Colorado Rockies vs San Francisco Giants 5-29-16

I went the extra mile for this baseball game report.  Literally.  I won’t bother you with any details of the trip from southern New Mexico to Denver other than to say, it’s a long trip and it was thankfully uneventful.  I went with my Aggie co-fan, Ron, and we stayed with his relatives in Colorado Springs.  They were an extremely hospitable family.  It was a pleasure staying with them.  I’ll answer the first obvious question up front: Where are the pictures?  I didn’t have anything to take pictures with.  Ron took two pictures.  I never saw them and he said one of them was blurry.  So much for that.  Even the tickets were just digital.  Second, unlike other Memorial Day posts (2014, 2013), I have no racing news.  I saw the podium ceremony at Monaco and that was it.  I understand that Indy was very dramatic and that the Coca-Cola 600 wasn’t.  This was an easy trade off for me to get to see an MLB game in person.

I’d love to tell you the best place to park around Coors Field, but downtown was a confusing area.  We parked in a $20 lot near the main gate.  There were cheaper lots further away, but I think the bottom price was $15.  Also, we didn’t see those lots.  Gates are usually open two hours before a game, which is where you want to be if you’re planning on trying to get some autographs.  Unfortunately for us, they didn’t open the front gate for a half hour.  We could see fans filing into the stadium from where we were, which was really frustrating.  (Gate A on right field side of stadium opens on time).  I had a bag of things to sign with me, and I noticed several other fans with various items.  It was hard not to notice plenty of Giant fans around (including myself I guess).  I did a double-take and I’m still convinced I was seeing things, but I think the Ballhawk kid that was at all of the Aggie games was there.  Nah, that’d be too weird.  Couldn’t be.

It was a great crowd.  42,307 was the announced attendance.  On the one hand, Coors field is massive, especially compared to the Aggies’ Presley-Askew or the Chihuahuas’ Southwest University Park.  On the other hand, it looks a lot bigger on TV than it is in-person.  Those outfield bleachers, the Rockpile, look like they’re a half-mile from home plate on TV, but they looked like reasonable seats at the stadium.  ($4 on game day, $1 for children and seniors.  You’ll pay more for parking.)  One thing that keeps the place intimate is the foul balls.  Major leaguers foul off a bunch of pitches, and they hit them hard.  Basically anyplace in the stadium is a potential landing site.  I will say that fouls seem to be attracted to people with buckets of popcorn.  In the 3^rd, twice, there were showers of popcorn preceding a catch.  One of the fans, prodded the crowd for applause afterward. 

It was Autograph Sunday.  The Rockies have four players or coaches out to sign before the game.  We’d come early to be there when the gates opened hoping to get some autographs.  Unfortunately, so had a whole bunch of other people.  Owing to coming in a half hour late, there were already four long lines.  Unfortunately, we picked the longest, which was in our seat section.  #32 Tyler Chatwood was at the end of the line.  He’d pitched well on Friday and won the game, which I’d seen some of at Ron’s relative’s home.  (I also got to watch Saturday’s game.  Boy would it be cool to be able to watch these Rockies games daily instead of listening to a weak radio signal at night.)     

After 20 minutes, the line finally got to us, and they shut it down.  That was a bit disappointing, especially considering that I’d bought five Rockies baseballs at the Colorado Springs Rockies teamshop for just this purpose.  Looking across the field, I could see several Giants players out signing autographs by the visitor’s dugout.  They were giving out hugs too.  That was a little more disappointing, especially since I’d brought my Giants championship magazines with me for signing as well.  Yes, my bag was rather heavy.  (I kind of had to stay with Ron since he had the digital tickets on his phone.  This was an issue a couple of times with the ushers, but they were nice about it.)  

To add further insult to injury, the Rockies hot, little cheer girls with their short shorts (I couldn’t find an official name for this group) were on top of the dugout, posing for pictures with the fans, but we couldn’t get to them.  They had all of Ron’s attention.  They came out and stood in front of us during the national anthem.  Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see them again for the rest of the game.  I checked out the teamshop at the park while Ron settled into his seat.  I got a Dinger doll for Ron’s niece and some Rockies cards for myself.  It was crowded in there.  They had a lot of stuff, but I couldn’t find a purple Rockies t-shirt like I wanted.   

 

Before the game, a herd of kids took over the first row in front of us calling for the players.  Some were looking for certain autographs to complete a collection.  A couple of the kids were shouting, “We want tacos!”  Taco Bell is running a promotion.  If the Rockies score 7 or more runs, it’s free tacos (I don’t know all the details).  Listening to a Dodgers broadcast on an Albuquerque station on the way back to Las Cruces, Taco Bell was offering the same promotion, but with only 5 or more runs.  (Papa Johns is also running a promotion with a bunch of teams for half off pizza after a victory.)         

Star Rockies third baseman #28 Nolan Arenado charged out of the dugout first.  He did some stretching and sprints.  #19 iconoclastic centerfielder Charlie Blackmon came out next.  His beard was brought out separately with its own entourage.  Long time Rockies star #5 Carlos Gonzalez came out.  Cargo gave the kids a wave as he went by.  Meanwhile, across the diamond, I could hear Giants fans giving a round of applause to #28 Buster Posey and #47 Johnny Cueto coming off the field, today’s visitor’s battery for the game.  You know, it is kind of a thrill to see these all these cool ballplayers in person.    

