Charlie Blackmon’s post-game eating habits shocked and astounded Nolan Arenado.
As a 22-year-old rookie, Arenado walked into the training room when he saw Blackmon, neck-deep in a cold bathtub, devouring his post-game meal.
“Guys would say, ‘That’s weird,'” Arenado recalled last week. “But that’s Charlie. It’s been a ride, man.”
Arenado, the Cardinals’ third baseman, was Blackmon’s Rockies teammate from 2013 to 2020. During those eight seasons, Blackmon left a lasting impression.
“His work ethic was the best I’ve ever seen,” said Arenado, a potential Hall of Famer.
Rockies fans know all about Blackmon’s leadership, strict routine and Charlie Hustle style. But the man behind the beard is infinitely more interesting than the four-time All-Star and two-time Silver Slugger.
“When he’s on the field, it’s all about baseball,” said Ashley, Blackmon’s wife of nearly seven years. “It’s ‘Chuck Nazty.’ It’s ‘Locker Room Charlie.’ But I don’t know who ‘Locker Room Charlie’ is. I know Charlie Charlie, and he’s a great guy.
Blackmon, 38, plays the final game of his famous 14-year major league career on Sunday when the Rockies host the Dodgers in the finale of the 2024 season.
Rockies fans have kept “Chuck Nazty” in their hearts, and it will be hard to say goodbye. They watched his Grizzly Adams beard grow and grow and grow some more. They sang along to his live song “Your Love” by The Outfield.
But Ashley fell in love, not with the Rockies icon, but with the kind and caring man who cradles their two children, daughter Josie, 3, and son Wyatt, who will soon be 2 years old.
“Charlie is a multi-faceted person,” Ashley said. “He presents himself as a stoic and serious person, but his outward appearance can sometimes lead people to think he is unapproachable or reserved. Beneath that tough facade is this warm, kind, fun-loving man with a love of life spirit.
“He often goes out of his way to make others feel appreciated and supported. He has a deep love for the Lord and his family. Oh, and fishing, too.
“His seriousness on the field stems from his deep sense of commitment and responsibility to the game and his career.”
What a career.
Blackmon entered the final weekend with 1,802 hits, 2,953 total bases, 334 doubles and 1,621 home runs, ranking second in Rockies history in all of those categories behind Hall of Famer Todd Helton.
Blackmon made nearly $140 million playing baseball, but money didn’t change the man.
“He’s just a regular guy, a regular guy who loves being outside,” said Ivan Orsek, who became Blackmon’s fly-fishing buddy in Colorado. “He was already an All-Star when we met in 2016, but he made it so easy to become friends. He’s just Charlie, a guy who happens to be really good at baseball.”
Longtime Rockies player Charlie Blackmon fishes the Arkansas River in Colorado (Photo courtesy of Ivan Orsic/Orsic Creative)
Starting in 2015, Blackmon decided he wanted to explore the Colorado wilds and learn how to fly fish. Since Blackmon never does anything halfway, he reached out to Orsic and Colorado fishing expert Tanner Smith to learn the art of fly fishing the state’s rivers and streams. The trio became fast friends on their first trip to the Arkansas River near Salida.
Orsic is a film director and photographer With a focus on fly fishing. Sadly, Smith passed away on August 3 after losing his battle with stomach cancer.
“Charlie had done a few guided trips before he met us, but he really wanted to learn how to fly fish, so he reached out to Tanner, who was the godfather of fly fishing in Colorado,” Orsick said. “I respect Charlie for a lot of things, but the thing I really respect is that he doesn’t want anything handed to him.
“He’s not shy about diving into everything and finding out for himself. He wasn’t interested in rolling out the red carpet and having people tie his bugs to him.”
Not only is Blackmon interested in baseball and fishing, he is also a movie fan with a keen memory.
“Charlie has a huge treasure trove of movie quotes, but I’m really bad at remembering quotes,” Orsik said. “On our fishing trip to Belize, Chuck made sure to set me on fire several times exchanging movie quotes. Our guide just stood there completely clueless.
“I tried to make it harder than it had to be,” Blackmon joked about his hobbies, especially fishing.
He’s the guy who sweats the details.
Mike “Tiny” Pontarelli, Colorado’s longtime manager, found out in 2011 during Blackmon’s first big-league spring training.
The topic was pants.
“Chuck wanted to know the exact measurements of his uniform,” Pontarelli said. “He wanted to know the inseam details and the exact length. He was interested in the dimensions of his tailored pants. They were so wild. He wanted to make sure they were perfect.”
Colorado Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon, 19, hits the catch on his bat between innings against the Atlanta Braves on Aug. 14, 2017, in Denver at Coors Field. (Photo by John Lippa/The Denver Post)
Blackmon’s bats have to be perfect, too.
He swung Old Hickory clubs — 34 inches, 31 1/2 ounces — his entire career. He visited the factory in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, to see how his rackets are made.
“Charlie has weighed every bat for as long as I’ve known him,” Pontarelli said. “Not only that, he would measure the taper of the club handles to make sure they were perfect as well.
“A lot of guys are happy to get a dozen bats and go out and use them. Not Charlie. He had to double-check to make sure they were perfect. So, in a set of a dozen bats, he might get rid of three or four of them.
