a player as we’ve had — and understandably so,” Boone said. “He’s earned that with just his professionalism, his toughness, his play on the field and just kind of the quiet way he goes about things. There’s a lot of guys that have an immense amount of respect for DJ.

“Sometimes you have to make hard decisions.”

In another move, the Yankees opened a roster spot for right-hander Cam Schlittler by designating reliever Geoff Hartlieb for assignment. Schlittler was selected from Triple-A to start Wednesday night against Seattle in his major league debut.

You could field at least half a starting nine, and a salty one, out of the players Dick Monfort let walk away since 2018. DJ LeMahieu at first or second. Brendan Rodgers at second. Trevor Story at short. A battery of Jon Gray on the mound and Elias Diaz behind the plate.

Which is why we’re on our knees, Mr. Monfort. We’re begging here.

If you truly love Ryan McMahon, let him go.

If you truly love German Marquez, let him go, too.

As in, find them a trade to greener pastures.

Far be it for us to suggest how to run a 17-58 baseball team, let alone one that could clinch a third-straight 100-loss season by August.

Most MLB clubs operate in one of two modes: 1) “We’re trying to win now,” or 2. “We have no chance of winning now, but holy cow, look at our farm system.”

The Rockies, of whom Monfort is CEO, have somehow managed to live outside either realm for the better part of a half-decade now. Just know that wherever Monfort sets the bar in January for what this team should be — 2025’s theme was, “We’ll catch the ball, by golly” — rest assured, the Rox will inevitably land several rungs short.

Haven’t RyMac and Marquez been through enough already? The pair have been good, loyal troupers while the S.S. Monfort caught fire, then sank. They’ve said the right things. They’ve watched friends leave. They’ve watched friends retire.

Shouldn’t they be rewarded? And by that, we mean, set free? Now that they’re finding some mojo again, it’s time to build a boat that gets them off of baseball’s loser island.

You don’t think there’s a market and a decent prospect return for McMahon? The Tigers could use a third baseman right about now. That goes double for the Yankees and Mariners. It ranked Seattle No. 5, Minnesota No. 10, New York No. 24.

Marquez’s numbers are getting better by the week, and he’s staring at a “walk” year. The Cubs, Red Sox and Dodgers could use more starting pitching. MLB Pipeline ranked their farm systems eighth, third and fourth, respectively.

Colorado was 18th.

Charlie Condon is at least two years away. Chase Dollander’s already here.

At 30, McMahon should be hoovering up grounders for a contender. Not trying to beat the Dodgers, Giants, Padres and Diamondbacks all by his lonesome.

After a frigid, turgid April (.147 average), everything’s starting to come to life again for one of the good dudes in the game. Since May 1, McMahon’s hitting .278 with nine homers while posting an OPS of .907.

His glove, meanwhile, never left. Baseball Savant, as of Thursday afternoon, while the Fielding Bible credited him with six Defensive Runs Saved (DRS). That last number was tied for third across all of MLB with the Giants’ Matt Chapman.

A “plus” defender — and a “plus” guy — on a contract that’s worth $12 million this season and $16 million each in ’26 and ’27?

Let’s put it this way: Chapman’s in line to rake in $25 million each of the next three seasons. Compared to that, RyMac’s a steal. Heck, he even averaged five of those per season from 2021-24.

Marquez is in the final season of a two-year contract extension. Like McMahon, he’s warmed up with the temperatures. The hard-throwing Venezuelan shut out woeful Washington over 5 2/3 innings on Wednesday night. Which was the sixth start out of his last eight, dating back to May 11, in which he’s allowed three earned runs or fewer.

Marquez’s ERA in June is 3.48.

According to Baseball Savant, his four-seam fastball averaged more MPH against the Mets (95.5) and Braves (96.3) this month than he did over his last two starts of 2023 (94.7, 95.8) before Tommy John surgery. His strikeout-to-walk ratio over the last 20 days is 3.6-to-1. He just turned 30.

You know what they call that on Wall Street? An appreciating asset.

