Coors Field From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Coors Field Location 2001 Blake Street Denver, Colorado 80205-2000 Coordinates 39°45′22″N 104°59′38″W / 39.75611°N 104.99389°W / 39.75611; -104.99389 Broke ground October 16, 1992 Opened April 26, 1995 Owner Denver Metropolitan Baseball Stadium District Surface Grass Construction cost $300 million Architect HOK Sport Capacity 50,445 Field dimensions Left Field - 347 ft / 106 m Left-Center - 390 ft / 119 m Center Field - 415 ft / 126.5 m Right-Center - 375 ft / 114 m Right Field - 350 ft / 107 m Backstop - 56 ft / 17 m Tenants Colorado Rockies (MLB) (1995-present) Coors Field, located in Denver, Colorado, is the home field of Major League Baseball's Colorado Rockies. It is named for the Coors Brewing Company of Golden, Colorado, which purchased the naming rights to the park prior to its completion in 1995. The Rockies played their first two seasons, 1993 and 1994, in Mile High Stadium before moving to Coors Field, two blocks from Union Station in Denver's Lower Downtown (or LoDo) neighborhood. The park includes 63 luxury suites and 4,500 club seats. Contents [hide] 1 Reputation as a home run-friendly park 2 Development and construction 3 Features 4 Notable events 5 In Popular Culture 6 The "Voice" of Coors Field 7 Gallery 8 References 9 External links [edit] Reputation as a home run-friendly park Coors Field once had a reputation as a home run-friendly park that at one point, arguably, equaled Chicago's venerable Wrigley Field, and earned it the nickname "Coors Canaveral" among critics [1] (a reference to Cape Canaveral, from where NASA launches spacecraft). Before the introduction in 2002 of a large humidor used for baseball storage, Denver's dry air tended to dry out baseballs, which made the balls harder and caused them to travel farther.[2] In addition, the curveball tends to curve less with the thin air than at sea level leading to fewer strikeouts and fewer effective pitches for pitchers to work with. [3] Stadium designers knew beforehand that Coors Field would give up a disproportionate number of home runs because of its high elevation and dry air, and acted accordingly by placing the outfield fences at an unusually far distance from home plate; thus creating one of the largest outfields in baseball today. The result was a ballpark that, for many years, not only gave up the most home runs in baseball, but also gave up the most doubles and triples as well.[4] [edit] Development and construction Coors Field was the first new stadium added in a six year period in which Denver's sports venues were upgraded, along with Pepsi Center and INVESCO Field at Mile High. It was also the first baseball-only National League Park since Dodger Stadium was built in 1962. As with the other new venues, Coors Field was constructed with accessibility in mind. It sits near Interstate 25 and has direct access to the 20th Street and Park Avenue exits. Nearby Union Station also provides light rail access. Coors Field was originally planned to be somewhat smaller, seating only 43,800. However, after the Rockies drew almost 4.5 million people in their first season—the most in baseball history—plans were altered during construction, and new seats in the right field upper deck were added. The center field bleacher section has its own informal name: "the Rockpile." During construction, workers discovered a number of dinosaur fossils throughout the grounds. Because of this, "Jurassic Park" was one of the first names to be considered for the stadium. This later led to the selection of a dinosaur as the Rockies' mascot, "Dinger." [1] [edit] Features While most of the seats in Coors Field are dark green, the seats in the 20th row of the upper deck are purple. This marks the city's one mile elevation point. The Blue Moon Brewery at The Sandlot is a microbrewery/restaurant that is behind the Right Field Stands, with an entrance from Coors Field, and from Blake Street. The brewery is operated by the Coors Brewing Company, and experiments with craft beers on a small scale. Every year, they receive awards at the Great American Beer Festival in many different categories. The popular Blue Moon, a Belgian-Style Wheat beer was invented here, and is now mass produced by Coors. The restaurant is housed in a building that is attached to the stadium. Behind the center field wall is a landscape decoration that reflects the typical environment of the Rocky Mountains. This landscape area consists of a waterfall, fountains, and pine trees. After a Rockies home run or win the fountains shoot high into the air. [edit] Notable events The only no-hitter at Coors Field was thrown by Hideo Nomo of the Los Angeles Dodgers on September 17, 1996.