Colorado Rockies All-Star outfielder will end 14-year career on Sunday
Chuck Nazty has bid his final good-bye.
Charlie Blackmon, who has electrified Colorado Rockies fans as well as fans around Major League Baseball the last 14 years, will lace up his cleats for the final time this Sunday.
A four-time All-Star and two-time Silver Slugger who played his entire career in Colorado, Blackmon—nicknamed Chuck Nazty—spoke about his decision to step aside from the diamond and life after retirement Tuesday afternoon before a packed interview room at Coors Field that included not only media but current and former teammates as well as coaches, club officials, his family (wife and two children) and his parents.
“I feel like I’ve never really worked a day in my life,” the Atlanta native and former Georgia Tech standout said.
“But I do work really hard at the same time. So, it’s going to be very different on the other side (after baseball).”
Blackmon, 38, has no second thoughts about retiring at this point in his prolific career.
“I think it’s the right decision,” he said. “I think the game is being played at such a high level, it really demands a certain amount of time, physical ability, health, [and] strength. I think there’s just a point at which I don’t think I’m going to be able to continue to play like that. It’s a fact of life. This is going to happen. So, I think I am making the right decision and that makes things a little easier in the sense that I don’t have to wonder if this is right or wrong. But, at the same time, it’s definitely going to be a difficult step.”
Blackmon, who will conclude his career on Sunday in the final game of the Rockies’ season-ending six-game homestand, leaves with his name firmly entrenched in Colorado’s record books.
A second-round choice by Colorado in the 2008 draft, Blackmon has a .292 career batting average with 991 runs scored, 1,797 hits, 333 doubles, 67 triples, 226 home runs, 797 RBI and 148 stolen bases in 1,618 Major League games (all stats are through action entering September 24).
He will finish his career in the top six in franchise history in triples, games played, runs scored, hits, doubles, extra-base hits, total bases, walks, RBI, and home runs. His triples total is tops in club history. (Note: Blackmon added his 68th career triple with a tie-breaking RBI three-bagger Tuesday night against St. Louis for his team-leading fifth triple of the season.)
Even with his playing days behind him, Blackmon would like to remain a part of the Rockies organization.
“I definitely plan to be involved,” he said. “I don’t think I’ll put the uniform on and be part of the staff, like a permanent fixture. But I do want to come to spring training. I want to come to Coors Field. I want to be around the guys. I want to talk to some hitters in the (batting) cage occasionally.”
Primarily a right and center fielder, who also served as the team’s designated hitter and leadoff hitter during his illustrious career, he was the 2017 National League batting champion with a hefty .331 average.
Added Blackmon: “I do still very much want to be a part of the Colorado Rockies family, just not sure exactly how yet.”
Current Rockies Manager Bud Black called Blackmon “one of my favorite players always.”
“As an athlete, as a professional baseball player, I admire him,” Black said. “I know what he’s done to become the player that he’s become, even going back to amateur baseball … what he did in those years after high school to junior college to collegiate baseball where transformations happen from pitcher to hitter. All the work that he’s put in—and continues to put in—[including] the work that he’s putting in to play today’s game, [it’s] been remarkably consistent and steady. He’s never wavered from what he felt he had to do and really wanted to do.
“That’s the thing. He wants to work, he wants to do it. I just admire him. I admire players like him.”
Also on hand for the press conference was former teammate, Nolan Arenado, who played alongside Blackmon from 2013 to 2020 before the All-Star third baseman was traded by Colorado to the St. Louis Cardinals.
By chance, Arenado ran into Blackmon at breakfast in Denver on Monday—the Cardinals opened a three-game series with Colorado on Tuesday night at Coors Field—and Blackmon told Arenado of the plans to announce his retirement.
“I was kind of rattled; I couldn’t believe it because of how long he’s played and how consistent he’s been,” Arenado said. “I’m happy for him. He’s an incredible player. Consistency is what I would think about him.
“And, for me, the best leadoff hitter I’ve ever gotten a chance to play with,” Arenado added. “(He’s) one of the smartest players I’ve got to play with, too, and I could go on and on. From the routine, to the recovery to everything he did to get ready for a game. (That) was something I learned a lot from (him) and I appreciate him. He’s a winner.”
The Rockies will celebrate Blackmon through their final home series this season against the Los Angeles Dodgers beginning Friday and honor him prior to the regular-season finale Sunday at Coors Field.