2017 Charlie Blackmon & Nolan Arenado Peak

Lore & Background

In the minds of Rockies supporters, 2017 is less a season and more a feeling: the specific electricity of a Blackmon line drive that hangs in the thin Denver air and sails past the wall, or the thunderous crack of an Arenado ground ball that rips through the infield and turns a routine at-bat into a highlight. The pairing of those two players at their respective primes created a narrative gravity that no amount of roster context could dilute. Blackmon, who had spent years as a solid but unspectacular outfielder, suddenly became a force of nature in 2017, and his MVP award felt like vindication for a fanbase that had watched him develop patiently at Coors Field. Arenado, by contrast, was already a household name by 2017, a third baseman whose combination of power, range, and raw physicality made him one of the most complete defensive players in the sport, and his 2017 campaign reinforced that reputation with another 40-plus home run season. The emotional arc of the year is what makes it stick. Through the regular season, the Rockies were competitive, exciting, and genuinely dangerous, and the fanbase allowed itself to believe that the altitude advantage, the two superstar bats, and a supporting cast that included solid pitching could finally produce a deep run. The Wild Card loss to the San Francisco Giants at Coors Field in October short-circuited that belief in a single afternoon, and the contrast between the euphoria of September and the flatness of that October defeat is the lens through which most fans still process the entire 2017 campaign. It became the 'what if' season, the one where everything aligned except the final result. Blackmon and Arenado would both go on to have long, distinguished careers, but the 2017 version of that pairing—healthy, synchronized, and playing on their home diamond at full strength—is the image that endures in fan memory.

In Their Own Story

The September evening air over Coors Field was already cooling when Blackmon stepped to the plate, the stadium lights cutting through a thin layer of haze that rolled off the Rockies. You could hear the crowd before the pitch even left the mound—a low, rolling murmur that swelled with every count. Arenado was in the on-deck circle, glove in one hand, the other wiping chalk dust from his forearm, eyes locked on the batter. The pitch came in a little high, a four-seam that lived in the upper third of the zone, and Blackmon's bat turned over with a sound that was almost mechanical, almost too clean. The ball left the barrel and the stadium inhaled as one. For a half-second nobody moved. Then the wall. Then the roar. Arenado was already jogging off the base path, arms wide, and the two of them met near the warning track in a tangle of helmets and spikes while the crowd behind them simply lost its mind. It was the kind of moment that made the whole season feel like it had been building toward that single, perfect swing.

Reader's Guide

The 2017 season began with a quiet confidence that the previous year's competitiveness had not been a fluke. Charlie Blackmon, still adjusting to the expectations that followed a strong 2016, entered the spring with a reputation as a solid outfielder rather than a star. Nolan Arenado, by contrast, was already a perennial All-Star and Gold Glove winner, a third baseman whose physicality made him a fixture in every Rockies lineup. As the regular season progressed, Blackmon's bat transformed. His contact quality, his power, and his willingness to drive the ball to all fields elevated him from reliable to extraordinary, and the MVP narrative that built through August and September felt less like a surprise and more like a correction. Arenado, meanwhile, delivered yet another 40-plus home run season, anchoring the bottom of the order with the same blend of range and authority that had defined his career. The Rockies finished the regular season as a genuine contender, and the fanbase at Coors Field allowed itself to imagine a deep October run. The Wild Card game against the San Francisco Giants ended that imagination in a single afternoon. The loss was not dramatic, not the kind of game that produces lasting highlights, and that ordinariness is precisely what made it ache. For Rockies fans, 2017 became the season that almost was, defined by two players at their absolute best and a single game that never quite arrived.

Did You Know?

• Charlie Blackmon's 2017 NL MVP award was widely considered a dark horse selection; he was not the pre-season favorite and many voters had not expected his season to reach that level.
• Nolan Arenado's 2017 campaign was part of a stretch in which he hit 40+ home runs in consecutive seasons, a rare feat for a third baseman in the modern era.
• Coors Field's altitude—roughly 5,280 feet above sea level—reduces air resistance on a batted ball, a factor that amplified the power numbers of both Blackmon and Arenado during their 2017 peak.
• The 2017 NL Wild Card was played as a single elimination game, meaning the Rockies' season ended in one afternoon at their own ballpark, with no chance to recover.