It’s wrong for the Colorado Rockies to not play on the Fourth of July

Thursday is the Fourth of July, a time when we Americans celebrate our independence and enjoy all things America, including plenty of food and cold beverages, lighting up the night sky with fireworks and watching the American pastime, baseball. Also on Thursday, the Colorado Rockies have an off day. That simply shouldn’t be happening.

When the schedule first came out, I honestly couldn’t believe that the Colorado Rockies weren’t going to be playing on the Fourth of July. With Major League Baseball so drawn to celebrating Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Memorial Day and other holidays with special uniforms and commemorations, it’s a shock that any team would have Independence Day off.

Yet here we are, celebrating America’s birthday without our favorite team on the diamond.

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I know, first world problems, right? Certainly there is much to celebrate in our country (and so many reasons to be thankful for our freedoms, including the sacrifices made by the men and women of our military). I’d just like to be able to celebrate with some Rockies baseball as well.

I asked Colorado manager Bud Black before Wednesday’s game about the scheduling oddity. He said it had probably been 40 years since he had the Fourth of July off. Not that I want to cut into the man’s off day, but I’d like to see him working on Thursday.

With the All-Star break happening on Sunday, it seems like Major League Baseball could have figured out a way to have all of the teams playing on the Fourth. The Rockies had a day off on Monday and another day off today before a series of off days next week in conjunction with the festivities in Cleveland. A four-game set in Arizona couldn’t have happened?

I asked Trevor Story after Wednesday’s game if it was weird for him to be off on the Fourth.

“Yeah it is,” he said. “It’s America’s game and we’re not playing.”

I could not have said it better myself.

At some point today or tonight, I will watch some baseball. It just won’t be the Rockies and, in my opinion, that’s something that could (and should) have been changed without many issues.