PHOENIX, May 31 \u2014 Making the majors is the fulfillment of a life-long dream. It becomes even more special when someone gets to play for the team he grew up watching and rooting for. Colorado Rockies<\/a> reliever Pierce Johnson<\/strong><\/a> \u2014 a Denver native \u2014 is one of those players, but his story goes a bit further. His dad, Don Johnson, was Vice President of Marketing for the San Diego Padres<\/a> from 1992 to 1998. Pierce was born in Denver in 1991 but moved to San Diego with his family when he was six months old. They lived there for eight and a half years before moving back to Denver. Consequently, he grew up rooting for two teams, the Padres and Rockies. In November of 2019, he signed with one of those two teams, the Padres. And in December of 2022, he signed with the other.<\/p>\n \u201cCheck that off the bucket list,\u201d Johnson smiled. \u201cI grew up watching Todd Helton<\/a><\/strong>, Larry Walker<\/a><\/strong>, Ubaldo Jimenez<\/a><\/strong>, Jeff Francis<\/a><\/strong> \u2014 big name guys that I got to watch all the time. Going to games there\u2026.\u201d Johnson paused before continuing, \u201cYou can\u2019t even put it into words. It\u2019s just something that \u2014 you get the love for the game and certain places. I was fortunate enough to live in San Diego and go to Padre games and in Colorado and go to Rockies games. And now I\u2019ve got to play for my two favorite teams.\u201d<\/p>\nPierce Johnson on the Field<\/h3>\n