d f th l iD l i il 9 1993 Glory Days A pril 9 1993 was a glorious day for the people in Denver Colorado It was the first home game ever for the Colorado Rockies one of two new teams added to the National League NL that year By the time the first pitch was thrown the Rockies had set a record for the largest Opening Day crowd ever When all the spectators were counted there were 80,277 at the stadium The Rockies sold 4,483,350 tickets in 1993 That also set a record To say that fans in Colorado were happy to have their own big-league baseball team only tells part of the story The Rockies rewarded their support by bringing in some of the game’s best hitters including Andres Galarraga Dante Bichette Vinny Castilla and Charlie Hayes They treated the fans to one great offensive performance after another Unfortunately the pitching was another matter Colorado pitchers struggled when they took the mound at home The air in Denver 6
LEFT Vinny Castilla drove in more than 100 runs four times for the Rockies RIGHT Charlie Hayes led the team in home runs in 1993 is thinner and drier than in most of the country That helped fly balls travel farther than usual Many hits that would have been caught for outs elsewhere banged against the fences in Colorado or flew over them The Rockies played their outfielders extra deep But this left open spaces in front of them That meant short hits often dropped safely for singles and doubles Being a pitcher for the Rockies wasn’t an easy job Of course the Colorado batters loved to play at home They hit for very high averages and slugged home runs at a record-breaking pace Many players who wore a Rockies uniform for just a couple of seasons enjoyed the best years of their careers including Ellis Burks Juan Pierre Jeffrey Hammonds Preston Wilson and Charles Johnson Slowly but surely the Rockies learned how to gain an edge on their home field They had a winning record in just their third season and made it to the playoffs as the NL Wild Card It was quite a season for Colorado That same year the team opened a new stadium 7
The stars of the 1995 club included Galarraga Bichette Castilla Larry Walker and Walt Weiss Walker became one of the best players in baseball He won three batting championships earned five Gold Gloves and was named the league’s Most Valuable Player MVP In 1997 a hot-hitting rookie named Todd Helton joined Walker in the lineup The pair gave Colorado a great one-two punch for many seasons Helton developed into a superstar slugger and a great fielder He was the leader of the Rockies as they built a new team for the 21st century In 2007 and again in 2009 Colorado won the NL Wild Card Nothing could match the excitement provided by the 2007 team That year the Rockies captured the pennant and played in their first World Series Helton was now the experienced leader of a club that included dangerous hitters such as Troy Tulowitzki Matt Holliday LEFT Todd Helton watches another hit drop in ABOVE Larry Walker was an important leader on the 1995 team 9
