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Growing up in Grand Junction: The first step toward the Colorado Rockies

By Kevin Henry

GRAND JUNCTION, CO - MARCH 24: Amtrak's California Zephyr rolls past a farm during its daily 2,438-mile trip to Emeryville/San Francisco from Chicago that takes roughly 52 hours on March 24, 2017 in Grand Junction, United States. President Trump has proposed a national budget that would terminate federal support for Amtrak's long distance train services, which would affect the California Zephyr and other long distance rail lines run by Amtrak. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
GRAND JUNCTION, CO - MARCH 24: Amtrak's California Zephyr rolls past a farm during its daily 2,438-mile trip to Emeryville/San Francisco from Chicago that takes roughly 52 hours on March 24, 2017 in Grand Junction, United States. President Trump has proposed a national budget that would terminate federal support for Amtrak's long distance train services, which would affect the California Zephyr and other long distance rail lines run by Amtrak. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) /
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GRAND JUNCTION, CO – MARCH 24: Amtrak’s California Zephyr rolls past a farm during its daily 2,438-mile trip to Emeryville/San Francisco from Chicago that takes roughly 52 hours on March 24, 2017 in Grand Junction, United States. President Trump has proposed a national budget that would terminate federal support for Amtrak’s long distance train services, which would affect the California Zephyr and other long distance rail lines run by Amtrak. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
GRAND JUNCTION, CO – MARCH 24: Amtrak’s California Zephyr rolls past a farm during its daily 2,438-mile trip to Emeryville/San Francisco from Chicago that takes roughly 52 hours on March 24, 2017 in Grand Junction, United States. President Trump has proposed a national budget that would terminate federal support for Amtrak’s long distance train services, which would affect the California Zephyr and other long distance rail lines run by Amtrak. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) /

Grand Junction, Colorado, sits 246 miles west of Coors Field in downtown Denver. Interstate 70 makes it a straight roughly four-hour drive between the two locations. However, the players who start on the western side of the Centennial State and hope they make their way into LoDo know they have a long and winding road ahead of them.

The Grand Junction Rockies are the rookie league affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. It is a franchise were Major League dreams begin for many and even end for some. It’s a city where recently drafted players get their first taste of professional baseball and quickly learn that being a pro baseball player isn’t all glitz and glamor.

I recently had the chance to spend the weekend in Grand Junction and spend time with the rookie level Rockies before, during and after the game. It was Opening Weekend of the 2017 short season and it was still a time when players were not only getting used to each other, but also getting used to being in a new environment where the pressure was unlike anything they had experienced before.

In Grand Junction, baseball turns from fun into a business. That’s not a negative statement. It’s a fact of life. The big league club drafted and employed these players in the hopes that they might one day make an impact 246 miles away.

So what is life like in rookie ball? We talked to some players, host families and team officials about what makes Grand Junction an experience that changes them forever.

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