Around Denver with Crites and Main

Mile-high baseball. None of us had experience the joy. So a Rockies game became an essential stop on Crites and Main’s adventures in Colorado. 

The game excited me too. The first year proved impossible to find a time to head up to Denver, and COVID-19 wiped out the crowds for 2020’s shortened season. With all three of us vaccinated and the Delta variant not yet raging, the ballgame seemed like a good call. So the time came. The Rockies and the Miami Marlins did not represent a marquee matchup, just summer baseball. 

The distance between Colorado Springs and Denver means visitors can enjoy both cities on a short trip. Since the Springs lost its AAA team, the SkySox (who became the San Antonio Missions), it has been relegated to Rookie League ball, which holds no interest for me. So Denver held our baseball fix.

We ran in from Alamosa, and hit the highway up to Denver. Our hotel was just a mile from Coors Field and in sight of Denver’s Municipal Building and the state capitol’s gold-flaked dome. After a short break, we were bound for Coors Field and the massive bars that surrounded the stadium. 

At first glance, it might be easy to dismiss Coors Field as another of the retro ballparks that arrived in the mid-1990s after Camden Yards. But Coors Field puts on a spectacular show. The outfield features of a forest of native trees, where fireworks depart and home runs often land. It seems maybe 60 percent full, but its 50,000 seats make it one of MLB’s larger stadiums, when it would been mid-sized a generation ago. 

Along with the outfield forest, Coors Field offers one frill no other MLB park can tout – baseball played a mile above sea level. That alone sets it apart, even after decades of trying to mitigate the effects of elevation. No sport has such obvious influence of the local geography. 

Until you’ve seen a game in Denver, it’s hard to quantify the thin air’s impact on baseball. Even with the humidor for the baseballs, a batted ball lofts farther and higher than any other ballpark. The ball just goes farther and higher. Without wind to push the ball back in, we saw a string of home runs through the night. Everyone wants to see a no-hitter or perfect game, but a high-scoring offensive slugfest will always suffice. 

The Rockies raced ahead in a few innings, the Marlins clawed back a little, but the Rockies held on. I saw a few of my fantasy players have terrible nights while their teammates mashed ball after ball. After the game, we wandered the blocks around Coors Field for a post-game drinking pad. Some seemed too geared toward crowds younger and hipper than us. 

It didn’t take long to find the Star Bar. It had a wall of liquor, many solid taps and a dive bar atmosphere few in the district could boast. 

We immediately sank in for some late-night drinking. It was quiet when we arrived, booming within 30 minutes and the crowd never relented till we left for our ride to the hotel. I enjoyed the whole interlude. I had a few too many, and the guys ventured out for a few more stops while I crashed hard. 

Morning came too early, as it often does. We hurried out for breakfast with an old friend. Driving out of Denver was a bit of a labyrinth. We drove past an expansive city park that harkened to the city’s past before we found the highway and apologized to our breakfast guest for arriving late. . We had a little breakfast reunion with Tim, our old photog and my hiking buddy since I moved to Colorado. A lot of breakfast went a long way, and conversation carried us for a few hours.