It's all about family – on and off the field - for the Colorado Rockies' Matt Holliday. At home, last season's National League MVP runnerup and his wife, Leslee, are MVPs (Most Valuable Parents) on a daily basis.

The Hollidays – Matt, Leslee, 4-year-old Jackson and Ethan, who just turned a year old – showed up for a day of family photos and a Denver Magazine® cover shoot in January. Soon it was Jackson who got all of my attention – and he also made it known that I didn't pick his favorite player for our spring cover.

"J–A-C-K-S-O-N," he spelled out his name – to make sure I got it right.
"What's it like having a daddy who plays baseball," I asked?
"Good," he answered. "'Cause he hits home runs."
"Well, who are your favorite players besides daddy," I asked?
"Spilly and Garrett," he answered. (Colorado Rockies' backup outfielder Ryan Spilborghs and third baseman Garrett Atkins.)
Jackson added, looking up at his daddy, "Garrett is a better hitter than you are."
"What," Matt and I asked, simultaneously?
"He's better than you at hitting," explained Jackson – again.
(I had to repeat out loud what Jackson said to his father once more, completely unable to contain my laughter.)
"He hit a home run over the Green Monster," Jackson added matter-a-fact-like, as the rationale behind his decision to pick Garrett over daddy.
"So did I," answered Matt, sounding defeated.
"Yeah," answered Jackson.
"You're better than Tulo (shortstop Troy Tulowitzki)," Jackson offered as a consolation.
Then the dagger to the heart, "You and Garrett are better than Tulo."
(Now I'm cracking up.)
"You might want to rethink your answers," said Matt, trying to contain his laughter, too.
"So, do you like Garrett better than daddy," I asked?
Jackson nodded his head, yes.
"Jackson," Leslee said in her sweet maternal tone, "No you don't."
Finally, Jackson shakes his head No! (Now he's laughing, too.)
"Do you think Garrett would wipe your butt," asks Matt? (Still a bit defeated.)
"Does he sing you songs, and tuck you into bed and miss you when he's gone? I don't think so," added Leslee.
"Who's your favorite player?" Matt asked again, giving his eldest son one final chance to redeem himself.
"Yooouuuu," answers Jackson. His voice trailed off as he ran to play with his little brother, Ethan, who joyfully cooed in the background.

The entire exchange shouldn't be that surprising considering Jackson has more clubhouse interviews under his tiny 4T belt than – well – anybody his age. That's what happens when daddy is one of the best baseball players in the National League, Colorado Rockies' 2007 MVP and instrumental in getting the team to the World Series.

It could happen again this year. But, before Matt talked about any home runs, he wanted to talk about being an MVP (Most Valuable Parent) at home.

Matt recalled the blind date that led him to his lovely wife, Leslee, back in 1998.

"One of my best friends from high school was dating one of her sorority sisters and they thought we'd get along well," he said.

"A sorority sister of mine in the Pi Phi house set us up," said Leslee.

Matt signed up to play pro baseball right out of high school and was living in Stillwater, Okla., with his family. He was 18. Leslee was a freshman at Oklahoma State. She was 19.

"We went on a double-date," said Matt. "We went to a movie – I don't even remember which one it was – but we ended up talking all night. From then on, we were pretty much inseparable."

"I liked him a lot from the very beginning," added Leslee.

But, did Leslee like baseball before she met Matt?

"Not like I do now," she said with a smile. "I have two brothers and we've always liked sports. Actually, I don't know if I like it now," she says as an after-thought. (She's laughing now.)

"No, I'm kidding. I like it," she adds. "I know a lot more about it now than I did before. He has a great job – and a job he loves to do – and not many wives get to watch their husband go to work and enjoy what they do. It's a real blessing that Matt loves what he does so much. That's the coolest part about it."

Matt and Leslee dated for a year, were engaged in 1999 and were married in 2000. Jackson arrived on Dec. 4, 2003, Ethan was born Feb. 23, 2007.

Then came the 2007 World Series run.

"It was a great experience. It was an exciting time. (The family) got to travel with me to Arizona and Philadelphia and Boston. We were together almost the whole month," said Matt. "It was an exciting 'off season.' It was a lot of fun."

"It was really busy," added Leslee. "We were on planes going back and forth. We went and just didn't skip beat. We did everything, participated in everything. It was busy, busy, busy, but it was fun."

