July 17, 2012
Coors Field (Capacity: 50,445)
Denver, CO
Colorado Rockies vs Pittsburgh Pirates
Final Score: 2 – 6
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Our vacation brought us to Denver for a visit to lovely Coors Field and the Colorado Rockies. The Mile High City is located of the Front Range of Colorado, right in between the flat Plains and the elevated Foothills leading up to the Rocky Mountains. With a population just over 600,000, Denver is the 23rd largest city in the U.S. and we spent much of the daytime in this clean and vibrant city touring the downtown area (including the striking Capitol Building). After decades of minor league baseball with the successful Bears/Zephyrs franchise, the city was awarded an MLB team to begin play in 1993. The first few years were spent at Mile High Stadium before the baseball-only Coors Field facility was built in 1995. The Rockies made a lot of stars thanks to their new hitter-friendly park, though there have only been three playoff appearances so far in Colorado history. One of those was a very special year in 2007, where they made a remarkable comeback in the standings and made it to the World Series on a 21-1 streak. Coors Field is a classic mid-90s ballpark that fits beautifully into the neighborhood and all-around the stadium is top notch.
Prestige Ranking: 4 out of 5
Location
The ballpark is located in LoDo (short for Lower Downtown), a trendy neighborhood that is excellent to hang out in before and after games. There are plenty of bars and restaurants all within walking distance on three sides of the stadium and there is also a treat for ballpark lovers very close by. B’s Ballpark Museum on Blake Street features a neat collection of stadium memorabilia from all eras. I took about 45 minutes out to visit and it was really good. As for the rest of Denver, there are many attractions. Of course, all the ones you would expect from a large city are there, however there isn’t anything all that wowing. The Mountains and all of their beauty are the main attraction in the area and those travels take anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour and a half (well worth it).
Location Ranking: 9 out of 10
Accessibility / Parking
Coors Field is accessible by taking I-25 either to the 20th Street exit or to exit 213 (Park Ave). Be aware that Denver has some surprisingly busy traffic so 25 can be messy, especially on weekday games. I-70 is close by too. I actually found it easier to cut through the downtown to try and avoid some traffic. Plenty of parking is available and it starts with a very long, but narrow section of official Rockies parking. This can lead to a lengthy walk, so a better option is parking in one of the many lots scattered all around the LoDo area. We parked in a lot on Lawrence St, between 21st and 22nd and it worked out really well. For public transit, Union Station is near the stadium. It’s not the most expansive system, but the light rail is available to ride to the game.
Accessibility / Parking Ranking: 6.5 out of 8
Exterior
Though this ballpark follows the design trend of the “new” retro parks of the 90s preceding it (Baltimore, Cleveland, Arlington), it is still an exquisite design as the all brick exterior fits in wonderfully with the buildings of the surrounding neighborhood. The brick dominates the facility, while at the top are dark green beams and trusses which frame the ballpark. You can even pick out subtle Southwest motifs in the brickwork. The stadium has a somewhat square appearance and there are two main entrances, one of those being in the middle of a square side, near first base, where there is a small arched entryway with “Coors Field” over it. The main entrance is at home plate, where there is a curved corner to this square shape and it provides a nice hello to fans. Above the brick edifice is an analog clock in the middle of a “Coors Field” sign.
Exterior Ranking: 8.5 out of 10
Concourse
After passing through the main entrance, the first level concourse opens up to a view of the field. This concourse can be a little cramped at times and though there is a view of the field it is a bit dark in the area with its green beams and low lighting. The mezzanine level features a more spacious concourse with occasional picnic tables. Though not open to the field, the area is exposed and offers a splendid view of the close-up Denver skyline. Speaking of nice views, there are also some great views of the Rockies when walking the mezzanine concourse on the 3rd base side. The last area to wander is a growing trend as the outfield is a hangout spot, mostly for those in their 20s and 30s. In left field is an open section for food, congregating and watching the game from the outfield. There’s also a kids play section. Overall a nice vibe in this area.
