The Rockies' Lucky No. 7

"I know what it takes to be the best," says Troy, who's the oldest of three children. "My father taught me the game of baseball and taught me that guys get better as you go up levels, so you have to work harder and harder."

Tulowitzki isn't married. He doesn't fish, hunt or play golf. Video games are the closest thing he has to a hobby, and even then he hooks the Xbox to the stationary bike in the Rockies' fitness room. Playing baseball, and playing it the right way, is what consumes him, what thrills him.

"C'mon, throw it!" the kid in the Rockies jersey says.

"O.K., but just one more," Tulowitzki replies. "I've got to go do my ab work."

The kid is four years old. It's Jackson Holliday, son of Rockies leftfielder Matt Holliday. Matt, Jackson and Troy are playing with a rag-style ball and a tiny foam bat on a plush patch of grass underneath an old cottonwood tree. Two things are noteworthy about this bit of playtime. One, Tulowitzki seems to be having even more fun than the ferociously swinging Jackson. Two, Jackson's Rockies jersey does not say holliday on the back. It says TULOWITZKI.

"O.K., I've really got to go now!" Tulo witzki says.

He jogs off. There is so much more to do.

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