Former Rockies pitcher Josh Fogg
Josh Fogg will forever have a place in Rockies lore as “the Dragon Slayer,” a nickname bestowed upon him by Matt Holliday during the club’s 2007 World Series run for the way the right-hander routinely outpitched opposing aces down the stretch.
And while “Rocktober” was certainly the highlight of his three-year stay in Denver, the 41-year-old also looks back on his first season with the team, 2006, with a certain nostalgia.
“I had signed as a free agent from Pittsburgh, and when I got to spring training and was meeting the guys, that season you could see something building, that there was a great core group of guys who enjoyed going on the field every day and competing,” Fogg said. “That momentum then filled in to 2007, where we got a little bit better and we got hot at the right time.”
Fogg now resides in Tampa, Fla., where he stayed during the offseason during his playing career, and keeps busy as a father to an 11-year-old son and a 7-year-old daughter who he said are the best parts about retirement.
“My son was 3 when I got done, so I kind of missed the beginning parts of his life being on the road and gone eight months out of the year,” Fogg said. “My daughter had just been born that September before I got done playing, so getting to see her in those baby years — and a lot of the stuff I missed with my son — was amazing.”
Also amazing? Colorado’s rotation this season, a staff he calls “easily the best in club history, if those pitchers can keep it up,” as Fogg noted he’s become a fan of Kyle Freeland & Co. from afar.
“Freeland goes out there, he’s not afraid to throw strikes and he’s not afraid to challenge hitters,” Fogg said. “It’s electric stuff at times, but even so, people with electric stuff have gotten beat up plenty at Coors Field. His biggest thing is he’s not afraid to get hit every now and again, and he’ll get the next guy out. That’s the kind of attitude you have to have at Coors Field.”