Concourse Ranking: 4 out of 5
Food
There are a few places to sit-down and eat at Coors Field and the largest one is the Mountain Ranch Club. This full-scale restaurant and bar is in the right field corner and has table seating to watch the game. The bar and restaurant portion is open to all ticket holders, while the club portion with game seating is reserved for more of a seasonal club ticket type deal. Other sit-down eating areas are in the concourse and include Smokehouse, Sandlot and the Clocktown Bar, which have more varied food and drink options. Concession food has a wide range of choices like Famous Dave’s Barbeque, a Wok (noodles and egg rolls) and Yogurt. But the real signature item are the Rocky Mountain Oysters. Oysters meaning bull’s testicles. Yummm. They’re fried and supposedly good, but I couldn’t find the stand that sells them. Other food is pretty good and I was intrigued with the berry kabob’s and the Tornadoughs (a twisted pretzel). There’s also the Wazee Market with a lot more options and some delicious deserts like canoli’s, tiramisu and gelato. To get almost all of the good stuff though, you have to go downstairs to the lower level and that’s where I take a half point away because I settled for a Polish Sausage upstairs that tasted just like a hot dog. Beer of course was mostly Coors products, but it was nice to see several other brands too. Even cooler is that Coors experiments with microbrews in an area of the ballpark called the Sandlot Brewery and this was where Blue Moon was originally created.
Food Ranking: 7.5 out of 8
Interior
Coors Field is surprisingly large and with a capacity of 50,445, it is the second biggest ballpark in MLB. This was done when the Rockies were shattering attendance records. Inside design is reminiscent of recent parks that came before Coors, however there are some really good Colorado designs that make it stand out. There are three levels with box seats being in the lower sections. Club seating is available in the second deck (but these aren’t true private clubs as the ticket price is quite reasonable for some games) and that level stops for a few sections behind home plate for the press box. The upper reserved seats are in the third deck and this is a steeper level. The reserved seating is split into a lower and upper section, where fans come out of the concourse hall and then take some stairs inside up one level (which can lead to some obstructed views in the first few rows). Suites are tucked in between the second and third infield decks. Seats are angled in and the seating bowl itself features an angled design as towards the right side there are corner seats before the bowl gives way to a large, three-tier section of straight seating in right field. On the other side, the seating bowl cuts off sharply near the foul pole. The rest of the outfield features a good amount of seats in a lower section, while the Rockpile seats are a long way out in centerfield (but only $4). This is a stadium full of great views and it continues inside. Though not as perfect as the upper concourse views, Denver’s skyline can be seen above the ballpark from the outfield seats. Meanwhile, we sat on the right side of the stadium, where the view straight ahead is that of the Rockies (thankfully designers abruptly stopped the seating bowl to allow that view). As long as the sun is obscured by clouds, this is a nice view in the evening despite the mountains being a fair distance away. Lastly, a Rocky Mountain replica design is created over the outfield fence with pine trees, boulders and fountains. That is a little kitschy and forced as it doesn’t blend in all that naturally.
Interior Ranking: 9.5 out of 14
Scoreboard
Remaining consistent with the rest of the stadium, the scoreboard is outlined with dark green (or maybe black) cross trusses. The center piece is at the top, where a lit-up purple Rockies logo sits. Below that are two video screens that can actually act as one by showing the same video. Though, it’s a little awkward because the top board is more square-like, while a bigger rectangular board is below. Ads are on the sides. Video is expectedly clear, however when it was used for game information graphics during the game, the bottom video board was way too busy and almost hard to follow. Other dot-matrix boards can be found scattered on walls in different sections of the stadium, while a nice and simple out of town scoreboard is just above the right field wall.
Scoreboard Ranking: 3 out of 4
Displays
Most of the displays are around the home plate entrance way and it starts with a statue out front of a common baseball player. The Rockies stuff starts just past the main entrance, where a wall contains a cool display called “Memorable Events and Records in Rockies History”. There are what looks like a hundred markers in the shape of baseballs, denoting some sort of achievement by a player or the team. There is also an NL Champions 2007 logo in this area. Inside is a fake pennant of the same championship on the scoreboard…and that’s about it. I know that this is a ballclub that is relatively young, but it’s probably time for more honors, especially of those famed players of the early years (Bichette, Walker, Galarraga, Casilla).