The Rockies open a six-game homestand Friday night against Arizona. Don’t let the last road trip lull you into false hopes. Yes, the local nine are kinda-sorta playing their best ball of the season — which, granted, isn’t saying much. They’d won a season-high four straight before the Nationals homered in the 11th inning to snatch a 4-3 win on Thursday.

Let’s keep our eyes on the prize here. Of Colorado’s 17 victories, four have come against Washington. Against teams that aren’t the Marlins or Nats, the Rockies are 7-55.

You don’t need McMahon and Marquez to sell tickets. You need McMahon and Marquez to keep their respective sanities. Is trading away an ace and one of your middle-of-the-order bats admitting defeat? Absolutely. But what kind of argument is that?

On 20th and Bleak, defeat isn’t just assumed. Defeat orders room service, on Monfort’s tab, three times a day.

The shame isn’t admitting it. The shame is denying it.

Pose a Rockies- or MLB-related question for the Rockies Mailbag.

Hi Patrick! Longtime fan of the mailbag. I have been boycotting this team since watching upper management squander DJ LeMahieu, Troy Tulowitzki and Nolan Arenado, and getting nothing back for any of them. In my view, it doesn’t matter what hot young prospects we hit on; ownership and our general manager don’t know how to build a franchise in the most basic ways. Given that, what hope is there that Dick Monfort sells the team (none?) or appoints a qualified outsider as head of baseball operations (as opposed to organizational nepotism)? How bad would things have to get? They can’t get much worse!

— Sam, Denver

Sam, I’ve had recent conversations with several people who used to be with the organization and genuinely care about the Rockies. They are discouraged and embarrassed about what’s happening.

Knowing that Dick Monfort is not going to sell the team and is also reluctant to make sweeping changes, one savvy baseball person offered suggestions. According to him, the Rockies should:

• Hire a strong, independent baseball mind from outside the organization to do a thorough evaluation of the franchise.

• Examine all departments, including front office, scouting, manager, player development, big-league coaching, analytics, and even ticket sales.

• Evaluate the organization for the remainder of the season and then implement necessary changes.

• Hire a new team president to oversee baseball operations; someone who has the power to take most baseball decisions out of Monfort’s hands. Perhaps the new president is the person hired to evaluate the organization, or maybe it’s someone else.

Hey Patrick, I’m a lifelong Rockies fan and recently, as I think we all can agree, it����ap been quite disheartening.

I love our players, our ballpark, and childhood memories with my family at 20th and Blake. Now I proudly represent Colorado in New York City amongst a sea of Yankees and Mets fans. However, lately I’ve been asking myself: Who am I rooting for?

It����ap feeling like I am rooting for an organization that doesn’t care about me as a fan at all. Which leads me to my ultimate question: What can we, as fans, do? I’ve heard whispers about boycotting games. I’ve refrained from buying a sleek new City Connect jersey until I feel the team is headed in a better direction in order to “vote with my dollar,” but even that all feels pointless.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result. Somebody has to change something: Could the fans be the ones to inspire a more competitive culture? Can we demand that ownership increase the analytics department?

Thanks for your time!

— Erik, New York City

Erik, I don’t usually respond to such lengthy opinions/questions. However, you effectively summarize the feelings of many fans who have reached out to me.

I don’t have any real answers to your questions. I am not an advocate of boycotting the team because it would hurt the workers at Coors Field, as well as the businesses around the ballpark. Also, it’s not my place to tell fans how to spend their money, but I completely understand why some fans have given up on a team on its way to a seventh consecutive losing season and started this season 4-24 through Monday night.

Should the Rockies increase the size of their analytics department? Yes. However, I’m unsure how anyone can “demand it.”

Zac Veen is now performing worse, statistically speaking, than Jordan Beck, the man who was sent down to create room for Veen. Should we expect the two of them to change places again? Question two: Do you have any good news to share about Thairo Estrada’s status?

— John Godfrey, Sebastopol, Calif.

John, your question was submitted before the Rockies recalled Beck and sent Veen back down to Triple-A Albuquerque.

