LOS ANGELES — Kyle Karros came home on Monday, but it felt very different than what he remembered.
Karros walked into the baseball cathedral that is Dodger Stadium wearing enemy colors, marking the first time he had stepped back into the stadium wearing a Colorado Rockies jersey. It’s a far different sensation than his previous trips to Chavez Ravine when he was growing up and watching his dad, Eric, play 12 seasons in Dodger blue.
A native of the area, Kyle was able to stay at home Sunday night and his dad drove him to the stadium on Monday before the series began.
“We talked about how surreal this is and how it has come full circle,” Karros told The Denver Gazette from inside the visitor’s clubhouse before Monday’s game. “My mom made a cool comment to me. She’s spent so many years of her life in these seats watching my dad, and now she’s going to be watching me on the same field.”
While there was plenty of heartfelt emotion about Kyle’s return to Los Angeles, he made very clear he considers this a “business trip” even with family memories swirling before the game.
“The biggest emotion for me is that I want to win games here,” Kyle said. “This isn’t some fun event all about, ‘Oh, Kyle is back in L.A.’ I’m here to win baseball games.
“We split with the Dodgers at home the last time we faced them (a four-game series Aug. 18-21). We’re looking to change this narrative and show that we can compete with these guys.”
Rockies interim manager Warren Schaeffer beamed when he heard the approach Kyle was taking in his return to Dodger Stadium.
“That doesn’t surprise me at all coming from him because he’s an all-business guy,” Schaeffer said. “He’s a young guy you trust immediately because of how he goes about his business.”
Unfortunately for Colorado fans, has Dad went about his business during his time in the big leagues. Eric Karros developed a well-earned reputation as a Rockies-killer. No team suffered more when he was at the plate with Eric belting 37 home runs and driving in 108 runs in 129 games against Colorado. Both numbers are his highest against an MLB opponent.
Kyle, meanwhile, has hit just one home run against the Dodgers in his young career, a two-run shot at Coors Field on Aug. 19. He hopes it’s the first of many against the Dodgers.
“I’d love to get that reputation as my career goes on and give the Dodgers some payback for what my dad was doing to the Rockies organization when he played,” Kyle said with a smile. “I think my whole family knew that my first home run was going to be against the Dodgers.”
Looking at the road swing as business comes from a lifetime of baseball and a family engrained in the sport. Along with Eric’s MLB experience, Kyle’s brother, Jared, is a pitcher in the Dodgers organization, a 16th-round pick by Los Angeles in the 2022 draft, one year before the Rockies took Kyle in the fifth round.
“Baseball is a very unique job. It’s a very unique way of life, so to be able to share that and draw on them for wisdom and experience, it goes a long way,” Kyle said. “There’s a lot of banter, a lot of crap talk, but it’s more helping one another.
“This is obviously an isolating way of life. It’s tough. Not a lot of people understand what we go through, and it’s tough to have these conversations with friends and family that don’t get it’s a unique way of life.”
Kyle said one of his dad’s biggest pieces of advice has nothing to do with his batting stance or anything on the field.
“The biggest thing he’s brought to me so far is what the altitude does to your body in terms of recovery,” Kyle said. “I know he got beat up whenever there was a series in Denver. He was barking for a few days after that, especially near the end of his career.
“Him being in my ear and helping me be proactive is important. I’m young right now. I don’t get affected by it as much as he did near the end of his career, but there’s a lot of preparation that goes into it. It is different playing here in altitude.”
During pregame drills on Monday, Kyle took grounders and soaked in the Dodger Stadium environment. It was the first time he had been on the field since he was 9 and caught the ceremonial first pitch from his brother on his Dad’s bobblehead night.
“It was a similar vibe,” Kyle said. “We had a bunch of friends and family in the seats, but they were there to watch my brother throw one pitch to me, not watch me play a whole nine innings.”
Times have changed. Now Kyle is hoping the Rockies’ dynamic with the Dodgers will change as well.
