|
|
| |
| ||
 | |||
| |||
 Knocking it out Coors Field to be home-run contest launching pad
Posted: Saturday July 04, 1998 02:59 PM
DENVER (AP) -- Only at Coors Field could baseball's annual home run contest, normally a sideshow to the All-Star game, be as eagerly anticipated as the game itself. Coors Field's reputation as a homer haven is well-deserved, as National League sluggers such as Mark McGwire, Barry Bonds and Mike Piazza already know and AL sluggers are about to experience. It will get a workout on Monday, when McGwire and Sammy Sosa will be competing in the annual home run derby, although AL slugger Ken Griffey Jr. has declined. In 1996, more homers were hit at Coors Field (271) than in any other major league park. The 245 homers hit at Coors Field in 1997 again ranked first in the majors. This season, primarily because of power slumps by Colorado's Larry Walker, Dante Bichette and Ellis Burks and the departure to Atlanta of Andres Galarraga, Coors Field's homer numbers are down. Seattle's Kingdome leads the majors with 2.74 homers per game, with Baltimore's Camden Yards second and Coors Field third. But 4-year-old Coors Field is more than just a mile-high launching pad, where balls tend to travel about 10 percent farther in the thin air than at sea level. Loved by fans and batters alike and generally loathed by pitchers, the red brick-and-steel structure, in the tradition of such retro ballparks as Camden Yards and Jacobs Field, has received architectural accolades since the Rockies moved into it in 1995. The 50,381-seat facility combines state-of-the-art amenities such as indoor batting cages, expansive clubhouses, a large video screen and an in-stadium microbrewery with nostalgic touches like a manual scoreboard, which is built into the right-field wall. The architects, HOK Sport of Kansas City, wanted the ballpark to resemble the intimacy of Brooklyn's Ebbets Field or Chicago's Wrigley Field, and they succeeded.
Located in the lower downtown district of Denver -- the city's oldest neighborhood -- Coors Field has both blended into its surroundings and helped revitalize an area that once was mostly abandoned warehouses. Now, more than 50 restaurants, 11 micro breweries, 20 art galleries and about 500 new lofts surround the ballpark. In 1990, voters in the six-county Denver metropolitan area passed a 0.1 percent sales tax to finance construction of a baseball facility if the National League awarded a franchise, which the league did in 1991. The ballpark originally was designed to seat 43,800, but because of record attendance in the Rockies' first two seasons at Mile High Stadium, architects were asked to add nearly 7,000 more seats. Even after moving to a ballpark with 25,000 fewer seats than Mile High Stadium, the Rockies continued to set attendance marks at Coors Field. For the fifth straight year in 1997, the club led the majors, drawing 3,888,453, an average of 48,006, and had 203 consecutive sellouts before the string ended in the second game of a split doubleheader last September 6. The Rockies, despite a sub-.500 season, are leading the majors again this season, averaging 47,258. The $215 million, user-friendly facility features a concourse that allows fans to walk the perimeter of the field-level seats without losing sight of the playing field. The sightlines are excellent, providing sweeping views of the Rocky Mountains and downtown. Another feature is the Rockpile, a section in center field that was designed to keep baseball affordable. Admission for both children 12 and under and seniors 55 and older is $1. Other ages pay $4. Prior to the 1997 season, a rushing waterfall and fountain were constructed in center field. They complement evergreens that have been planted in center field and in the bullpens in right-center. One of the most frequently asked questions about Coors Field is the significance of a row of purple seats. Those seats, in the 20th row of the upper deck, are 5,280 feet above sea level. That helps explain why a batter like Piazza could launch a ball 496 feet and Walker could hit one 493 feet.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
Copyright © 1999 CNN/SI. A Time Warner Company. Terms under which this service is provided to you.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
Air show: In the past two seasons, 516 homers have been hit in Coors Field 
Sosa (left) and McGwire will aim for the Coors Field-record of 496 feet in Monday's Home Run Derby 