It was clear that Veen was not ready to face major league pitching. The Rockies knew that but when Beck struggled so mightily to begin the season, the club figured promoting Veen was worth a shot. Let him test the waters.

But Veen was consistently getting beaten by fastballs up in the zone. In 12 games, he hit .118 with one home run and two RBIs. He struck out 14 times in 37 plate appearances (37.8%). He was also unsteady in the outfield. The demotion to Triple-A was needed.

Beck seemed to have found his swing during his short stint with the Isotopes. When he returned, he was timing up fastballs much better and put together a nice hot streak, getting a hit in six of eight games, batting .346 (9 for 26) with one triple, five home runs and nine RBIs.

At this point, Beck is a better overall player than Veen.

As for Estrada, he was recently placed on the 60-day injured list, but he’s making steady progress as he recovers from his fractured wrist. I don’t have an exact timetable for his return, but it will be in May.

Like many, I have been shocked at the inability of many Rockies players to make contact with fastballs in the strike zone that are catching a good chunk of the plate. We know they can’t acquire good hitters (Kris Bryant, Daniel Murphy, Ian Desmond …) but do you have any sense on if the failure of young Rockies hitters is more from a scouting/drafting side or does it have more to do with a failure to coach and develop players along the way? Or will we forget this question when Zac Veen, Jordan Beck and Michael Toglia are 2026 All-Stars?

— Isaac Bowen, Fort Collins

Isaac, the Rockies’ inability to hit fastballs and put the ball in play is maddening, to you, me, manager Bud Black, the front office, etc. The Rockies’ 28.3% strikeout rate is the highest in baseball.

In comparison, the Padres’ strikeout rate is 18.4% and the Dodgers’ is 22%. Plus, the Dodgers have hit 46 home runs vs. 24 by the Rockies.

It’s a massive problem without a simple solution. Perhaps Clint Hurdle, the new interim hitting coach, can make a difference, but he won’t turn things around in a few months.

In my opinion, the Rockies have done a poor job of drafting players who profile well at Coors Field. Or, if they did pick the right players, those players haven’t developed as the team hoped at the major league level.

However, make no mistake, the players themselves must also be held accountable. There is a stubbornness, or simply an inability, among many players to make the necessary adjustments. Michael Toglia and Ryan McMahon come to mind. Brenton Doyle is an exception. After a tough 2023 season (.203 average, 10 home runs, 35.0% K rate), he made significant adjustments in his swing and improved dramatically in 2024 (.260, 23, 25.4%)

Is Scott Servais a candidate to replace Bud Black?

— Garland McGarvey, Coon Valley, Wis.

I have not heard that. Nor have I heard that Black will be fired, though it wouldn’t shock me or anybody if he is. I have no idea if Servais would be a good fit for the rebuilding Rockies.

I would think that if the Rockies are going to make significant changes, both general manager Bill Schmidt and Black would be fired, a new GM would be hired, and he would play a major role in hiring the next manager. That would be the logical way to do it — if the Rockies clean house.

By the way, Servais was in his ninth season with Seattle when he was fired by the Mariners last August. He was the majors’ second-longest-tenured manager with the same team, along with the Dodgers’ Dave Roberts, and behind only the Rays’ Kevin Cash. Servais was 680-642 with the Mariners.

What is going on with Michael Toglia? The strikeouts are high, of course. However, it looks worse with the at-bats he’s giving. Is he being too stubborn to make adjustments to increase his contact rate? Lastly, if improvements do not materialize, is there any chance the Rockies could move on from him next season?

— Jason, Visalia, Calif.

Jason, great question. I’ve been hard on Toglia because he has so much potential. The Rockies believe that, too. The fact that he’s a terrific first baseman and a switch-hitter makes him a tantalizing talent who has a lot left to prove.

Toglia has hit much better lately. Over his last 10 games (entering Tuesday night), he was slashing .294/.342/.412 with one home run and six RBIs. His strikeout rate was 23.7%.

However, for the season, Togila is slashing .214/.257/.316 with two home runs, 11 RBIs and a strikeout rate of 39%.

