“I’m going to double-down. I’m going to let it ride.”

Rockies center fielder Charlie Blackmon had a superlative 2017 season, winning the National League batting title with a gaudy .331 mark. Blackmon also led the Senior Circuit in hits (213), runs (137), triples (14) and total bases (387).

The man they call “Chuck Nazty” wasn’t referring to any of those things… he was talking about his beard. The shaggy, untamed thicket of whiskers has become Blackmon’s calling card as much as his MVP-caliber play.

“I think it’s become a thing,” Blackmon told Eric Goodman and Les Shapiro of Mile High Sports AM 1340 | FM 104.7 inside the Rockies’ clubhouse at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick. “I enjoy it. People like it. It’s recognizable. I don’t consider myself superstitious, but I’m not really out to change a whole lot right now; I’m just going to stick with it.”

Following a 2017 season in which the Rockies made a wild-card, postseason cameo, Blackmon said that the expectations have been raised in the Mile High City.

“I don’t want to sound arrogant, but I expect to be there [in the postseason],” Blackmon said. “We’ve been there last year; we’ve had that experience and we’ve raised the bar for our expectations — and we want to exceed what we did last year.

“Just to have lost [one game], and not made it into a series really stings.”

Blackmon isn’t dwelling on the loss, however. He prefers to keep it front-of-mind for motivation, but he also understands that that past is the past. “I keep a very short outlook most of the time; day-to-day,” Blackmon said. “I’m trying to do good on this pitch, on this at-bat or on this inning. Rarely do I sit back and think long-term; I know that’s important, but I don’t do that frequently.”

“Winning solves everything,” Blackmon chuckled. “There’s a secret for you.”

Sorry – this audio content is no longer available., including how he feels abut moving into a different spot in the batting order and more, or listen to the podcast below.

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