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The Denver Post’s assigned spot in the Coors Field Press Box | Renee Dechert
I spent last weekend at Coors Field covering the San Francisco Giants-Colorado Rockies series for Purple Row, and I was glad I did because a lot happened.
President of baseball operations Paul DePodesta took questions from media, and given that preparations for the MLB draft were in full swing and the trade deadline is fast approaching, there was plenty to discuss. Hunter Goodman was announced as the Rockies representative at the All-Star Game, and he answered questions about receiving that honor for the second consecutive year.
On two days, Goodman’s father, Robert, threw batting practice to his son, who hoped to be invited to participate in the Home Run Derby on Monday. Goodman was ultimately not invited, but it was still pretty cool to watch a father-son BP. That said, you had to be at Coors Field to see it.
The clubhouse was open, and players answered questions as did manager Warren Schaeffer. Rockies’ 2022 first-round draft pick Gabriel Hughes (No. 12 PuRP) made his MLB debut.
Here’s Kyle Karros discussing his monster home run on Sunday. The controlled swagger is a beautiful thing.
Ultimately, the Rockies took the series from a struggling Giants team. They are becoming a better and even a fun baseball team. They have scored an MLB-high 132 runs in the eighth inning or later. How is that not the good stuff for baseball fans?
If the Denver Post had a reporter there to cover the series, I never saw them.
Since Patrick Saunders left The Post, a pastiche of offseason sports beat writers has been in the clubhouse finding material for some scattered feature stories. For example, Nate Peterson spent an afternoon talking with Marlins fans at Coors Field about their experiences with a losing team.
The Post now takes game recaps from the Associated Press. It’s not unusual for those recaps to go up the next day as opposed to immediately after the conclusion of a game, as they did before. I can’t speak to what happens on the road, but in Denver, the AP has two sports writers with one covering each Rockies game. When the game is over, the reporter goes to the winning clubhouse for comments.
Don’t get me wrong: I’m a big fan of The Post’s sportswriters, but writing occasional feature stories and farming out game recaps doesn’t seem like a best practice.
Besides, when the Denver Broncos report to training camp, and the Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche start their early-season work, how much time will those beat writers devote to their occasional Rockies feature stories? Listen, I don’t blame them. These reporters really good at their jobs, and that involves working their beat.
When a beat writer works with a team, they spend a great deal of time with players, coaches, and front office staff developing relationships. They build trust and learn off-the-record information that allows them to write more-informed stories. But it’s in that work — so much of that tedious standing around and asking questions — that the real reporting happens.
I suspect if you were to ask a sports editor at The Post about this decision, they would tell you that the Rockies are a bad team, and they just don’t drive enough traffic. Hey, I write for a Rockies site. Believe me: The entire staff of Purple Row is very aware of how little traffic the Rockies have driven in recent years.
But that’s changing.
The Rockies are an exciting young team with stories driven by compelling players and a front office trying to rebuild connections. I can’t speak for The Post, but our site traffic is up, in part because of an improved team and in part because Purple Row is committed to covering the Rockies, even if our resources are considerably more limited than those available to The Post.
That said, even if the powers that be at the Denver Post decide that the Rockies baseball team doesn’t particularly matter, surely they would feel compelled to cover the business side of the Rockies. Like any professional sports franchise, the Rockies are a big business that navigates the uneasy relationship between taxpayer money and owner financial interests.
If nothing else, surely The Post would be interested in what will probably an MLB lockout when the season ends. Given that Rockies owner Dick Monfort is a key figure in trying to get a salary cap — something that would fundamentally change the sport — surely The Post would want someone working that story now.
It is deeply unsettling that that the Colorado Rockies may well receive less attention from The Post for the rest of the season than they will perhaps devote to some high school football programs.
I reached out to The Post for a comment on the publication’s plans for the Rockies beat, but I did not receive an answer.
So here we are.
What’s to be done?
Me, I’m going to cancel my subscription.
Believe it or not, my Denver Post subscription costs more than my subscription to the New York Times. I can read AP gamers anywhere. Better yet, I can read gamers on Purple Row, where we write our own recaps that are published at the conclusion of every game.
I hate to do it. I believe that what newspapers do in local communities is vitally important. But it’s difficult to see The Post as doing anything other than dropping the ball when it comes to covering the Rockies.
To Read: Rockpiles
- Monday:Paul DePodesta provides a Rockies mid-season progress report | Renee Dechert
- Tuesday:TJ Shook reflects on his MLB debut | Sam Bradfield
- Wednesday:TJ Rumfield deserves more Rookie of the Year attention | Skyler Timmins
- Thursday:If you need a job done, give it to Willi Castro | Cory Cohen
- Friday:Rockies red-hot offense surging since June 1 | Joelle Milholm
- Saturday:Victor Vodnik is finding outs without finding the strike zone | James Riggenbach
To Read: News
- Rockies news:Gabriel Hughes got the call. Now he’s living in the moment. | Eli Whitney
- Rockies prospects:Zac Veen named Pacific Coast League Player of the Month | Renee Dechert
- Weekly Pebble Report:The player and person Roldy Brito wants you to see | Evan Lang & Eli Whitney
- Rockies draft:Rockies select Tyler Bell with the 10th overall pick in the 2026 MLB Draft | James Riggenbach
- Rockies draft:Rockies select Daniel Jackson with the 37th overall pick in the 2026 draft | Cory Cohen
- Rockies draft:Rockies select Logan Reddemann with the 38th overall pick in the 2026 MLB Draft | James Riggenbach
- Rockies draft:Rockies first-round draft selection Tyler Bell is eager to get to work | Renee Dechert
- Rockies draft: Paul DePodesta and Tommy Tanous discuss Day 1 of the Rockies MLB Draft | Renee Dechert
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