Toglia has a long swing and “long levers,” so he is strikeout-prone. I do believe he’s stubborn, especially when it comes to shortening his swing and altering his two-strike approach.

With the hiring of Clint Hurdle, is it possible he’s being put in the position to take over as manager, perhaps as an interim bridge to a new manager or a more permanent one?

— Colin Orr, Castaic, Calif.

Colin, there was a lot of speculation about that when Hurdle was hired as the interim hitting coach, replacing Hensley “Bam Bam” Meulens. It’s possible that Hurdle could step in as manager if Bud Black is fired, but I don’t believe that’s the reason Hurdle was hired. I also don’t think Hurdle wants to be the manager of the future, nor do I think he should be. If Black does get fired, the Rockies need to hire someone from outside the organization.

What letter grade do you give the Rockies for their effort and record after one month of the season? Better yet, why that grade?

— Ed Helinski, Auburn, N.Y.

Ed, the effort is a solid B. The players are trying hard, but the team lacks talent and experience. The results are a solid F. There is no other grade you can give a team that opened the season 4-24, joining the 2003 Tigers, 1988 Orioles and 1936 St. Louis Browns as the only teams since 1901 to lose at least 24 of their first 28 games.

After 32 years, assuming the Monforts keep control of the team, what year would you honestly predict that they will first win the division? What odds would make you want to bet that they will EVER win the division under current ownership?

— WGLarry, Denver

WG, or is it Larry? Anyway, that’s a loaded question. I have no crystal ball, so let me put it this way: The Rockies’ best shot to win a division title would come sometime in the 2030s when, or if, Major League Baseball expands to 32 teams and realigns the divisions. If the Rockies were no longer in the NL West with the Dodgers, perhaps they could win their first division title.

Is it tough to report on a team that is this bad year in and year out?

— Rece Lampe, Fort Collins

Rece, the answer is yes, for several reasons. First of all, when a team is as bad as the Rockies have been, interest (and readership) goes down. Secondly, most players, who are already guarded when talking to the media, become even more guarded. Plus, it’s challenging to find players to talk to in a losing clubhouse. Third, it’s not nearly as much fun to write about a losing team. Ultimately, covering baseball is a grind, regardless of a team’s performance.

Having said all of that, I have to remind myself that I have a pretty cool job. I was reminded of that on Monday night when I took a group of University of Colorado students to the game at Coors Field (I teach a sports journalism class at CU). Witnessing their level of excitement reminded me that I have a cool job. But it would undoubtedly be more fun covering a 100-win team versus a 100-loss team.

Or rather, something Rickey, the man who integrated Major League Baseball and more or less created the modern farm system, once said.

“Trade a player too early rather than a year too late,” the longtime MLB executive opined.

Trevor Story? Too late.

Jon Gray? Too late.

Elias Diaz? Too late.

Cal Quantrill? Too late.

Brendan Rodgers? Too darn late.

The wise apples in the GTW crew couldn’t stop rolling in the aisles after somebody suggested a zombified Rickey — Branch left this mortal coil in 1965 — would do a better job running baseball operations than anybody on Dick Monfort’s current staff. But the Mahatma, as he was known, had a heck of a point.

Because what the Rox just got for Quantrill and Rodgers, who were non-tendered Friday, is what they got for Diaz, their former All-Star MVP catcher.

Absolutely nothing. Zip. Nada.

Rockies Rockie-ing — C-

Now in defense of Rockies GM Bill Schmidt, they tried. (We think.) And hey, if you’re going to lean into a youth movement, might as well get on with it and embrace the thing.

The Dodgers, Padres and Giants aren’t going anywhere but up. The Rockies’ best middle infield prospect, 21-year-old Adael Amador, hasn’t much left to prove in the minors and needs a spot in The Show. GTW has needled (and will needle) the Rox for plenty of missteps, but going young now? That sure as heck won’t be one of them.