Blackmon is a man who knows what he likes. Arenado prefers the word “stubborn.”
“That’s what made him great: He stuck to his ways,” Arenado said. “If I tried to turn him away from his ways, it was like, ‘Don’t talk to me, don’t come near me.'”
When the two were teammates, Blackmon and Arenado would often go out to dinner together. Aside from baseball, they didn’t have much in common: Arenado, a Southern Californian who loved to play golf and go to the beach, and Blackmon, a Georgian who loved fishing.
So they’ll go out to dinner and inevitably end up talking about baseball. And he argues, especially if Arenado tries to offer Blackmun advice on how to escape the recession.
“I could say, ‘Hey, Charlie, try a lighter racket,’ and he’d say, ‘Don’t tell me what to do,'” Arenado recalls with a laugh.
During his early days with the Rockies, Blackmon continued to drive the 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo that he had owned since high school. He put nearly 200,000 miles on his beloved Jeep, pushing the car to its limits.
Blackmon’s stubbornness caught his attention on a brisk morning in Atlanta in January 2016. On his way to a morning workout, he ran out of gas on a busy highway. Second baseman DJ LeMahieu, Blackmon’s close friend, former teammate and roommate, had to come to the rescue.
“I had my gas light on in my Jeep when I left for my workout that morning,” Blackmon recalls. “I knew it was almost empty, but I like to push it. It was really cold that day. It wasn’t safe. So I called the DJ, because I knew he was probably behind me. He was.”
LeMahieu showed up with a gas can. While Blackmon was pouring gas into his Jeep, LeMahieu sat in the warmth of his car, took a photo with his iPhone, then… She posted the photo on Twitter.
“It was too good to pass up,” recalls LeMahieu, now chasing a World Series ring with the Yankees. “It was the perfect photo at the perfect time. I thought: ‘I have to share this with everyone.’
But Blackmon, armed with a wickedly dry sense of humor, knew how to fool his teammates — especially the nervous Arenado.
Colorado Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado hugs Charlie Blackmon in the clubhouse in celebration after defeating the Washington Nationals 5-2 to earn a playoff birth at Coors Field on September 28, 2018. (Photo by Andy Cross/Denver Post)
“I know how to push Nolan’s buttons and I know what’s bothering him, so I’ll say something to get under his skin,” Blackmon told The Denver Post in 2018. “I’ll have a good time with him, and then I’ll leave him alone.” Leave it to cook for the rest of the day.
“But other times, Nolan just needs a hug. I mean sometimes he can’t walk down the hall without stopping three times to take a dry swing with his bat.”
Arenado admitted that “Brother Charlie” reached out to him.
“This time, I wasn’t hitting,” Arenado recalls. “He came up to me and said, ‘Hey Nolan, do you know what your problem is? Do you know why you don’t strike now? I said: Why, Chuck? He said: Nolan, you’re not ready to hear that yet.
As Arenado told the tale, he became more upset: “I was like, ‘Really, dude?!’ “You’ll stand there and say that and then you won’t tell me why I’m suffering?! I was so mad. I said to myself, ‘Dude, I’ll never talk to you again.’ Then I talked to him the next day. But he never told me. He just likes to bother me.” He’s such a jerk. We argue all the time. He’s like one of my brothers.”
Make no mistake: Blackmon is beloved by his teammates.
“He’s a good beer drinker, man,” third baseman Ryan McMahon said. “You put a couple of beers in him, you make him tell stories, man, you could listen to his stories all day long.
“He would tell us stories about his trips to Germany and Amsterdam. He would tell us stories about some of the veteran Rockies players of those days. He meant a lot to me and this franchise. Chuck is the best.”
At Blackmon’s retirement news conference, Rockies players, staffers and front office staff crowded into the interview room.
“No one had to be asked to go. They all wanted to be there for Charlie,” manager Bud Black said.
Charlie Blackmon’s Rockies teammates filled the room as he addressed his upcoming retirement at Coors Field before the Rockies played St. Louis. Louis Cardinals in Denver, on September 24, 2024. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
During his press conference, Blackmon’s voice was measured and composed, just as it always has been on the baseball field. But he acknowledged that a future without the game is daunting.
“It (the decision) was very difficult, and I don’t think I realized the seriousness of the matter until now,” he said. “I think this last week will reveal a lot about how I feel about being away from the game.
“It’s pretty much all I know. I feel like I’ve never worked a day in my life. … So it’s going to be completely different.”
Ashley said she will be a “puddle of tears” Sunday afternoon, but she is confident her husband is ready for the next chapter.
“He always kept baseball separate from his family life,” she said. “He doesn’t bring the game home with him. We’ve been together for 10 years now. He’s never started a conversation about baseball unless I start it and ask him how he’s doing.
“He could score 0-on-0 or mess it up in a couple of games or a week, but he always showed up for me and for the kids. I think that’s really important. We can’t wait for there to be more Charlie Charlie.”
But Ashley has concerns. She has never seen her husband without his famous beard and hinted that he might shave it off after his retirement. She’s fine with that, but will urge him to proceed with caution.
I told him: When you’re ready, I’ll be ready too. But don’t do it suddenly. All you have to do is shave it in small amounts or you will scare our children.
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