Hi All! I love this time of year. So many things to do in the Denver Metro area. The 2017 baseball season is in full swing, and here in Colorado we have one of the most fabulous stadiums in the country. Coors Field opened 22 years ago last month and has been the home of the Rockies for all but the first two years of the franchise’s history, when the team played in what was then Mile High Stadium. Here are some interesting trivia tidbits:
- When constructed, it was the NL’s first new park built exclusively for baseball since Dodger Stadium in 1962
- Originally designed to include 43,800 seats, record crowds in 1993 convinced Rockies ownership to expand original plans. The stadium holds 50,445 fans, including 63 luxury boxes and 4,526 club-level seats.
- Concession stands in the concourse are laid out so that a fan can walk 360 degrees around the stadium and never lose sight of the the field.
- While building Coors Field, construction workers discovered dinosaur fossils on 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 triceratops at the Rockies’ mascot, Dinger.
- Purple seats in the 20th row of the upper deck ring the park to mark a spot that is exactly 5,280 feet above sea level.
- The natural grass field can drain 5 inches of water per hour, and there is a heating system under the field that melts snow the moment it hits the ground.
- Because of our altitude, a ball that flies at 400 feet at sea level will soar to 430 feet at Coors Field.