Although Quantrill, who’ll turn 30 next February, is a curious departure, given the inevitable spate of arm injuries that typically decimate Bud Black’s pitching staff over the course of a summer. Yes, uber-prospect Chase Dollander is coming, and little birdies tell us the stuff — and the hype — is real. Then again, you can never have enough pitching for Coors Field, and Quantrill made a more-than-reasonable $6.55 million this past season.

Rodgers, meanwhile, never quite lived up to the expectations as a franchise cornerstone after being taken with the third overall pick in the 2015 MLB Amateur Draft. He found his level as a good glove/”meh” bat second baseman with a career .726 OPS, .628 away from Denver. Was that on injuries? Or was that on the Rockies? After DJ LeMahieu, the benefit of the doubt has to be earned back, kids.

Meanwhile, earlier on Friday, the Reds traded second baseman Jonathan India, who’d amassed 7.0 Wins Above Replacement (WAR) since 2021, for Royals pitcher Brady Singer, a 28-year-old right-handed starter who posted a 3.71 ERA this past season and sported a 27-29 record over the last three seasons.

Rodgers, if you’re curious, put up 6.8 WAR over that same span. No takers.

FC Denver makes the next NWSL cut — A

A GTW tip o’ the cap to the good folks behind For Denver FC, the ownership group pushing for professional women’s soccer in the Mile High City.

Denver made the NWSL’s next cut. On Friday, league commissioner Jessica Berman named our burg one of three finalists for an expansion, a club that would start play in the league — along with Boston’s expansion BOS Nation FC — in 2026.

But the final lap of the journey won’t be any easier. The other two finalists, both in Ohio, have some market forces working in their favor. WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark, arguably the most popular female athlete in North America, just joined the Cincinnati expansion bid, while Cleveland’s ownership group has reportedly acquired land on which to build its own stadium.

Yet when it comes to grassroots fan support, community interest and soccer bloodlines, no market in the Buckeye State can match Denver’s juice. At the Women’s Ballon d’Or award ceremony in Paris this September, Front Range natives Sophia Smith, Lindsey Horan and Mallory Swanson made up half of the top 6 women’s players in the world, according to Ballon d’Or voters, while the USWNT’s friendly this past June at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park was a sellout. To paraphrase an old GTW movie fave, “Field of Dreams,” when it comes to women’s soccer in this town, if you build it, they will come.

As a 22-year-old rookie, Arenado came walking into the training room when he spotted Blackmon, neck-deep in the cold tub, chowing down on his postgame meal.

“Guys would be like, ‘That’s weird,'” Arenado recalled last week. “But that’s Charlie. He was a trip, man.”

Arenado, the Cardinals’ star third baseman, was Blackmon’s Rockies teammate from 2013 to 2020. Over those eight seasons, Blackmon left a lasting impression.

“His work ethic was the best I’ve ever seen,” said Arenado, a likely Hall of Famer.

Rockies fans know all about Blackmon’s drive, strict routine, and Charlie Hustle style. But the man behind the beard is infinitely more interesting than the four-time All-Star and two-time Silver Slugger.

“When he’s at the ballpark, it����ap all baseball,” said Ashley, Blackmon’s wife of nearly seven years. “He’s ‘Chuck Nazty.’ He’s ‘Locker Room Charlie.’ But I don’t know who ‘Locker Room Charlie’ is. I just know Charlie-Charlie, and he’s a wonderful man.”

Blackmon, 38, plays the final game of his iconic 14-year major league career Sunday when the Rockies host the Dodgers in their 2024 season finale.

Rockies’ faithful took “Chuck Nazty” into their hearts, and it will be tough to say goodbye. They watched his Grizzly Adams beard grow, and grow, and grow some more. They sang along with his walk-up song, “Your Love,” by The Outfield.

But Ashley fell in love, not with the Rockies’ icon, but with the kind and affectionate man who cuddles their two children, daughter Josie, 3, and son Wyatt, who will soon turn 2.

“Charlie’s a multifaceted person,” Ashley said. “He presents himself as this stoic and serious person, but the exterior can sometimes lead people to believe he’s unapproachable or that he’s reserved. Beneath that tough facade is this warm, gentle, fun-loving guy with this love-of-life spirit.

