PHOENIX — Dorothy Star grew up outside Boston, so she’s a baseball fanatic. She knows about the Curse of the Bambino, Fenway Park, Carl Yastrzemski, Bucky Dent, Billy Buckner and the 1986 World Series.
“I think I understand baseball passion,” she said.
Dorothy and her husband, Vic, have been married for 43 years. They moved to Colorado 40 years ago, and when the Rockies were born in 1993, Dorothy immediately adopted the team as her own.
She loved the Blake Street Bombers, reveled in Rocktober, and marveled at Nolan Arenado.
“It used to be so much fun to go to Coors Field,” she said.
Though she lives in Frisco, Dorothy estimates she’s attended about half of the Rockies’ home games.
“I’ve never left a game early,” she said.
When the team unveiled Rockies.TV, its new streaming service, she signed up immediately.
“I wanted to be able to watch some spring training games,” she said. “I wanted to see some of the young players.”
Dorothy wants to continue attending games, but that won’t be easy. She is 76, has lived with leukemia for 17 years, and has other health issues. She and Vic are contemplating moving to Denver for better health care access.
Dorothy tries to keep her life in perspective.
“I think I’m very lucky,” she said matter-of-factly. “But, unfortunately, I can’t do very much anymore.”
But Dorothy can still love baseball. The problem is that the Rockies are testing that love. The club’s 103 losses last season and its ugly 16-1 loss to the Diamondbacks on opening night are not easy to stomach.
“I’m conflicted now because of how they are playing and everything that’s gone on over the last few years,” she said. “It’s very frustrating. I don’t see things changing.”
Dorothy doesn’t come across as an angry person, but she has strong opinions about owner Dick Monfort.
“They need to sell the team because I don’t think they’ll get any better because Monfort doesn’t need them to get any better,” she said. “He’s laughing all the way to the bank. It’s amazing. When you go to games, you see that the attendance is incredible for a team that, at times, is playing horrible baseball. But you see fans jamming the party deck. It’s just, I don’t know, frustrating.”
Monfort, naturally, views the situation differently.
“My biggest problem is I hate losing, and it is hard to debate anybody when you are losing,” Monfort told The Post last week. “So the best way to quiet them down is to win, and win all the time, and that’s what we need to do. I do feel like we are on the right track.”
Monfort also said he believes in the people running the show at 20th and Blake, starting with general manager Bill Schmidt and manager Bud Black.
“I think in any business, you have to have people you can trust, and I trust both of them,” Monfort said. “With (Schmidt), it’s his third year. I think he has a good handle on it. I think he has a lot of talent to work with coming up. Take the combination of smart baseball people who work hard, who are trustworthy, loyal and all want to win in Colorado, that’s a damn good combination.”
Dorothy says she’s heard it all before, and she’s not buying it.
“I read all of the stuff the Rockies say — about how we’re going to be better this year, ‘Blah, blah, blah,’ ” she said. “Pardon me, but I think that’s just crap. I sure don’t have high expectations for the team. But I guess I’ll keep watching, as long as it’s not a thrashing like (Thursday) night.”
She and Vic plan to drive down from the mountains to attend the Rockies’ home opener Friday afternoon against Tampa Bay.
So why does she remain a fan, given her unhappiness with the Rockies?
“I’m not as active as I used to be, and that’s very frustrating, so I watch the Rockies,” she said. “I mean, I’ll watch a good Little League game. I guess I just love baseball too much to give it up.”
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Patrick Saunders
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