MIAMI —
I fell in love with baseball as a kid growing up in Arvada.
My love of baseball had nothing to do with sabermetrics, $120 million contracts, agents or cynical 140-character rants on Twitter (something to which I plead guilty).
My dad, longtime Denver journalist Dusty Saunders, invented a simple baseball game in miniature that we played in our backyard. My dad initiated the action and played first base and catcher. He also “broadcast” the game, doing his best to sound like legendary St. Louis Cardinals announcer Jack Buck.
This is how it worked.
My dad would announce, “We go to the third inning with the Cardinals leading 2-1. Up to the plate comes Reds catcher Johnny Bench. … Oh, he hits a hot shot to Saunders at second …”
With that, he would throw a grounder to my brother, Steve.
RELATED: Rockies’ offense missing in action in another loss to Miami Marlins
“Saunders scoops up the ball … throws …. and Bench is out by a step!”
Or course, if Steve missed the ball, or if I made an error at short, a runner would be on first base. My dad also tossed us popups that we had to chase down in our outfield at “Saunders Stadium.” Or he threw hot choppers that Steve and I tried to turn into double plays. There were throws to the plate and catches against the wall.
The game went on for nine innings — sometimes extra innings if there was still some summer twilight remaining — with my dad creating the scenarios and the drama.
“Two outs in the ninth with the Cardinals holding a 4-3 lead behind Bob Gibson. … There is a long drive to right field. … Steve Saunders runs under it … and he’s got it. The Cardinals win 4-3!”
I thought about all of this Tuesday when I took my dad to the Cardinals-Rockies game at Coors Field. It was my early Father’s Day present to him.
After a rain delay we settled into our seats beneath the press box, my usual place of business.
We had hot dogs, peanuts and a beer. It was a basic Budweiser, the beer my dad let me sip as a kid. Coors Field was a vibrant clash of Cardinals red and Rockies purple, and it turned out to be the best game of the season.
Rockies left-hander Jorge De La Rosa outpitched St. Louis ace Michael Wacha, and Nolan Arenado’s two-run homer off Wacha led to a 4-3 Colorado victory.
I didn’t cheer — as a sports writer, I lost that ability a long time ago — but I appreciated the pure beauty of a well-played baseball game.
My dad, a young 83, wore the Cardinals T-shirt I picked up for him at St. Louis’ Busch Stadium a few years ago. We had a blast.
Why the Cardinals? My dad grew up in north Denver and lost both of his parents by the time he was 11. As a lost, lonely child, baseball became his companion. The Cardinals became his team because they were the team farthest west. Plus, KMOX radio’s powerful signal traveled all the way to Denver at night, so my dad adopted the Cardinals as his team because he could listen to their games.
Before cable TV and the Web made everything accessible at a moment’s notice, KMOX remained a beacon, even in my childhood. The signal was best on the top of Arvada’s Hackberry Hill, so sometimes we would drive up there on a summer night to listen to Buck describe Gibson’s scowl and his slider, Lou Brock’s magic on the bases and Tim McCarver’s toughness behind the plate.
I never became a great baseball player, in large part because some Little League coach tried to turn me into a catcher, a position for which I was ill equipped.
But I have always loved the game. Sitting in the press box, facing deadlines, asking Rockies players about another loss, and getting smothered by the cynicism that rules pro sports today, I lose that love at times.
But my night at the ballpark with my dad was a gentle reminder of what’s still good about baseball.
It made me want to play a game in the backyard.
Patrick Saunders: psaunders@denverpost.com or twitter.com/psaundersdp
Spotlight on …
Dallas Keuchel, pitcher, Astros
What’s up: The beard is Charlie Blackmon worthy. Pitch command makes Keuchel an early candidate for the American League Cy Young Award. He was the AL pitcher of the month for April and May. Monday at Houston’s Minute Maid Park, the Rockies will get an up-close look at the Astros’ ace.
Background: Houston selected Keuchel out of Arkansas in the seventh round of the 2009 draft, even though he was never an overpowering college pitcher. He struck out only 323 hitters in 493 minor-league innings, but his ability to pitch with pinpoint control (only 104 walks) kept him moving up the ladder. Now, he’s not just an “innings eater” for the Astros, he’s a bona fide ace with a 7-2 record, 1.90 ERA and 0.95 WHIP.
Saunders’ take: Keuchel entered Friday as the major-league leader in innings pitched (94) and has pitched at least six innings in all 13 of his starts. In an era when strikeout pitchers are thriving, Keuchel is something of a throwback — a pitcher who gets opponents to beat the ball into the ground. Not that the left-hander is incapable of whiffing batters. He closed May with back-to-back complete games, including a four-hit, 11-strikeout shutout of the White Sox at Minute Maid Park. Keuchel, who won a Gold Glove last season, is a prototype of the pitcher the Rockies are trying to develop. That is, an efficient workhorse who thrives on pitching to contact and follows his game plan every time he takes to the mound.