Displays Ranking: 2.5 out of 6
Cost
This is an affordable MLB ballpark experience and it starts with parking, where at its max is $15. Our lot was $10 and I’m sure cheaper ones further away abound. My program was a standard $5, while concessions are priced ok too. In fact, the $6.75 bottle of microbrew is cheaper than some minor league parks I’ve seen. A single burger was $5.50, while a bottled water was $3.50. Smaller items though were a little expensive (candy for $3.50, sunflower seeds for $4). Lastly and more importantly are the ticket prices, which are relatively inexpensive for the league. There are three individual pricing tiers depending on the day, time and opponent (not including the one for opening day) and none of them exceed $100…a far cry from the Yankees game I attended a few weeks ago. Using the middle premium pricing, most seats are under $45. Not the cheapest in the league, but certainly in the top 10. The Rockies do have the cheapest single seat in MLB, as the Rockpile only costs $4.
Cost Ranking: 7 out of 8
Fan Support
My time in Denver made me think the sport pecking order was this: #1 Broncos, #2 Rockies, #3 Avalanche, #4 Nuggets. In the 1990s, Colorado was setting attendance records left and right, but in the next decade, the newness wore off and crowds declined. After the slump, paid attendance has rebounded where the last several years they have been ranked between #10 and #15 in the league with average numbers around 35,000. Despite the awful squad fielded this year, crowds have maintained that level and for a weeknight game against small-market Pittsburgh, I was pleasantly surprised by the decent turnout. It just took awhile for them to arrive. The crowd was only at its peak between the 3rd and 7th innings as fans casually arrived and left. In fact, it almost seemed like for many, the game was a place to hang out before going out later on to the bars and clubs.
Fan Support Ranking: 6 out of 8
Atmosphere
The atmosphere echoed the type of fans that I saw attending. The main plays drew a decent noise-level of cheering, however there was nothing spontaneous and any other cheering was just dictated by the scoreboard. Hard to fault them though when their team is 35-55. With lots of team apparel and a good number of fans consistently, the Rockies have decent support…the atmosphere in this game was more fun, laid back and festive as opposed to boisterous and passionate, feeling like a place to hang out and casually watch.
Atmosphere Ranking: 8 out of 14
Other Stuff
Likely the predominant feature of Coors Field isn’t really seen or heard. The thin air at a mile above sea level and the dry air in this climate has led to balls that fly out of the park in a manner that isn’t seen anywhere else. As the subject of countless studies, Coors Field is a hitters paradise and that was evident from the beginning with 40 home run and 120 RBI seasons becoming common. Recently, balls have been stored in a room-sized humidor, which has cut down on the number of home runs….Speaking of being a Mile High, the seats in the stadium are green, except for one purple row in the upper deck. That is to denote exactly where it is 5,280 feet above sea level.….There’s a cool interactive area in the lower concourse called “Fantasy Broadcast”, where fans can call a half-inning of action and get the DVD copy. Nice idea….Definitely buy water or other beverages outside with a local vendor and then bring them into the stadium…..Hard to believe, but as of our visit, Coors Field is the third oldest ballpark in the National League….The fountains in the Rockies scene at centerfield shoot high up after a Rockies home run or win.
Game
There was hope for the Rockies as they scored a couple of runs in the 3rd and 4th, eventually taking a 2-1 lead into the 5th, but that’s where it all unraveled. Four straight singles with two outs led to a four run inning and the Pirates cruised with their 5-2 lead. The only hiccup came in the ninth when Pittsburgh’s closers gave up three straight walks, however Tyler Colvin struck out to end the game. Erik Bedard pitched well for the Pirates, while Dexter Fowler and Carlos Gonzalez each had two hits for the Rockies.
Stadium and Arena Visits 