“He often goes out of his way to make others feel valued and appreciated and supported. He has a deep love for the Lord and his family. Oh, and fly-fishing, too.

“His seriousness at the ballpark stems from his deep sense of commitment and responsibility to the game and his career.”

And what a career.

Blackmon entered his final weekend with 1,802 hits, 2,953 total bases, 334 doubles and 1,621 games played, ranking second in Rockies history in all of those categories to Hall of Famer Todd Helton.

Blackmon made almost $140 million playing baseball, but money didn’t change the man.

“He’s just a normal guy, a normal dude who likes being outside,” said Ivan Orsic, who became Blackmon’s Colorado fly-fishing buddy. “He was already an All-Star when we met in 2016, but he made it super easy to become friends. He’s just Charlie, a guy who happens to be really good at baseball.”

Beginning in 2015, Blackmon decided he wanted to explore the wilds of Colorado and learn how to fly-fish. Since Blackmon never does anything halfway, he reached out to Orsic and Colorado fishing guru Tanner Smith to learn the art of angling on the state’s rivers and streams. The trio became fast friends on their first trip to the Arkansas River near Salida.

with a focus on fly-fishing. Sadly, Smith died on Aug. 3 after losing his battle with gastric cancer.

“Charlie did some guided trips before he met us, but he wanted to really learn how to fly-fish, so he reached out to Tanner, who was kind of the godfather of Colorado fly-fishing,” Orsic said. “I respect Charlie for a lot of things, but the thing I really respect is that he doesn’t want anything handed to him.

“He’s not shy about going all in and figuring it out for himself. He was not interested in getting the red carpet rolled out for him and people tying his bugs for him.”

Blackmon isn’t just into baseball and fishing, he’s also a movie buff with an exacting memory.

“Charlie’s a big vault of movie quotes, but I’m horrible at remembering quotes,” Orsic said. “On our fishing trip to Belize, Chuck made sure to burn me a couple of times exchanging movie quotes. Our guide just stood there completely clueless.”

Blackmon jokes about his hobbies, especially fishing: “I’ve tried to make them way harder than they should be.”

He’s a man who sweats the details.

Mike “Tiny” Pontarelli, Colorado’s longtime home clubhouse manager, discovered that in 2011 during Blackmon’s first big-league spring training.

The subject was pants.

“‘Chuck’ wanted to know the exact measurements for his uniform,” Pontarelli said. “He wanted to know the details about the inseam and the exact length. He was just so into the dimensions of his custom-tailored pants. It was pretty wild.  He wanted to make sure they were perfect.”

Blackmon’s bats had to be perfect, too.

He swung Old Hickory bats — 34 inches, 31 1/2 ounces — his entire career. He visited the factory in Goodlettsville, Tenn., to see how his bats were made.

“Charlie has weighed every single bat for as long as I’ve known him,” Pontarelli said. “Not only that, he’d measure the taper of his bat handles to make sure they were perfect, too.

“A lot of guys are just happy to get a dozen bats and just go out and use them. Not Charlie. He had to double-check to make sure they were perfect. So, in a batch of a dozen bats, he might discard three or four of them.”

Blackmon is a man who knows what he likes. Arenado prefers the word “stubborn.”

“That����ap what made him great: He stuck to his ways,” Arenado said. “If you tried to get him out of his ways, it was like, ‘Don’t talk to me, don’t come near me.’”

When the two were teammates, Blackmon and Arenado often went out to dinner together. Aside from baseball, they didn’t have much in common: Arenado, a Southern Californian who loves to play golf and go to the beach, and Blackmon, an outdoorsy Georgian who loves to fish.

So they would go out to dinner and inevitably end up talking baseball. And arguing, especially if Arenado tried to give Blackmon advice on how to escape a slump.

“I could say, ‘Hey, Charlie, try a lighter bat’ and he’d be like, ‘Hey, don’t tell me what to do,'” Arenado recalled with a laugh.

