I would like to apologize for being so far behind. It’s been a crazy month, but crazy good.
I started the month off right, by hoping a plane to Denver for some baseball! I have been to Colorado before, I was visiting my then boyfriend’s family in the Colorado Springs and Pueblo area, and I loved it there. I even considered moving there for a little bit. However, I never actually made it up to Denver. Since I split my time between Phoenix and the Bay Area growing up, I guess you could say I’m a Diamondbacks fan. I cheer for them and all that, but if it came down to the A’s or them, I’d take the A’s every time. While living in Arizona, if I wanted to watch baseball, it was the Diamondbacks, or nothing, so dbacks it was. I got to see Coors Field on TV a lot in doing so and I was always intrigued by the ballpark. There are trees in the bullpens!
Everybody always laughed at me that I went to all the far away stadiums first and had never been to any of the west coast stadiums until this season. I’m mildly shocked at that fact myself. But alas, here I am doing the west coast finally.
The plus side to flying to cities on the west coast is being able to sleep! My mid-west and east coast flights leave Oakland between 6-7am for me to get there in time for that night’s game, so you can imagine my excitement that I could take a 2pm flight to Denver. I got into Denver and the weather was perfect for baseball, which was great since the last time I was in Colorado it not only rain most of the time, but hailed pretty bad too. I got to my hotel, The Oxford Hotel, which I would highly recommend to anybody going to a game at Coors Field. It’s just a couple blocks away, about a five-minute walk- if that. There was a lot of people out on the street walking to the game, just something to make you feel a little more safe (I’m extra cautious now after the Baltimore problem).
The stadium is beautiful. The brick works gives it that older stadium feel, which I loved, and the main gate features the park’s name with an analog clock. Another thing to add to that old stadium feel. It’s very open, which is weird, since looking back at the photos, it has a closed in feel to it almost. The outfield is the only section that doesn’t have a towering upper deck, but the massive, scoreboard is out there. Something I loved was the food options. I am maybe the World’s Pickiest Eater. It’s easier to tell you what I do eat than it is to tell you what I don’t. I’m that bad. So for me, ballpark food is always good. As my dad says, I eat like a 5-year-old. I love cheeseburgers, nachos (with cheese only), and chicken tenders at games. I’m really picky about my hot dogs, so I don’t go for those unless it’s Dollar Dog day at O.co. Anyway, they had a large selection of food, with booths marked as fan favorites, which is pretty cool. I did a whole lap because there was so many options, I couldn’t decide. That never happens.
Something I didn’t know going into the game, which I should have, silly me, was that this season is the Colorado Rockies 20th season. Horray! The Rockies are doing a lot of great giveaways this season to celebrate, which is always great for the organization and the fans. This game happened to be a bobblehead game, and yes I did get one! Former Rockies great, Andres Galarraga, was on hand for his bobblehead day and to throw out the first pitch. I got some fun facts from the guys sitting around me about Galarraga, included that he hit the longest home run in Rockies history, measuring at 573 feet as it landed 20 rows deep in the upper deck of the Marlins then ballpark (Pro Player Stadium) in 1997. That is extremely impressive. That was his last season with the Rockies, as they were excited about their prospect, Todd Helton, maybe you’ve heard of him.
I was really excited for the game, up until the night before when I found out some bad news. The Dodgers were scheduled to have Hyun-Jin Ryu pitch Sunday. I had heard so much about this guy, I was looking forward to the chance to actually see him pitch. Sadly, he was scratched from the start and rookie Matt Magill took his place. I saw Magill make his Major League Debut when I was in LA in April, and he wasn’t that bad. He got a no-decision in the game as the bullpen blew the game. Now, the last kid I saw make his debut on the road didn’t have much of career after that. I’m not saying I’m a jinx, but yeah, little bit. Magill got his first loss of the season as the Rockies beat the Dodgers 7-2. They say the ball carries well in Denver and it’s easy to hit homers, and they are right. Dexter Fowler started the game off with his first of his two home runs of the day to put the Rockies up 1-0 in the 1st inning. The home runs kept coming too. Todd Helton, who I’m glad I got to see play since he will most likely be retiring in the near future, belted his fifth of the season in the fourth, Michael Cuddyer hit his tenth of the year in the fifth, and Fowler hit his second of the day and tenth of the season in the sixth. As much as I slam home runs, they really are fun to watch.
Something cool I wish I had checked out is the ‘Mile High’ seats. There are a couple of seats that are marked as the Mile High seats as they are exactly one mile above sea level. That’s high. If you haven’t been to Denver yet, you are missing out! I high recommend getting out there.
Outside the Main Gate at Coors Field, Denver, CO
Me at Coors Field
Coors Field
Denver, CO
Out of Left Field 