Disability hasn't stopped Colorado Rockies fan from attending games for three decades
Spend any time with Randy Milliken and most likely he'll talk baseball, and more notably, his love for the Colorado Rockies.
"They got Ethan Holliday, he's supposed to be bigger than his Dad," he said.
And remembering the good ol' days. His favorite player?
"Number 17, Todd Helton," Randy said.
His first memory of the team feels just like yesterday he said.
"When Eric Young hit the home run on opening day," said Milliken.
The memory that stands out though, is one that many Rockies fans remember.
"Was when Todd (Helton) made the final catch, threw his arms up in the air, rocked his head back. He was looking toward heaven," he remembers.
Randy was there. He was also in Cooperstown for Helton's Hall of Fame ceremony.
And he was there in '07 in Arizona, for the NLCS.
"I was just hoping that we would win at least one game, we end up winning both and then we came home and won both," he said.
He is like an encyclopedia of Rockies history. He loves his team and the game.
"I feel in love with baseball as a boy, watching the movie Pride of the Yankees, the story of Lou Gehrig,"
Milliken, 68, was born with cerebral palsy. Despite needing help with his motor skills and movement, it hasn't stopped him from loving his favorite team. You name the player or coach, and chances are, Randy's met him.
He recalled several stories with players past and present. One story stands out, when meeting former Rockies third baseman, Nolan Arenado.
"I met Nolan at Coors Field and he was signing autographs," he said. "He jumped over the table and he said, how's Jesus treating you? He said 'You still following God?' I said yeah. I said thank you for the bat and the ball you signed."
When he was younger, he recalls being at a special education school and the instructors telling him, he couldn't play.
"They were telling me I wasn't being realistic about being able to play, so I did play," Milliken said.
Milliken has been attending games since 1996. He said that year, he came down to Coors Field to buy a ticket, but met a man named Cliff Stein, who worked for Ball Aerospace at the time. Stein offered to buy him a ticket and that led to more games. 30 years later, with the help of other friends, like Dan Sauvageau, he's been attending games, and at the moments that defined the team's history, sitting in left field near the fence. He said he loves being able to see the "regulars" at home games.
"There's people in this stadium that know me by name," he said.
Milliken said that when he was younger, he and a friend had dreamed of one day owning, or being a part of a major league team. If you go to the commemorative bricks down the third base line, you will see something that marks that point. A brick that reads, "My childhood dream came true, Randy Milliken."
"I'm a part of baseball history," he said.
Yes you are Randy.
