You can’t predict baseball
Lots of runs at my new favorite ballpark
In an article for ESPN, baseball writer Sam Miller tested the old adage that when you go to a baseball game you have a chance to see something you’ve never seen before. Personally, I always took this as a big reason to go to a baseball game. There’s always the possibility of history happening before your very eyes. (It’s also one of the reason I keep score, to make sure I have documentation of that history). You never expect something historic to happen; it just normally does.
On my first trip to Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies, I saw something quite incredible indeed. To start, the final score of the game was 19–2 in favor of the home team. It was just one run shy of the franchise record of 20 runs. Most impressive of all, the team scored all 19 runs in the first five innings of the game. Even crazier, on that very same day, the Cleveland Indians scored 19 runs as well, the first time two teams have scored at least 19 runs since the Oakland A’s scored 23 and the Seattle Mariners scored 21 on September 30, 2000.
The fun gets even better. The Arizona Diamondbacks, the unfortunate opponents of the Rockies on this evening, used two position players as pitchers during the game. Second baseman Daniel Descalso was brought in to pitch in the middle of the fourth inning. He lasted two and a third innings and gave way to catcher Alex Avila. Avila pitched the final two frames and did not give up any runs, though by that point the Rockies batters were barely trying. Earlier in the game, Avila switched from catcher to first base, making the box score look more like a Little League game than a major league one. Descalso became the earliest position player to enter the game as a pitcher since August 29, 1979.
In the fifth inning, Rockies pitcher German Marquez slugged a solo home run off of Descalso. It was the first time a pitcher hit a home run off of a hitter since June 23, 1968. The homer, the first of Vasquez’s career, not only showcased the ridiculous nature of the game. It also showed just home much Coors Field’s altitude hurts pitchers, even if they are position players masquerading as pitchers. The ballpark is the most hitter friendly in the game, by a wide margin. The thin, dry air at 5,280 feet provides less resistance to the ball, allowing it to fly further than it would at sea level. Less air resistance also causes pitchers’ off-speed pitches to have less break. Even to me, an untrained baseball observer, the ball sounded differently coming off of the bat during the game.
The win was a much needed one for the Rockies. Heading into the game, the team was in fourth place in the National League West, but only trailed the Diamondbacks by four and a half games. With the win, Colorado gained a game in the standings and vaulted into third place. As of July 14, the team remained in third place but are now just two and a half games behind the Diamondbacks.
Coors Field is the ninth MLB ballpark I’ve visited and seventh I’ve seen a game in. The other six are Cleveland’s Progressive Field, Milwaukee’s Miller Park, Pittsburgh’s PNC Park, Cincinnati’s Great American Ballpark, Kansas City’s Kauffman Stadium, and St. Louis’s Busch Stadium. I also took tours of Boston’s Fenway Park and Toronto’s Rogers Centre. Coors is, by far, the best.
The first part of the ballpark I noticed was the scoreboard. The video board, rising above the left field stands, is shaped like a mountain with a setting (or rising) sun at the top. The picture was amazingly high quality as well. Completing the scoreboard experience, on the right field wall is a manually operated out-of-town scoreboard. The manual operation is a call back to ballparks of yore, including Fenway. It was intriguing to see employees behind the scoreboard changing the numbers. I was also glad to see that the updates were not that far behind the updates from my phone. Even with technology, it’s nice to see that people can still keep up.
There are other great features at Coors, in addition to the impressive scoreboards. In the upper deck in right field, there are no seats, just bars and railings. The place was packed. Actually the whole stadium was packed, but I’ll talk about that in a bit. Other ballparks are putting in similar areas, giving fans, especially young professionals, a place to hang out and enjoy the game. Also in the upper deck is a row of seats painted purple. They are situated at exactly one mile above sea level and are pretty high up in the stadium too. And of course, off in the distance you can see the peaks of the Rocky Mountains. Maybe they’re not as picturesque as the Pittsburgh bridges and skyline, but they are impressive nonetheless.
Now, the fans. The Rockies, who at the time were in fourth place, drew nearly 34,000 fans to the ballpark for an unusually hot Wednesday night game. And the crowd made its presence felt after every Rockies run. The fan experience that resonates most with me, though, is when fan favorite Charlie Blackmon comes to the plate. As the center fielder walks to the plate, the ’80s pop tune “Your Love” by The Outfield plays over the ballpark speakers. The singer starts the first line of the chorus “I just want to use your love…” Then the speakers cut out and the whole park sings the last word, “Tonight!” After Blackmon hit a home run, the same call and response happened, except this time, the response from the crowd was much louder. It’s that kind of organic energy and tradition that I really look for in a ballpark (like “Sweet Caroline” at Fenway); they make each park and fan base unique. And that uniqueness is what always brings me back.
Home team record: 2–1
Mascot Watch: Dinger, a purple triceratops
For most of the game, I did not see Dinger. I was a bit disappointed because I wanted to meet the purple dinosaur. He did appear for the end of the game, though. The story behind Dinger’s creation is quite interesting. While building Coors Field, the construction company found dinosaur bones, including a triceratops skull. Wikipedia claims Jurassic Park was also suggested as a possible name for the ballpark. Now that would have been really cool. Instead, there’s just Dinger.