During his early days with the Rockies, Blackmon continued driving the beat-up 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo he’d had since high school. He put close to 200,000 miles on his beloved Jeep, pushing the vehicle to its limit.

Blackmon’s stubbornness caught up to him on a brisk Atlanta morning in January 2016. On his way to a morning workout, he ran out of gas on a busy freeway. Second baseman DJ LeMahieu, Blackmon’s close friend and former teammate and roommate, had to come to the rescue.

“My gas light was on in my Jeep when I left to go work out that morning,” Blackmon recalled. “I knew it was almost empty, but I like to push it. It was crazy cold that day. It wasn’t safe. So I called up DJ, ’cause I knew he was probably behind me. He was.”

LeMahieu showed up with a gas can. As Blackmon poured gas into his Jeep, LeMahieu sat in the warmth of his car, snapped a picture with his iPhone, then

“It was too good to pass up,” recalled LeMahieu, who’s now chasing a World Series ring with the Yankees. “It was the perfect picture at the perfect time. I thought, ‘I have to share this with everybody.'”

But Blackmon, armed with a wickedly dry sense of humor, knew how to needle his teammates — especially the high-strung Arenado.

“I know how to press Nolan’s buttons and I know what bugs him, so I’ll say something to get under his skin,” Blackmon told The Denver Post in 2018. “I will have my fun with him, and then leave him alone and let him stew over it for the rest of the day.

“But other times, Nolan just needs a hug. I mean, sometimes he can’t walk down the hallway without stopping three times to take a dry swing with his bat.”

Arenado admitted that “Brother Charlie” got to him.

“This one time, I wasn’t hitting,” Arenado recalled. “He came up to me and said, ‘Hey, Nolan, you know what your problem is? You know why you’re not hitting right now?’ I said, ‘Why, Chuck?’ So he said, ‘Nolan, you’re not ready to hear it yet.’”

As Arenado relayed the tale, he became more agitated: “I was like, ‘Really dude?! You’re going to stand there and say that and then not tell me why I’m struggling?!’ I was so mad. I was like, ‘Dude I’m never talking to you again.’ Then I talked to him the very next day. But he never told me. He just likes to irritate me. He’s such a jerk. We argue all of the time. He’s like one of my brothers.”

Make no mistake: Blackmon is beloved by his teammates.

“He’s a good beer drinker, man,” third baseman Ryan McMahon said. “You get a couple of beers in him, and you get him on a roll and telling stories, man, you can listen to his stories all day.

“He’d tell us stories about his trips to Germany and Amsterdam. He’d tell us stories about some of the veteran Rockies from back in the day. He’s meant so much to me and to this franchise. Chuck’s the best.”

At Blackmon’s retirement news conference, Rockies players, staff and front-office personnel packed the interview room.

“Nobody had to be told to go. They all wanted to be there for Charlie,” manager Bud Black said.

During his news conference, Blackmon was measured and composed, just as he’s always been on the baseball field. But he acknowledged that a future without the game is daunting.

“It was a very difficult (decision), and I don’t think I’ve really grasped the gravity of it just yet,” he said. “I think this last week will reveal a lot about how I feel about stepping away from the game.

“It’s pretty much all I’ve known. I feel like I’ve never really worked a day in my life. … So it’s going to be very different.”

Ashley said she’ll be a “puddle of tears” on Sunday afternoon, but she’s confident her husband is ready for his next chapter.

“He’s always kept baseball separate from his family life,” she said. “He doesn’t bring the game home with him. We have been together for 10 years now. He has never initiated any baseball talk unless I initiated it and asked him how he was doing.

“He could 0 for 0 or stink it up for a couple of games or a week but he always showed up for me and the kids. I think that’s really important. We can’t wait to have Charlie-Charlie around more.”

But Ashley does have a concern. She has never seen her husband without his famous beard and he’s hinted that he might shave it after he retires. She’s fine with that, but she’ll urge him to proceed with caution.

“I’ve told him, ‘Whenever you’re ready, I’ll be ready, too. But just don’t do it too abruptly. You just need to shave it off in small amounts or you’ll scare off our kids.”