Exclusive: Colorado Rockies reflect on the day Major League Baseball shut down

Scottsdale, Ariz. — One year ago today, the Colorado Rockies played their last spring training game of 2020, tying the Cincinnati Reds 5-5 at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick.

At the time, none of us (including myself, who was covering the team that week in person) knew that that would be the last spring action of the season. We were hearing talk of postponements and cancellations in the sports world, but it still seemed like that possibility was a world away.

We knew very little about COVID-19, and we certainly knew very little about how it would change our lives and our society, including the world of sports moving forward. It wasn’t long until the Rockies were like the rest of us, trying to figure out how to deal with a world without sports.

Briefly, let’s remember the timeline from spring training shutting down in 2020 from Colorado’s point of view.

March 10 — Rockies play their last game of spring training, tying Cincinnati.

March 11 — Rockies vs. Chicago White Sox is postponed because of torrential downpours in the Scottsdale area.

March 12 — Major League Baseball cancels the rest of spring training

This year, I planned my spring training coverage around the anniversary of the days that changed sports in 2020. I wanted to get some perspective from the players who went through that time, in their own words. What do they remember about those days and the emotions that were running rampant?