Dinger the dinosaur, the Rockies big purple mascot, came by to sign a few autographs.  (No, he doesn’t look like or as dumb as Barney the purple dinosaur.)  Rookie sensation #27 Trevor Story came out smiling and waving.  He signed for several kids before going out to stretch.  After the warm up, veteran first baseman #12 Mark Reynolds came over and signed a few more.  I also saw him toss a ball to a kid near us in the 7^th.  (Rockies starter #52 Chris Rusin tossed a ball to a kid coming off the field after the 1^st.)  Ron, wearing purple and a Rockies hat and being rather tall, managed to reach over and hand him a ball after the kids had all gotten signed.  Yay!  An autograph.  Mark, I take back every time I called you “Windmill.”  (Certainly, there’s no point in criticizing players for striking out a lot anymore.  Actually, Reynolds has been hitting for a much better average since he’s been with the Rockies.)  I told Ron to keep the ball, since coming early to get autographs was his idea anyway.  The kids were quickly cleared out before the start of the game and the seatholders moved in.

Our seats were in row 2.  We were right at ground level, next to the camera well beside the Rockies dugout.  We could look straight down into the dugout.  We could see the cameraman focusing in on pretty girls in the crowd in his viewfinder.  We were close enough that the Rockies would run right past us, coming on and off the field.  The only person on the field in a suit and tie was also in the camera well.  He was the reporter with the team TV broadcast of the game.  Of more important note, was his gorgeous assistant.  Even in t-shirt and jeans, she was absolutely glamorous.  She was a constant distraction for me, sitting nearby for the whole game.  Her, the reporter, and another attractive assistant were talking with each other and looking over notes the whole time.  I wasn’t close enough to hear them, but I admit I wanted to.  Were they talking about the game?  Production stuff?  Dinner plans?   

There was a couple in the first row in front of us.  The guy, with his Blackmon replica jersey, brought his mitt and was way into it and may have been a season ticket holder.  The relatively quiet wife or girlfriend was there, likely indulging him.  They were next to a Giant fan couple, but there was nothing but good-natured chatting between them.  A couple sat down next to me.  In this case, the lady was way into Trevor Story and the team, and the husband was fairly quiet.  (Seemed like there should have been some spouse-swapping during the game.)  She was attractive and friendly and was likely inebriated before getting to the stadium.  She saw me keeping a scorecard and told me I could get all these stats online without the effort.  “What’s the fun in that?” I answered.  I found out her son works as a writer, blogging about the Rockies (though she didn’t remember where and hopefully wasn’t driving after the game).  Kudos to this lady for not looking old enough to have an adult child.    

There were some impressive luxury areas in the ballpark.  The Mountain Ranch Club is tucked into the right field corner.  It was huge with several decks of seats with table space (like the Green Monster seats at Fenway).  In spite of our great seats, I found myself wanting to be up there, if for no other reason than to have space to write out my scorecard and put my food and drink.  (I just had a piece of pizza, which was okay, and a Coke Zero.  Ron’s relatives just about finished me off with rich food over the previous two days.  Even Ron ate light.)  There were giant windows that that could enclose the space in case of weather.  Along the top of the stadium on the right field line were several restaurants.  A bunch of patrons there were hanging out on the balcony rail watching the game.  Unfortunately, these restaurants close after the game, which would have been nice and convenient for a post-game meal.  There’s plenty of restaurants in the downtown Denver area anyway within walking distance.  The Tavern by main entrance might be the biggest.  They party on the rooftop and there’s a patio with a big screen TV outside showing games.  The park has some permanent residents too, as there were also birds nesting under the upper deck. 

Weather was not a factor in the game, but it was omnipresent.  The threat of rain didn’t keep away the crowd, so the locals weren’t intimidated.  I get the impression games here are usually at least partly cloudy with storms somewhere in the area.  When we arrived, the sky had clouded up into a grey overcast.  The stadium lights were on for the whole game.  Drizzles at least seemed imminent, but never materialized.  The sun came out, and as we were facing the sun, it got hot quickly.  Another wave of clouds floated over later in the game.  These were big, dark, and heavy.  Over the left field wall (not sure direction that is), there was clearly a storm with heavy rain going on.  By the 9^th, there was lightning in the distance.  Either it wasn’t close enough to be considered dangerous, or the umpires chose not to notice it with the game so near done.  In the end, there were just a few sprinkles right after the game ended.  As the radio announcers said while looking at the radar, we were “fortunate.”

There was plenty of entertainment in-between innings, which mostly showed up on the big video board in center field.  An attractive perky woman was going around the stadium, quizzing people for prizes.  There were some MLB network highlights and bloopers from other games.  We got an up close view of the mascot race in the 6^th featuring a tooth, a toothbrush, and tooth paste.  Paste won by a head and promptly face-planted afterward to the delight of the crowd.  In the 7^th, Dinger and his entourage were out with a slingshot, firing t-shirts into the crowd.  During the stretch, a soldier was honored.  I wasn’t able to hear the PA to tell you anything about him.  He got a standing ovation from the crowd and a round of applause from the Giants out on field.  

  

On to Part Two