SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Occasionally, I’ll watch Nolan Arenado make another incredible play or I’ll talk to him in the clubhouse and I’ll flashback to the bright-eyed kid he used to be.
I’ll wonder how much kid is left inside the 28-year-old man, and I’ll recall one of my favorite Rockies stories.
In 2013, loveable but irascible first basemen Todd Helton was sitting in the visiting team’s clubhouse at Nationals Park when he figured he’d pass on some wisdom to the rookie third baseman. The Rockies had flown into Washington from Toronto the night before and Helton told the wide-eyed Arenado to make sure and check his cellphone bill.