While Aaron Cook may hold the most wins in Rockies history at 72, his career has been anything but smooth sailing.
Freak injuries — blood clots in his lungs that required rib surgery to alleviate, a broken shinbone from a linedrive and a broken ring finger from getting caught in a door — are to blame for a career that has had more ups and downs than the Mind Eraser at Elitch Gardens. Injuries that would have caused others to scream “Uncle” but not Cook.
“My faith helped me a lot during those times,” Cook said, quoting James 1:2–4
(“When troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.” NLT)
“When troubles come it is a testing of your faith and perseverance. In my baseball life there has been a lot of different things that have happened that I shouldn’t be here if not for God. All the adversity that I have been through has helped me draw closer to God and has made me a better man. And if you look at it that way it doesn’t seem all that bad.”
Yes, making a living in the major leagues is not a bad life after all, but how does a one stay grounded?
“I have a wife and three kids and my wife grounds me everyday,” Cook said with a chuckle, “In baseball we are waited on hand and foot. Your suitcase is taken to the hotel, people pack your bags and when you go home you have to take care of your family and kids. You get a reality check.”
Cook is outspoken in his faith, but not one to push his beliefs onto others.
“I grew up in the church, and I’ve never been afraid to say what I believe no matter a clubhouse or on a mission trip. It’s who I am,” said Cook, who has spent his entire career with the Rockies. “ I try to treat people all the same, like Jesus did, and when you get an opportunity to share, share. … This clubhouse has been crazy this year with all the new people. I just met J.C. Romero, and he’s a strong believer. We found out we have a couple of mutual friends who do mission trips. That’s just God’s timing.”
Don’t call it a coincidence with Cook, as his wife says, they are God appointments, and it appears that Cook’s appointment at this time is to shine his light on the stage that is major-league baseball.
“This baseball world is fun,” Cook said. “But I tell people all the time, ‘It’s what I do, not who I am.’”