Snow Angels In The Outfield

Things I need to stop doing in 2016:

1. Going almost a month without blogging.
2. Saying I'm going to stop blogging about baseball.

I mean, seriously. I work a lot of hours, yes, but I need to stop being lazy. I've also blogged about baseball enough times now that I should probably just come to terms with the fact that baseball is now amongst the topics I will regularly post about. You have been duly warned (if you haven't figured it out already).

I still have some hockey adventures to recap, but I figured I'd wrap up my 2015 baseball adventures before the new year (and, y'know, before spring training). That makes sense, right? Right. So, onwards!

If you recall, my friend Barbara and I found something of a home at Coors Field this season. At some point we decided that, after so many hours spent there already, we should really take a tour. We tried to go one weekend in October... but tours weren't being given that day. We tried to go one weekend in November... but tours weren't being given that day. (It was like a bad joke, honestly.) But finally, in mid-December, we did it!

...In the snow.

It was snowing in Colorado Springs when we headed out, and it was snowing in Denver when we arrived, and it continued snowing for most of the day. Perfect day to visit a baseball stadium, amirite?

Well, as long as you don't mind seeing grass and infield dirt, it was actually really cool.

The tour was slightly modified to keep us outside as little as possible, which was very appreciated. I've been on a pretty good number of stadium tours at this point, and they're all more or less the same. But one thing that stuck out to me was learning that Coors Field opened in 1995 and is the second oldest ballpark in the National League, behind only Wrigley Field. And Wrigley is over 100 years old. That is nuts! 

And the building we were standing in when I took the above picture -- now a restaurant within the stadium -- is actually older than Wrigley. Who knew?!

Tours only go into the visitor's clubhouse, as seems to be the industry standard. Apparently home clubhouses are significantly nicer. (Goals: see a home clubhouse one day.)

While we were on the field and milling around in the dugouts, someone opened the case to the bullpen phone. Our tour guide informed us that that's what triggers the call and, within a few seconds, we actually heard the phone in the bullpen ringing from clear across the field! That was a new tidbit for me! And of course, it's always pretty freaking cool to get to be on the field and in the dugout.

Also pretty cool? Mets stuff!

On the left is an apple that the Mets gave to each team in honor of the 2013 All Star Game that was hosted at Citi Field. And on the right is a David Wright jersey; in the hallway leading to the visitor's clubhouse, there's a jersey from each team displayed on the walls. Pretty neat!

After the tour, Barbara and I spent a few minutes in the team store (because when in Rome, right?) before grabbing an early dinner at a nearby restaurant. By the time we left to head home, it was dark outside and we were treated to some festive lights!

How cute is this! Do other stadiums get decorated for the holidays? Is this a phenomenon I've been missing out on? If so, I can't believe I didn't know this adorableness was going on. If not, Coors Field is my favorite.

Actually, Coors Field is my favorite either way.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday, whatever you may celebrate, and happy new year!

#ILoveCoorsField

It's after Thanksgiving and I'm STILL talking about baseball! It's a beautiful thing. (I mean, it's partially due to my own laziness, but it's also because the Mets were playing baseball into November. What a world.) At this rate I'll still be talking about the 2015 season when the 2016 season rolls around, but bear with me.

I'd been to two Rockies games before this year, mostly because Denver is kind of a schlep from Colorado Springs, and also because most of my friends out here don't particularly care about baseball. (I know, right? What a shame.) Last year I managed to scrounge up people to go with me when the Mets were in town, and this year I was prepared to go by myself. Because the 2015 Mets team was worth a two-plus hour round trip and sitting by myself at Coors Field for three hours. But the day before the game, my friend Barbara offered to go with me, and suddenly I had a baseball friend!

We headed to Denver intending to buy tickets at the stadium, and let me tell you, there are definite perks of going to games when the home team is bad. At will call, we just sort of asked what was available, and ended up walking away with field level seats for $20 a pop. TWENTY BUCKS to sit at field level. I'm sorry, what??? Even when the Mets were terrible (er, just about always), I think I only sat at field level once in my life. So this was pretty stinking cool.

 A Dickey compatriot!

And look at these idiots!

The children on the starting rotation thought it would be a good idea to sit on top of the wall during pre-game warmups. Children, I tell you.

The Mets played three games in Colorado, and I chose the Sunday afternoon game to attend... because it was Harvey Day. I wasn't missing an opportunity to see Matt Harvey pitch. But this was August, when he was making more headlines for his innings limit than for his pitching, so of course, this was one of his starts that was skipped. We ended up seeing Logan Verrett's first ever MLB start, and he was actually phenomenal. He pitched something like eight innings of one-run ball and the Mets won 5-1. It was great. Really hot, but really great. (Don't worry mom, I brought sunscreen and reapplied liberally. *thumbs up emoji*)

Two weeks later, the San Francisco Giants were in town. Barbara is a Giants fan, so it was back to Coors for round two. After such good luck at will call the first time, we headed up there with the same plan. We asked what was available, and the woman in the booth -- after seeing Barbara wearing a Giants shirsey -- said, "if I give you tickets, will you go inside and buy a Rockies shirt?" We both said yes, of course, and just thought she was joking about not selling us tickets because we weren't Rockies fans... but no, she actually meant giving us tickets. For free. She gave us free tickets. FREE TICKETS! So we did, in fact, run inside and hit up the team store. I got a shirt, Barbara got socks, both for the price we would've paid for tickets anyway, and then we enjoyed the game from our FREE SEATS.

 ZERO DOLLARS!

The final game we went to -- two weeks later -- was for the simple reason that Coors Field had been so good to us. The Rockies were playing the San Diego Padres, and both teams had pretty terrible records so the game was essentially meaningless, but on the last weekend of summer it was only fitting to squeeze in one more game. Again, we asked will call what was available for around twenty bucks, and we got club level tickets for $25 each. Guys, Coors Field is the best place. If you're ever in this neck of the woods, I highly recommend catching a game there, because the price and customer service experience is out of this world. (Also, get the Helton burger. Delicious.)

That was not the end of our Coors Field adventures, though. Two weeks later (noticing a pattern yet?), Barbara and I were all set for hockey season and headed to Denver for our first Colorado Avalanche game! Our hockey adventures will get their own post at a later date, but for now I'll leave you with this: I noticed that I was eating a purple donut in front of a purple stadium. ~Aesthetic~ ensued.

...I hate myself a little bit.

We're planning on taking an actual stadium tour soon because, at this point, how could we not?! Coors has sort of become our touchstone in Denver; we've been so many times that we sort of know the area a little bit now. It's kind of crazy, but now I kind of feel like I have a second sports home. So hey, Coors, thanks for being awesome. :)