Coors Field: Бейсбольный стадион в Денвере, Колорадо

Baseball stadium in Denver, Colorado

Coors Field is a baseball stadium in downtown Denver, Colorado. It is the ballpark of Major League Baseball's Colorado Rockies. Opened in 1995, the park is located in Denver's Lower Downtown neighborhood, two blocks from Union Station. The stadium has a capacity of 50,144 people for baseball. As an expansion team that began play in 1993, the Rockies spent their first two seasons at Mile High Stadium. During that time, Coors Field was constructed for a cost of $300 million. It includes 63 luxury suites and 4,526 club seats. Coors Field has earned a reputation as a hitter's park, due to the effect of Denver's high elevation and semi arid climate on the distances of batted balls. To combat this, the outfield fences were positioned further away from home plate and baseballs used in the park have been pre stored in humidors. Coors Field has hosted the 1998 MLB All Star Game and the 2021 MLB All Star Game. Coors has also hosted an outdoor hockey game from the 2016 NHL Stadium Series, along with numerous concerts. In 2017, a consultant determined that Coors Field would require $200 million in capital improvements in the 2020s. To fund those improvements, the Rockies agreed to a long term lease to develop club owned nearby land.

Coors Field was the first new stadium added in a six year period in which Denver's sports venues were upgraded, along with Ball Arena (originally Pepsi Center) and Empower Field at Mile High (originally Invesco Field). It was also the first baseball only park in the National League since Dodger Stadium was built in 1962. As with the other new venues, Coors Field was constructed with transportation access 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 and commuter 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 at Mile High Stadium – the most in baseball history – the plans were altered during construction, and new seats in the right field upper deck were added. The center field bleacher section is named "The Rockpile". During the 1993 and 1994 seasons when the team played at Mile High Stadium, which was a hybrid football/baseball venue, the Rockpile was located next to the south stands, which were in dead center field and very distant from home plate. The same design was incorporated into Coors Field, and is located in deep center field up high. The original Rockpile seats cost a dollar each. During construction, workers discovered a number of dinosaur fossils throughout the grounds. Rumors circulated that these fossils included a 7 feet (2 m) triceratops skull. In reality, the fossil fragments discovered were quite small, and are now housed at the Museum of Science and Nature. Because of these discoveries, "Jurassic Park" was one of the first names to be considered for the stadium. This later led to the selection of a triceratops as the Rockies' mascot, Dinger. Coors Brewing purchased naming rights to the stadium as part of their $30 million investment in the Rockies in 1991. A 2017 lease agreement that Rockies club ownership signed with the stadium district ensured that the name would remain at least through 2047.

While most of the seats in Coors Field are dark green, the seats in the 20th row of the upper deck are purple to mark the elevation of one mile (5280 ft; 1,609 m) above sea level. 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. The Brewery has won multiple awards at the Great American Beer Festival in various 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. Coors Field has an extensive selection of food items. Selections include Rockie dogs, Denver dogs, vegetarian dogs and burgers, and all of the usual ball park items. 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. The park has two large light emitting diode (LED) video displays and one ribbon display in the outfield from Daktronics. The top display, underneath the "Rockies" logo, measures The second display measure and is used to give lineups and statistics and as a scoreboard. The field also contains several Daktronics ribbon displays, totaling approximately 833 feet (254 m) in length. After the close of the 2013 season, renovations began on the right field portion of the upper deck, converted into an outdoor party deck for 2014.

At 5200 feet (1585 m) above sea level, Coors Field is by far the highest park in the majors. The next highest, Chase Field in Phoenix, stands at 1100 feet (335 m). Designers knew that the stadium would give up a lot of home runs, as the lower air density at such a high elevation would result in balls traveling farther than in other parks. To compensate for this, the outfield fences were placed at an unusually far distance from home plate, thus creating the largest outfield in Major League Baseball. In spite of the pushed back fences, for many years Coors Field not only gave up the most home runs in baseball, but due to the resultant large field area, the most doubles and triples as well. In its first decade, the above average number of home runs earned Coors Field a reputation as the most hitter friendly park in Major League Baseball, earning the critical nicknames "Coors Canaveral" (a reference to Cape Canaveral, from where NASA launches spacecraft) and "Williamsport" (referring to the site of the Little League World Series, which has been traditionally dominated by batters). Prior to the 2002 baseball season, studies determined that dry air rather than thin air had a greater contribution to the increased frequency of home runs. It was found that baseballs stored in damper air are softer and therefore less elastic to the impact of the bat. To address this problem, a secure room sized humidor was installed to have a damper place to store the baseballs prior to games. Since its introduction, the number of home runs at Coors Field has decreased and is now nearly the same as other parks. Regardless of ball humidity, elevation is still a factor in games at Coors Field. The ball does slip more easily through the thin air allowing for longer hits. 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. Coors Field twice broke the major league record for home runs hit in a ballpark in one season. The previous record, 248, had been set at the Angels' original home of Wrigley Field in Los Angeles in 1961, its only year for major league ball. In Coors Field's first year, the home run total fell just 7 short of that mark, despite losing 9 games from the home schedule (or 1/9 of the normal 81) due to the strike that had continued from 1994. The next season, 1996, with a full schedule finally, 271 home runs were hit at Coors Field. In 1999, the current major league record was set at 303. The annual home run figure dropped noticeably in 2002, and has dropped below 200 starting in 2005. Although the number of home runs hit per season at Coors Field is decreasing, Coors Field still remains the most hitter friendly ballpark in the Major Leagues by a wide margin. From 2012 to 2015, the Colorado Rockies led the league in runs scored in home games, while being last in the league for runs scored in away games. This demonstrates the extreme benefit that Coors Field's low air density provides to hitters. Many, however, feel that Coors Field has hurt the Rockies' success. One concern over the years has been poor adjustment when playing road games at lower altitudes. The Rockies score an average of just 3.9 runs per road game, the lowest among all teams. This has had a detrimental effect on Colorado's all time road record, which sits at , or 39.6%, the worst in the majors by a large margin. Additionally, many feel that pitcher development on the Rockies has suffered because of how much of an advantage opposing hitters have at Coors Field. Rockies pitchers are more likely to finish with an ERA of at least 4, if not higher, and only Ubaldo Jiménez and Jhoulys Chacín
maintained sub 4 ERAs during their Rockies tenure (3.66 and 3.84 respectively). This can hurt the trade value and careers of pitchers. Some have claimed that starting pitchers such as Kyle Freeland, Jon Gray, and Germán Márquez would have developed better if they didn't play for Colorado. Additionally, notable relief pitchers such as Jake McGee and Wade Davis are cited to have suffered significant drop offs due to playing at higher altitudes. Compounded with poor coaching and management decisions, Colorado has gained a bad reputation among the pitching community, and some pitchers have cited their reluctance to play for the Rockies.

