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FeedTriple Play
Jeff Nelson
Rockies outfielders Ryan Spilborghs, Carlos Gonzalez, and Dexter Fowler are serious about their game. And they recently stood in a cold back alley just blocks from Coors Field, directed into badass poses for a magazine photo shoot.
But they were soon batting around their playful, fun-loving personalities. Spilborghs, 30, almost the grizzled veteran, mischievously flipped rabbit-ear fingers. Fowler, the 23-year-old baby of the group, swung the small end of the bat dangerously close to his teammates’ lower torsos. In the background, soft-spoken Gonzalez, 24, stood by laughing and soaking it all in.
“They’re like my big brothers,” says Fowler. “We’re all great together.”
Their triple play goes something like this. “Spilly,” the California kid, is the big hitter. He recently signed a new, two-year contract — the reward for a season that included the first walk-off grand slam in franchise history.
Gonzalez (CarGo for short) also knows how to swing the bat. He learned the game in his native Venezuela and hopes to continue the pace he set in the playoffs last year when he posted a .588 batting average over four games.
Fowler, hailing from Atlanta, is the speedster. He was named to the big-league roster only four days before the 2009 season opener and is coming off a year that saw him tie a modern-day rookie record with five stolen bases in one game.
The Rockies are further loaded in the outfield with All-Star Brad Hawpe, Seth Smith, and Eric Young Jr. — all competing for playing time.
“We want to win,” Spilborghs says, “and want to bury the team we’re playing.”
No doubt they’ll have fun doing it, the same way the three finished the photo shoot, walking down the alley bumping shoulders like lifelong buddies.
