WALSENBURG — There is a certain fraternity that develops among mavens of the press box at just about any professional sports stadium.
“Fraternity” may not be the right word, since the modern sports press is populated by both men and women, but the collegiality of the press box, one born of shared spaces, shared purpose, and shared love of the game, is still very real.
Just ask Larry Patrick, former Walsenburg mayor, former broadcaster for KSPK, occasional correspondent for the World Journal and general man-about-town – and a veteran of the Colorado Rockies press box for decades.
His colleagues among the Rockies media regulars have for years been de-facto members of an informal club, which culminates each year in “Bill and Ed’s Baseball Extravaganza,” the brainchild of Bill Rogan, a veteran sports broadcaster and manager of independent league baseball teams, and Ed Henderson, a longtime baseball scout who for years has broadcast for Denver’s KOA radio.
The “Extravaganza” is an annual celebration away from the microphones and cameras, the laptop computers and smartphones, of their daily working lives.
And each year they select from among their peers a man of the year and woman of the year.
Last month, they named Patrick their “Man of the Year.”
Patrick’s colleagues noted his years of loyal attendance at Rockies games (he said he attends about 30 games a year), and the fact that he travels the furthest among the press-box regulars to attend games.
“I was kind of surprised,” Patrick said. “It was a great honor. At my age, to get any award is good.”
But Patrick said his real rewards come from his presence at the ball field, interviewing players and managers in the club house, being a part of post-season berths in 1995, 2009, 2017 and 2018 — and of course, the Rockies appearance in the 2007 World Series and Denver’s hosting of the All Star festivities in 2021.
“I’m probably the oldest guy in the press box,” Patrick said. “It’s a good group of guys. I have a lot of fun there.”