Not only were Matt's family and friends along for the playoff ride, so were tens of thousands of Rockies' fans yelling 'M-V-P' every time Holliday went up to bat.

"He yells it right along with them," said Leslee, explaining how Jackson helps cheer on his dad. "He gets it. He totally gets it."

"You hear it," said Matt. "It's pretty cool. It gives you goose bumps and it motivates you to want to go out there and do something for the team and try to get the crowd excited. You can't help but hear it."

When it comes to hearing – there's nothing like the sound of the 50,213 fans lucky enough to be at Coors Field for Game 4 of the Rockies' sweep over the Arizona Diamondbacks. Powered by a three-run homer from Holliday, that was the night the Rockies won the National League Championship Series and made it to the World Series for the first time in the franchise's 15-year history.

What was it like for die-hard Rockies fans?

"Obviously, the ones that stuck through it – I think it was probably more enjoyable to them," Matt said. "The people that have been there over the last 8 or 10 years of us not making the playoffs – and a lot of disappointing seasons. So, for them I'm sure the satisfaction of finally making it to the World Series was a little bit more gratifying for them."

What was that like for the Holliday family?

"Jackson is in the clubhouse almost all the time, so it wasn't new for him," said Matt.

"The wives and families got to come in the clubhouse and enjoy the celebrations for winning the Wild Card, and then the first series and then the National Championship Series. It was a lot of fun and a lot of great memories. To be able to share the experience with family and friends, and some of the guys on the team – who are some of my best friends in the world and always will be … to be able to experience something like that, with your friends and your teammates and your family is irreplaceable."

It might be irreplaceable, but that doesn't mean it can't happen again. At the time of our interview, Matt was already in "pre-spring" training.

"It's hitting and lifting and running and getting ready for spring training," said Matt.

"I think as a team, we're excited about the upcoming season. Obviously the expectations are much higher – and I think everybody is comfortable with that. We've got a lot of new guys that we are going to have to develop chemistry with. We lost some of our guys that we're really close with. We'll have to go out of our way to incorporate the new guys into our group, and I'm looking forward to it. I think everybody is excited about the season and we have some young pitchers that we're counting heavily on, and so hopefully they can do what we did at the end of the year, last year. For the most part, it's going to be the same team that (the fans) were watching at the end of last season play so well. It was so exciting. I'm pretty sure they enjoyed what they saw at the end of the season last year, so I think they'll come back out. If we start out hot, hopefully this whole season will be like it was at the end because the atmosphere was electric. I can't even explain to you how fun it is as a player to go out in front of a sold out crowd that's going crazy. It's getting to be about that time … where everybody starts getting excited about baseball again and spring's rolling in," Matt said.

Meanwhile, little Jackson seems to have quite the arm – so I noticed as he played catch with dad in between shots. (I threw a few balls to Jackson, too … until he informed me that I should "go to training camp to learn how to throw.")

So what advice does dad have for his eldest son and possible pitching prodigy?

"The best advice I could give him is to be a good teammate," he said. "Be a good friend. Remember the most important part is the relationships you build. All of us will retire – and be old and not good at baseball any more at some point - but you'll still have those relationships that you spent years and years developing."

I felt obligated to bring up the Mitchell Report about steroid abuse in baseball, which had just been released. How do you teach a child there's a fair – and unfair - way to play the game that you love?

"I think like anything else, there's always going to be short cuts in life you can try to take whether you're in business – or in any sort of profession," explained Matt.

"A lot about how you're raised – and how (your kids) see you behave – is how I think their values will be. The satisfaction of doing it the right way and being able to accomplish things without pushing the rules – or cheating, those are things … you go home and sleep well at night. Even if you don't make it – even if I hadn't made it – I could deal with that. I could handle 'hey, I gave it everything I had and it just wasn't meant to be.' But, I also would remind (Jackson) not to judge," added Matt.

"It's a very important lesson that everyone makes mistakes. We all have skeletons in our closet that we're not proud of. Some of my good friends are in that report. Hopefully, I can be an example to (Jackson). Most of the guys are still my really close friends and I'm not going to judge them for what they did, but at the same time, I'd want to convey to (Jackson) that it's not acceptable."

"From a baseball standpoint, if (Jackson's) having fun – I'll support him as long as he loves it - and loves doing it," added Matt.

"Obviously, there are some fundamental things that I can maybe help him with, but for the most part, he's been around baseball already so much. I wouldn't change anything he does now – his swing is probably better than mine."