GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. — The memories came flooding back Friday for Sergio Romo.
From being unsure how he'd be received when he transferred from North Alabama to Colorado Mesa (then Mesa State College), to his record-setting season for the Mavericks, through his minor league and Major League Baseball career to Sergio Romo Weekend at The Diamond at Bus Bergman Sports Complex, Romo used one word over and over again: Blessed.
"I wanted to be a champion no matter what level or what division or what league, I just wanted to be recognized as a group as being one of the best, which I just feel blessed to be a part of this," Romo said. "He (CMU head coach Chris Hanks) wanted to do this for me. I kind of asked him why, I only played one year here, and I'm beyond grateful for that. One year, but apparently in his eyes, this is something I deserve."
Romo, who holds Colorado Mesa's club single-season records for wins (14), complete games (11) and strikeouts (129) and was voted the RMAC baseball player of the century in 2009, returned to campus for the first time since 2006 and was blown away by the changes, starting with the ballpark itself.
"I won't admit that I'm more jealous than what I am," he said with a smile. "Saying that, I'm happy for these guys. Speaking to the team a little bit ago, I let them know how blessed they really are to have a facility like they have to call their own ballpark. We had a nice one at Suplizio, but where they have it now, it's made specifically for that. It used to be our practice field and they used to have to take down our fences so that the football team could practice in the outfield.
"It's unbelievable how much this place has grown. I'm blown away, but in the most joyous and profound way."
He spoke with CMU's team before batting practice, then had a separate session with the pitching staff before greeting fans, signing autographs and posing for countless photos.
His first pitch went to CMU second baseman Jonathan Gonzalez, who is from Romo's hometown of Brawley, Calif., after his professional number 54 was unveiled on the left field wall. Romo wore 22 at Mesa, but since he's better known for 54, he asked that number be posted, leaving 22 for another player to wear. Currently, that's freshman infielder Keegan Landis.
Ever-smiling, Romo recalled his one season at Mesa, a couple of games in particular.
"The team they're playing tonight (CSU Pueblo), I remember getting a start against them at their park, it was a pretty awesome experience," he said. "It was their record attendance night and there were certain chants that they kept sending throughout their ballpark throughout the night, and nine innings later, a complete game later, another Maverick win later, a school-tying record for wins later, strikeouts record later and clinching the conference championship later, I was dancing with with them trying to cheer along."
He recalled looking to the Mavs' dugout, and every player was on his feet, hollering support to their ace pitcher.
"They had my back. I didn't have to fight that personal battle that their fan base was trying to impose. It's hard not to remember that night," Romo said.
"It's also hard not to remember my last start as a Maverick in regionals against New Mexico Highlands. It just happened to be the only team that beat me that year. I don't know who sent newspaper clippings our way, but there were clippings about their coach saying certain things about me specifically and I remember my teammates literally going, they have no idea what's going to come tonight. They have no idea. It just happened to be what I consider the best game I had."
He flirted with a perfect game until the late innings, and had a no-hitter through 8 2/3 innings in the Mavericks' victory.
His competitive fire fueled him at Mesa and throughout his professional career, hearing at every stop that he didn't have what it took to make it.
"Being told for a majority of my college career and also on my way in my minor league career and even the first couple of years I was blessed to be in the big leagues that I was too small and didn't throw hard enough," Romo said. "All he has is a breaking ball, that type of stuff. People just passed over the intangibles; they forgot to say competitive, they forgot to say gritty and grindy. Maybe they didn't take the time to see those things up until I got to a certain position where if you turned on the TV, I was blessed to be on it.
"Like I told the team, Mesa wasn't the beginning of my blessings environment, but it was the beginning of the bigger blessings, the longer-lasting lessons and I'm very thankful for that because here was a place where I was able to really begin to find out who I was, not just as a person, but as a baseball player and a pitcher."
A big part of that was the bond he formed with his teammates and coaches, in particular Hanks. When Romo was playing for the San Francisco Giants and was visiting Coors Field in Denver, Hanks and his family were usually in the stands.
"He made a promise to me that he definitely kept," Romo said. "He never forgot that. He believed in me that much that even before I had gotten drafted, he told me that when I made the big leagues, he would be there and he went all the way to Cleveland (for Romo's debut). That dude has always been in my corner since the day we met and he's never left my corner."
