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

Here are start-of-the-pandemic thoughts, memories, and stories from three Colorado Rockies players, who all exclusively spoke with Rox Pile about the one-year anniversary of the shutdown.

Trevor Story

What do you remember about those final days here at spring training last year?

“A lot of unknowns. There was just an uneasy feeling about what this whole thing could be. Obviously, it was a very deadly virus. I just remember thinking about my family and safety first. That was it. I was just trying to figure out what we were going to do. Baseball was kind of on the backburner at that point. My focus shifted.

You knew things had changed after watching the Dallas Mavericks game the next night, right? Note: Story is a native of Irving, Texas, a Dallas suburb, and a big Dallas sports fan.

“Yeah, I was watching the Mavericks game. They were kind of the last game I think being played. I didn’t really correlate that we were going to be right behind those guys. I guess you can look back in hindsight. Obviously, it wasn’t going to be great after that.”

How has this last year changed you?

“In a lot of ways, my perspective was challenged because of not being able to play baseball. It took the thing that I loved to be able to do the most and I wasn’t able to do that.

“Trying to be a leader amongst these guys and being more vocal and talking about things that are uncomfortable. It was very uncomfortable doing that ,but I felt in my heart that I wanted to do it. You know those are things that I’m still trying to be good at and trying to grow at so it was a good year for me I think in that sense. You know, just kind of realizing that baseball is not the one and only thing in this world. A lot of times it seems like it is, but when you get it taken away from you, you kind of go through all the circumstances that we were in last year, it changes your perspective a little bit.”