Rockies OF's dad with ALS sees his son play at home in Texas
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) - Colorado Rockies 新人 outfielder Sam Hilliard grew up going to Texas 特別奇襲隊員s games as a kid with his dad, who two years ago was 診断するd with ALS.
His dad, Jim, is now getting to watch his son as a big leaguer in their hometown team's new stadium that さもなければ is の近くにd to fans because of the coronavirus pandemic.
"It´s amazing that he can be here, 特に the fact he´s in Texas," Sam Hilliard said before Tuesday's game. "It´s going to be something else to look up there and see him. ... Hopefully I´ll get to interact a little bit with him after the game or something, get to see him. I 港／避難所´t seen him in a while. It´s going to be really 冷静な／正味の and something to really 心にいだく."
The 26-year-old outfielder´s parents and his fiance were there when the Rockies played in an オープン戦 Tuesday night. They are also scheduled to …に出席する another オープン戦 Wednesday night, and be there for the 正規の／正選手 season opener between the two teams Friday, which will be Hilliard's first 開始 day game in the big leagues.
"That´s honestly a dream come true," Hilliard said. "It´s such a blessing for my family, to have them here."
Hilliard ホームランd in his first big league debut last August, and 攻撃する，衝突する .273 with seven ホームランs and 13 打点s in 27 games over the final month of the season.
Jim Hilliard, Tamara Hilliard and Kat Minnerly watch the Colorado Rockies play against the Texas 特別奇襲隊員s in an 展示 baseball game Tuesday, July 21, 2020 in Arlington, Texas. The Hilliards are the parents of Rockies left fielder Sam Hilliard and Minnerly is his fiancee. (AP Photo/Richard W. Rodriguez)
Colorado was 初めは scheduled to play two games in Texas in August, but with the 再編するd schedule the Rockies became the first visiting team to play in Globe Life Field - both for an オープン戦 and the 正規の／正選手 season.
Hilliard said it is getting harder for his parents to travel around. His father, a retired orthopedic 外科医 who played football at the University of Texas in the 早期に 1970s, had already been 取引，協定ing with symptoms of ALS before his 公式の／役人 diagnosis in 2018. Often called Lou Gehrig's 病気, ALS is a 進歩／革新的な nervous system 病気 that 影響する／感情s 神経 独房s in the brain and spinal cord, 原因（となる）ing loss of muscle 支配（する）／統制する. There is 現在／一般に no cure.
Hilliard last season started speaking more frequently about Team Hilliard, the family´s 成果／努力 to raise 認識／意識性, and raise money for ALS Therapy 開発 学校／設ける. His mother, Tamara, a former 行方不明になる Texas, is a 運動ing 軍隊 behind the 率先. The outfielder is the youngest of the couple´s three sons.
While Hilliard didn't know all of the 詳細（に述べる）s for how everything （機の）カム together for his dad to see him play in Texas, he knows the 特別奇襲隊員s helped find the a way "for them to get in and be socially distanced from anyone else, and have a little 位置／汚点／見つけ出す in the stadium."
His family was sitting on the main concourse level, above the Rockies dugout on the third base 味方する. That 供給するd a good 位置／汚点／見つけ出す to 見解（をとる） Hilliard playing left field and when the left-手渡すd hitter （機の）カム to bat and went 1 for 3 with a run 得点する／非難する／２０d. He was 支援する in Texas for the first time since before spring training began in February.
"It's a little bit different, can't really leave the hotel too much," he said.
Five-time All-星／主役にする third baseman Nolan Arenado, who 攻撃する，衝突する one of the Rockies' three ホームランs in a 5-1 勝利，勝つ, said it was a first-class move for the 特別奇襲隊員s, Rockies and Major League Baseball to 許す Hilliard's family in for the games.
"That's a 堅い 状況／情勢 to go through, and I don´t want to imagine going to that. But, you know, Sam´s a 堅い kid and has got a big heart," Arenado said. "His 長，率いる's in the 権利 place. If that was me, I´d have a lot of trouble 焦点（を合わせる）ing on baseball. ... He's doing it for his family, he's doing it for his dad."
Hilliard said he grew up about 10-15 minutes from the new stadium with a retractable roof, which is across the street from the former stadium, where as a kid he had his first real 職業.
"It was at the sports park behind 中心 field, where they had that Wiffle ball field," he said. "I was one of those kids throwing Wiffle balls to little kids."
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Colorado Rockies Sam Hilliard gets a 攻撃する，衝突する in the fifth inning against the Texas 特別奇襲隊員s in an 展示 baseball game Tuesday, July 21, 2020, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Richard W. Rodriguez)
Kat Minnerly, Tamara Hilliard, and Jim Hilliard watch the Colorado Roc kies play against the Texas 特別奇襲隊員s in an 展示 baseball game Tuesday, July 21, 2020 in Arlington, Texas. The Hilliards are the parents of Rockies left fielder Sam Hilliard and Minnerly is his fiancee. (AP Photo/Richard W. Rodriguez)
Jim Hilliard, Tamara Hilliard and Kat Minnerly watch the Colorado Rockies play against the Texas 特別奇襲隊員s in an 展示 baseball game Tuesday, July 21, 2020 in Arlington, Texas. The Hilliards are the parents of Rockies left fielder Sam Hilliard and Minnerly is his fiancee. (AP Photo/Richard W. Rodriguez)
Colorado Rockies outfielder Matt Kemp, 権利, second baseman Garrett Hampson and 権利 fielder Sam Hilliard wait to bat during the baseball team's practice Sunday, July 12, 2020, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
