$$$ not changing Tulo-still driven to win

[Rockiesfan_H]

Big-time star, same old Tulo
Tulowitzki's new toys won't change his drive to win
By Troy E. Renck The Denver Post
Article Last Updated: 02/17/2008 01:45:32 AM MST


Troy Tulowitzki was at the center of several victory celebrations. (Karl Gehring, Denver Post file photo)


TUCSON — Someday he might grow weary of the attention, the long stares and whispers when he walks into a room. However, he would have to grow up first.
Rockies star Troy Tulowitzki, author of the finest season ever by a National League rookie shortstop, remains a big kid down to his crooked smile, his video-game habit and his autograph collection. "Now we'll be at the batting cage back home and kids are coming up asking for his autograph," said Rob Perry, who grew up with Tulowitzki in Sunnyvale, Calif. "It was really neat to see how he handled it. They would all say thank you for his great season. He would immediately turn it around and thank them for their support. He gets it because he was in their place not too long ago."


At 23, Tulowitzki is only a few years removed from hanging over the railing at Oakland A's games, screaming for visitor Nomar Garciaparra's autograph.
He arrived here Friday night, not as the face of the franchise, but the future of the franchise. By investing $31 million in a six-year contract for Tulowitzki last month, the Rockies proclaimed the shortstop's importance to the franchise's success.
It's hard to imagine anyone more comfortable dealing with the pressure of fame and having a team's fortunes in his hands. All Tulowitzki has to do is help lead the Rockies to their first back-to-back playoff berths.
He appears unfazed, with little having changed since he hit the contract jackpot. He has nicer toys — he purchased a black Maserati GT sedan, a Denver apartment and enough suits to overrun the family garage this offseason — but the same cold-blooded stare.
"I think all of the guys on this team are driven. None of us want to be known as one-hit wonders," said Tulo-witzki, who hit .291 with 24 home runs and 99 RBIs last season. "We don't want this to be the start of something good, but the start of something great."

Growing competitive drive A look at Tulowitzki's upbringing
Tulowitzki playing T-ball at age 5 (Special to The Denver Post)


helps explain why he believes last season's World Series berth was only the beginning.
Nothing about Tulowitzki's success has been accidental. His father, Ken, a deliveryman for a calibration lab, was always competitive. He loved baseball and put up a basketball hoop in the driveway. His son Troy naturally gravitated toward sports.
Perry, a Single-A outfielder in the Padres organization, remembers the first time he saw Tulowitzki throw a baseball, when the two were 7 years old.
"He had a heck of an arm. And yes, he always played shortstop. We were the Orioles, then the Cubs. That was the start of the dynasty," Perry said with a laugh. Ken Tulowitzki and Perry's father, Leonard, coached together. To this day, Troy Tulowitzki
Tulowitzki as an all-star at age 10 (Special to The Denver Post)


has never played on a team with a losing record. He and Perry led Sunnyvale to the Little League West Regional finals in 1997 — Tulo's first appearance on ESPN — and to a third-place finish in the Senior Little League World Series in 2001. As a quarterback, Tulowitzki led his Black Knights Pop Warner team to a national tournament in Florida.
"People were always telling Troy he had something special. He knew he wanted to be a big-leaguer. Nothing was going to stop him," Ken said. "He worked so hard for this. Give him the credit."

A willing student of the game Tulowitzki will have none of it. He thanks his coaches, particularly his dad, for steering him on this remarkable journey. In the boy, the mentors
Tulowitzki as a senior at Fremont High School in Sunnyvale, Calif., at 17 (Special to The Denver Post )


