Denorfia enjoys home cookin’ with Yard Goats
HARTFORD — In his 10-year major-league career, Chris Denorfia shared a clubhouse with the likes of Ken Griffey, Jr., Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo, played against the Mets in the 2015 NLCS and wound up with a solid, .272 career batting average.
But a couple of weeks ago, on Father’s Day, Denorfia was able to spend some time on the field with his most cherished teammate yet.
Denorfia, in his first season as manager of the Hartford Yard Goats, arrived at Dunkin’ Donuts Park early that day and played in the outfield with his son Luke, 7, who was bedecked in Yard Goats’ gear and loving every minute of it.
“It was like I’d seen all my older teammates and coaches do, get to bring their kids to the field and play with them,” Denorfia, 40, recalled. “I’ve been waiting a long time to do that. It was a special day, just to get to spend a couple of hours with him here.”
It’s the kind of thing Denorfia is able to do now in his first manager’s job at any level, only about a 20minute ride from the Southington home he’s lived in for over a decade, but which was “lightlyused” during his majorleague career.
“The lifestyle hasn’t changed that much,” he noted. “It’s still the same hours, in fact it’s more hours than when you’re playing. There’s an extra hour or two on each end of the day. It’s long days, but it’s a pleasure to be able to wake up in your own bed, see your kids every morning. You get to enjoy your house, instead of just renting an apartment.”
On a typical day, when the Yard Goats are playing a home night game, Denorfia leaves home around noon, picks up something to eat and brings it to the downtown Hartford ballpark — “the best minorleague facility I’ve ever been to” — before kicking off his managerial duties and, ultimately, getting to sleep in his own bed later that night.
“It’s a nice change of pace,” he added. “I actually get to feel like I get to go home. I’m not just always in the grind of the season. When I get to be home, in my house with my family, it’s a really nice change of pace.”
Of course, this is all happening a year later than expected for Denorfia, who finished his playing career with the Rockies’ Triple-A team in Albuquerque in 2017, then spent two years in the Cubs’ front office before being hired as Yard Goats’ manager in January, 2020.
COVID-19 spoiled last year’s plans, canceling the entire minor-league season. It was tough for everyone involved in the minors, but the Rockies helped make things easier, paying players and coaches throughout the pandemic and providing them with as many resources as they could.
“What (Rockies’ owner) Dick Monfort did for all of us is something that I’ll never forget,” Denorfia noted.
He also got to spend the year at home, connecting with his players through Zoom meetings but also getting to spend time with his wife, Lauren, and sons Luke and Cole, 2.
“You can find blessings in every situation,” Denorfia said. “For me, to be able to spend an entire year with my 1-year-old growing up, that I really didn’t get with my first, it was really special. There was a lot of bad stuff that happened throughout the year. To find peace and comfort in things like that, it made getting through everything that much easier.”
Now, Denorfia, a lifelong Southington resident and 1998 graduate of Choate Rosemary Hall, is “really enjoying” his first season as a skipper at any level. He loves the support structure the Rockies provide, along with his staff and entire roster.
“I couldn’t ask for a better group of players,” he said. “They’ve been playing together through the system for some years now. The clubhouse culture, we talk about it all the time, the chemistry — this team has it.”
It hasn’t necessarily translated into wins. Entering the weekend, the Yard Goats were 15-34 overall and in last place in Double-A Northeast’s Northeast Division.
But while winning is important, player development is still the most important aspect at the Double-A level.
“They go hand-in-hand a little bit,” Denorfia explained. “We want to develop winners as well. Obviously, the wins haven’t been to the level that we’re looking for here. But the improvement level has. From where we started to where we are now, it’s really nice to see, regardless of how we’re doing, the players are still showing up every day. They have a plan, they’re sticking to it, and really, the last two weeks we’ve played the best baseball we have.”
And with Hartford centrally located in a regional division, even the bus rides aren’t that bad.
“I never had a problem with the buses,” said Denorfia, who’ll turn 41 in a couple of weeks. “Now, especially, because we have two buses. When I came up, we were doubling up seats and taking 10, 12-hour rides.”
Things are very different now for Chris Denorfia, as a catch in the outfield with his 7-year-old son on Father’s Day recently proved.
HUSKY IN THE HOUSE
Denorfia was recently joined in Hartford by a player with local ties.
PJ Poulin, the former UConn closer, was promoted to the Yard Goats from High-A Spokane on Wednesday.
Poulin, a lefty from Marion, Massachusetts, posted a 2.35 ERA with 37 strikeouts in 23 innings pitched for Spokane this season.
“It looks like he needs the challenge of a new level,” Denorfia noted. “That’s always the goal. When you dominate a level, you’re ready to go to the next one. It sounds like he’s doing that.”
Poulin, 24, set a UConn single-season record with 16 saves in 2018 before being selected by the Rockies in the 11th round of the MLB Draft.