[5] The 1998 Major League Baseball All-Star Game took place in Coors Field. There have been seven 1-0 games in Coors Field history, as of 9/17/2008, all since the humidor was in use:[citation needed] July 9, 2005, when the Rockies beat the San Diego Padres April 16, 2006, when the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Rockies July 25, 2006, when the St Louis Cardinals beat the Rockies August 1, 2006, when the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Rockies June 11, 2008, when the Rockies beat the San Francisco Giants September 14, 2008, when the Rockies beat the Los Angeles Dodgers September 17, 2008, when the Rockies beat the San Diego Padres The September 14, 2008 game was the only in Coors Field history to have both teams scoreless through nine innings. Games 3 and 4 of the 2007 World Series against the Boston Red Sox were held at Coors Field. [edit] In Popular Culture Coors Field appears in the South Park episodes Professor Chaos and The Losing Edge. [edit] The "Voice" of Coors Field Alan Roach was the main PA announcer since Coors Field opened in 1995. In the spring preceding the 2007 Rockies season, Roach announced his retirement from his post at Coors Field to spend more time over the summer with his family. Although he did come back to substitute for Reed Saunders for 2 games in 2008.[6] Roach is also the PA announcer for the nearby Colorado Avalanche hockey team of the NHL and provides voice-overs for local sports introductions in the region, in addition to hosting a local sports talk radio show. He is also one of the voices of the train system at Denver International Airport, and has also been heard as the PA announcer at recent Super Bowls. Reed Saunders, 23, was chosen to be the new voice of Coors Field on March 16, 2007. [edit] Gallery This section looks like an image gallery. Wikipedia is not a collection of images and policy discourages galleries. Please help by moving freely licensed images to Wikimedia Commons, possibly creating a gallery of the same name if one does not already exist. See Wikipedia's guide to writing better articles for further suggestions. Panorama of Coors Field on the night of game 4 of the 2007 World SeriesCoors Field Aerial Coors Field main score board as of April 2008. View from the rockpile View from left field corner Satellite view in April 2004. Sell out crowd at Coors Field - October 1, 2007. At night Coors Field Main Entrance The purple seat line signifying one-mile above sea level. View from the Rockies Dugout. [edit] References ^ http://www.denverpost.com/portlet/article/html/fragments/print_article.jsp?article=3689029 ^ Troy E. Renck (2006-06-21). "More humidors likely on horizon". Denver Post. http://www.denverpost.com/rockies/ci_3961497. Retrieved on 2007-06-12. ^ "What to pack for Denver". http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/what-to-pack-for-denver/. ^ Lowry, Phillip (2005). Green Cathedrals. New York City: Walker & Company. ISBN 0802715621. ^ Coors Field ^ Rich Draper (2007-02-26). "Roach steps down as Rox PA man". MLB.com. http://colorado.rockies.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20070226&content_id=1817412&vkey=spt2007news&fext=.jsp&c_id=col. Retrieved on 2007-06-12. [edit] External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Coors Field Ballpark Digest visit to Coors Field Ballparks of Baseball Coors Field images and information Aerial photo of Coors Field from Microsoft TerraServer Preceded by Mile High Stadium Home of the Colorado Rockies 1995 – present Succeeded by Current Preceded by Jacobs Field Host of the All-Star Game 1998 Succeeded by Fenway Park Coordinates: 39°45′21.14″N 104°59′39.02″W / 39.7558722°N 104.9941722°W / 39.7558722; -104.9941722 [show]v • d • eColorado Rockies Based in Denver, Colorado The Franchise History • Expansion Draft • Seasons • Records • Players • Managers and Owners • Broadcasters • Opening Day starters Ballparks Mile High Stadium • Coors Field Spring Training: Hi Corbett Field Culture Dinger • "Get Free" • "Hey Baby" • Rocktober • Continental League • Mike Coolbaugh incident Important Figures Don Baylor • Clint Hurdle • Jim Leyland • Larry Walker • Dante Bichette • Vinny Castilla • Andrés Galarraga • Brian Fuentes • Todd Helton • Matt Holliday • Troy Tulowitzki • Walt Weiss • Darryl Kile • Mike Hampton • Ellis Burks • Joe Girardi • Juan Pierre • Brad Hawpe Retired Numbers 42 Key Personnel Owners: Charlie Monfort, Dick Monfort • President: Keli McGregor • General Manager: Dan O'Dowd • Manager: Clint Hurdle National League Pennants (1) 2007 National League Wild Cards (2) 1995 • 2007 Seasons (17) 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998 • 1999 • 2000 • 2001 • 2002 • 2003 • 2004 • 2005 • 2006 • 2007 • 2008 • 2009 Minor League Affiliates Colorado Springs Sky Sox (AAA) • Tulsa Drillers (AA) • Modesto Nuts (A) • Asheville Tourists (A) • Tri-City Dust Devils (A) • Casper Ghosts (Rookie) • VSL Rockies (Rookie) [show]v • d • eCurrent ballparks in Major League Baseball American League Angel Stadium of Anaheim · Comerica Park · Fenway Park · Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome · Kauffman Stadium · Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum · Oriole Park at Camden Yards · Progressive Field · Rangers Ballpark in Arlington · Rogers Centre · Safeco Field · Tropicana Field · U.S. Cellular Field · Yankee Stadium National League AT&T Park · Busch Stadium · Chase Field · Citi Field · Citizens Bank Park · Coors Field · Dodger Stadium · Dolphin Stadium · Great American Ball Park · Miller Park · Minute Maid Park · Nationals Park · Petco Park · PNC Park · Turner Field · Wrigley Field Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coors_Field" Categories: Major League Baseball venues | Sports in Denver, Colorado | Sports venues in Denver, Colorado | Major League Baseball All-Star Game venues | 1995 establishments | Colorado Rockies | Clock towers in the United States