had a willing student. When Tulowitzki went to A's games, he would spend 20 minutes during batting practice watching the shortstop take groundballs — sometimes it was Rockies assistant Walt Weiss — before heading to the outfield stands to try to catch home runs.
"Every day you step onto the field, you can learn something," he said.
Tulowitzki hasn't forgotten where he came from because he's never left. He spent more time working out than going out this offseason, hitting the weights and working on his conditioning with Perry and friend Pat Burgess. He dropped from 215 pounds to 205 pounds, which he hopes improves his quickness on the basepaths. He spent his mornings running and afternoons hitting before lifting at the Supreme Court Athletic Club in Sunnyvale.
Calories wrung out, Tulowitzki would retreat to the home he bought for his family — Ken, stepmom Susan,Tyler, a high school senior, and Tiffany, an eighth-grader — when he signed with the Rockies in 2005.
"It was like, no, no, you don't have to do this for us. But he was forceful about it," Ken recalled.
"We have seen this little boy grow into a man. It seems like it happened overnight. To his sister, he's the dumb big brother. And while kids drool over Troy at the high school, to Tyler it's just his brother. The kids are grounded even though people treat us differently. It's almost like they want to roll out the red carpet, and we don't want that. It's all happened so fast, it's made me dizzy."


Still follows childhood idols
Though Tulowitzki's reputation screams that he's consumed by baseball, he has other things on his mind. As part of his new contract, Tulowitzki will donate $50,000 a year to charity. He plans to create a foundation and devote resources to cancer research. For an explanation, look to his bats and caps. On them he writes the initials of his late grandmother, Nancy Honeycutt. The two were very close before she passed away when Troy was 12.
"I owe a lot to her. She took me to the Oakland A's baseball camps, to Florida for football," Tulowitzki said. "She was always there for me. I still miss her."
Tulowitzki is evolving, unavoidable given his stardom and bank account. He has a thirst for cars, and adores his Maserati. "Don't worry, I am very careful," he promised. And he purchased a downtown Denver loft just days after signing his new contract. He has already reserved one room for memorabilia, including autographed bats from Derek Jeter and Garciaparra.
Both were his childhood idols, and, in many ways, serve as reminders that Tulowitzki is never far from his youth. Beat him in a video game, namely NCAA football, and he will ride you until he gets a rematch. It takes Perry back to the family barbecues and legendary Wiffle Ball matches.
"That's my No. 1 memory. I was left-handed and would pretend to be Billy Wagner and throw it as hard as I could," Perry recalled. "So the first time Troy faced Wagner, he hits a triple. He called me right after the game and said, 'You will never guess what happened.' That's Troy. He's a little older, but he's still the same little kid playing in the backyard." WHAT THEY'RE SAYING


"I don't think there's any one player worth $31 million. That's just me, how I feel. I was one of the first from my draft to sign. It seems like it's been successful, so there was no reason to change. Now I can focus on playing the game."
- Troy Tulowitzki, on his six-year, $31 million contract


"He will be here long after a lot of us will probably be gone. The beauty of Tulo's deal, on top of whatever else is said about him, he wants to be here. Those are the things that are happening with the organization now."
- Rockies manager Clint Hurdle


"Now I am sure the big thing is that people will be thinking, 'Why did the Rockies sign him for six years after one good year?' Troy loves doubters, loves the challenge of proving them wrong."
- Troy's father Ken Tulowitzki
"(Tulo) brings a very strong will to win every day and I think that it has affected a lot of other players."
- Rockies general manager Dan O'Dowd


"It comes from growing up watching baseball and being taught the game. My dad was a great coach and I ran into some good coaches along the way. I always pick their brains, and talk to them about certain situations, and before you know it you have a pretty good understanding of how the game should be played."
- Troy Tulowitzki, on his instincts


"Being accountable, Troy lives by that. If you try to make excuses, he'll say, 'Ahh, no, don't start that. Look in the mirror before you start blaming others.' He's genuine. That's why I respect him so much." - Padres minor-leaguer Rob Perry, his best friend since childhood

[DirtyKash]

What sane person would take his graduation pictures holding a baseball bat?

[Rockiesfan_H]

Eh, some guys at our High School posed with their helmets or football or something.

[love_that_reefer]

Of course money wouldn't change this guy, he made it to the World Series last year only to be swept. Tulo along with the rest of the Rockies are on a mission.

[realmofotalk]

I once thought it was crazy to think that Tulowitzki could've gone as high as the 3rd overall pick (Seattle) in the 2005 draft. Not anymore. I'd take Tulo over any these guys: Upton, Gordon, Zimmerman, and Braun.