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. He did come back to substitute in 2008. Roach is also the PA announcer for the nearby Colorado Avalanche hockey team of the NHL and former PA announcer for the Denver Broncos of the NFL. He also provides voice overs for local sports introductions in the region, in addition to hosting a local sports talk radio show. He is currently the PA announcer for the Minnesota Vikings of the NFL. 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.

Coors Field was featured in the movie The Fan (1996) starring Robert De Niro and Wesley Snipes. The ballpark was also featured in two episodes of South Park: "Professor Chaos" (2002) and "The Losing Edge" (2005). "Acclaim Sports Park", featured on All Star Baseball 2004 and 2005, is a mirrored image of Coors Field.

StatisticPlayer(s)/TeamScore Colorado 11, New York Mets 914 inningsFirst National Anthem Colorado Children's ChoraleFirst Pitch 5:38 p. m., Bill Swift to Brett ButlerFirst Plate Appearance, First At Bat, First Swing and First Hit Brett Butler, infield single, 1st inningFirst Batter to Ground Into Double Play José Vizcaíno (Mets), turned 6–3, Walt Weiss to Andrés GalarragaFirst Putout Walt Weiss put out Brett Butler at second base (during the double play mentioned above)First Extra Base Hit and First Run Batted In Larry Walker (Rockies) double in 1st inningFirst Run Walt Weiss (Rockies), 1st inningFirst Flyout and First Sacrifice Fly Dante Bichette (Rockies), putout by David Segui, scoring Joe Girardi, 1st inningFirst Strikeout Bill Swift, struck out (called) David Segui, 2nd inningFirst Sacrifice Bunt Bobby Jones (Mets), 3rd inningFirst Home Run Rico Brogna (Mets), 4th inning off SwiftFirst Base On Balls Bobby Jones (Mets) walked Bill Swift, 5th inningFirst Grand Slam Todd Hundley (Mets), 6th inning off SwiftFirst Pinch Hitter John Vander Wal announced for Swift (did not appear), Eric Young pinched for Vander Wal, 6th inningFirst Relief Pitcher Jerry DiPoto (Mets), 6th inningFirst Batter to be Hit By Pitch Roberto Mejía (Rockies) by DiPoto, 6th inningFirst Right Field Outfield Assist Carl Everett (Mets), Vinny Castilla at second base, 6th inningFirst Wild Pitch Mike Munoz (Rockies), facing Rico Brogna, 7th inningFirst Blown Save Mike Munoz (Rockies), 7th inning; the Mets John Franco and Mike Remlinger recorded the second and third blown saves in the 9th and 14th inning of the same inaugural gameFirst Pinch Runner Brook Fordyce (Mets), 8th inningFirst Foul Popfly Andrés Galarraga (Rockies), fielded by Jeff KentFirst Left Field Outfield Assist Dante Bichette (Rockies), José Vizcaíno at second base, 13th inningIntentional Base On Balls Todd Hundley (Mets), by pitcher Mark ThompsonFirst Pinch Base Hit Jim Tatum (Rockies), 13th inningFirst Error Tim Bogar (Mets), 14th inningFirst Walk off home run (and First Rockies Home Run) Dante Bichette (Rockies), three run home run, 14th inningFirst Win Mark Thompson (Rockies)

Statistic Person(s)DateFirst Stolen Base Eric Young and Walt Weiss (Rockies) double steal April 27, 1995First Passed Ball Joe Girardi (Rockies) April 27, 1995First Triple Andrés Galarraga (Rockies) April 27, 1995First Baserunner Caught Stealing Carl Everett (Mets), by A. J. Sager / Joe Girardi April 27, 1995First Save Bruce Ruffin (Rockies) May 3, 1995First Back to Back Home Runs Mike Kingery and Roberto Mejía (Rockies) May 6, 1995First Center Field Outfield Assist Raúl Mondesí (Los Angeles Dodgers), Larry Walker at second base May 6, 1995First Baserunner Picked Off Caught Stealing Dante Bichette (Rockies) at third base, by Terry Mulholland (San Francisco Giants) May 11, 1995First Baserunner Picked Off On Base Brian Jordan (St. Louis Cardinals), by Mark Thompson at 1st base June 6, 1995First Balk Marvin Freeman (Rockies) June 7, 1995First Complete Game and First Shutout Tom Glavine (Atlanta Braves) June 16, 1995First Cycle John Mabry (St. Louis Cardinals); 11th natural cycle in MLB history May 18, 1996First No hitter Hideo Nomo (Los Angeles Dodgers) September 17, 1996First Unassisted Triple Play Troy Tulowitzki (Rockies) April 29, 2007