Coors Field turned 30 on Saturday and is now the third-oldest ballpark in the National League. The venue has seen snow and fireworks, heroics and heartaches, All-Stars, Hall of Famers and one-hit wonders.
Entering the weekend, 6,319 home runs had been launched at Coors — 3,187 by the Rockies and 3,132 by the visitors — one no-hitter had been thrown, and a few other no-nos nearly came to be. An announced 81,896,843 fans have witnessed countless memories over that time. Here are the 30 most unforgettable:
30. Spoiler alert
Date: Sept. 27, 1998
The Giants needed a win on the final day of the season to clinch a wild-card berth. Neifi Perez had other ideas, hitting a walk-off homer in the ninth off Robb Nen to beat the Giants, 9-8. The Giants were forced to play the Cubs in the wild-card tiebreaker game, which they lost, 5-3, at Wrigley Field.
29. LoDo snow job
Date: April 16, 2013
The Mets and Rockies woke up to 9 inches of snow but managed to play a doubleheader. Rockies owner Dick Monfort and Mets general manager Sandy Alderson were among those who grabbed snow shovels. The Rockies warmed up by sweeping the Mets, 8-4 and 9-8.
28. A 20-spot vs. BoSox
Date: July 24, 2024
There wasn’t a lot to cheer about during a 101-loss season, but Colorado rocked the Red Sox on a 93-degree day, mashing four home runs, including the first grand slam of Brenton Doyle’s career in a 20-7 win. The Rockies’ 20 runs tied a franchise high.
27. Catcher pitches a win
Date: Aug. 22, 2000
Catcher Brett Mayne delivered a victory for the Rockies in the 12th inning against the Braves. He became the first position player in 32 years to record a big-league pitching victory. Mayne stranded two runners by retiring Chipper Jones on a check-swing grounder for the final out. Rocky Colavito had been the last position player to win a game from the mound, pitching 2 ⅔ shutout innings as the Yankees defeated Detroit on Aug. 25, 1968, the year Mayne was born.
26. Avs ice Red Wings
Date: Feb. 26, 2016
A crowd of 43,319 showed up to watch Avalanche alumni beat the Red Wings’ old-timers, 5-2, on the eve of the Stadium Series regular-season game between the rivals. Avs defenseman Ray Bourque had a goal and two assists, and Joe Sakic, the Avalanche’s longtime captain and the team’s general manager, had a goal and an assist. Goaltender Patrick Roy, then the Avs’ 50-year-old coach, stopped 20 of 21 shots in two periods.
25. Opener in time of COVID
Date: July 31, 2020
It was 85 degrees at first pitch, and there were no fans in the stands, but they played baseball at Coors for the first time in 2020. A smattering of fans showed up, set up camp chairs on the sidewalk on Blake Street, and peered through the gates. The Padres beat the Rockies 8-7 when closer Wade Davis gave up four runs in the ninth.
24. Alonso shells Coors
Date: July 12, 2021
Mets slugger Pete Alonso pronounced himself “the best power hitter on the planet” and then proved it in the Home Run Derby. Alonso successfully defended his 2019 crown — there was no event in 2020 due to the pandemic — by topping Trey Mancini of the Orioles in the final round, joining Ken Griffey Jr. (1998-99) and Yoenis Céspedes (2013-14) as the only back-to-back derby champs.
23. Independence Day Marathon
Date: July 4, 2010
The Giants and Rockies played a 15-inning game that took 5 hours and 24 minutes, making it the longest game in Coors Field history. Colorado won 4-3 when Dexter Fowler led off the 15th with a triple, and Johnny Herrera and Carlos Gonzalez were intentionally walked to load the bases. Todd Helton drove in Fowler with the winning run, hitting a sacrifice fly to left.
22. In-game fireworks
Date: July 4, 2008
Colorado trailed 13-4 coming to bat in the fourth inning but beat the Marlins 18-17, scoring two runs in the ninth for the walk-off win. The Rockies hit six home runs, with Ryan Spilborghs and Matt Holliday each clubbing two. Catcher Chris Iannetta hit a weak groundball past third base to score Holliday for the walk-off victory.
21. Nine-run ninth
Date: July 6, 2010
Colorado erased a six-run deficit in the ninth, scored nine times, and stunned St. Louis, 12-9, on sweet-swinging Seth Smith’s two-out, three-run, walk-off homer. At the time, no team in the modern era had ever scored nine runs in the bottom of the ninth to win a game.
Colorado Rockies’ Seth Smith, center, is congratulated by teammates after he hit a three-run, walkoff home run against the St. Louis Cardinals in the ninth inning of the Rockies’ 12-9 victory in Denver on July 6, 2010. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
20. Helton belts 2,500th
Date: Sept. 1, 2013
Todd Helton drove a 3-2 pitch the opposite way for a double and the 2,500th hit of his career. He became the 96th player in major league history to reach the milestone.
19. Spilly’s walk-off slam
Date: Aug. 24, 2009
Fan favorite Ryan Spilborghs hit a grand slam in the 14th for a come-from-behind, 6-4 victory over the Giants. His walk-off granny was sweet redemption. Spilborghs failed to deliver with men on base in the 10th inning, grounding into a double play with a man on third. In the top of the 14th, he misread the carom off the wall on Edgar Renteria’s triple that started the Giants’ three-run rally.
18. Grand larceny
Date: June 30, 1996
Eric Young tied a big-league record with six stolen bases, Quentin McCracken swiped two, and Ellis Burks and Dante Bichette each stole one as the Rockies notched a wild, 16-15 walk-off win over the Dodgers. Colorado’s 10 stolen bases remains a franchise record.
17. Helton’s grand finale
Date: Sept. 25, 2013
In the 1,148th game of his career at Coors, including seven postseason games, Helton went out with a bang. In his first at-bat, on a 1-1 count, Helton blasted an 87-mph cutter from Boston starter Jake Peavy over the right-field scoreboard for the 369th, and last, home run of his career.
16. Lansing’s four-inning cycle
Date: June 18, 2000
There have been a major league-record 19 cycles hit at Coors Field, but Mike Lansing’s was the fastest. He completed it with a single in the fourth inning after ripping a triple in the first, hitting a two-run homer in the second, and a two-run double in the third. Colorado bludgeoned Arizona 19-2 on Father’s Day.
15. Nomo’s no-no
Date: Sept. 17, 1996
Los Angeles Dodgers legendary broadcaster Vin Scully was on the call on that cold, drizzly night in LoDo: “Hideo Nomo has done what they said could not be done. … Not in the Mile High City. Not at Coors Field in Denver. He has not only shut out the Rockies, he has pitched a no-hitter.” Nomo walked four and struck out eight in the Dodgers’ 9-0 victory.
14. K-Free’s near no-no
Date: July 9, 2017
Rookie left-hander Kyle Freeland came two outs away from pitching the Rockies’ first no-hitter at Coors. Chicago White Sox All-Star outfielder Melky Cabrera broke up the no-no with a single to left. After Cabrera’s single, Freeland, who fanned nine, was relieved by Jordan Lyles, who closed out Colorado’s 10-0 victory.
Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Kyle Freeland delivers to Chicago White Sox’s Adam Engel in the first inning of a baseball game Sunday, July 9, 2017, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
13. Marquez’s near no-no
Date: June 29, 2021
German Marquez pitched eight hitless innings, but the Pirates’ Ka’ai Tom singled to lead off the ninth. Marquez recovered quickly after Tom’s single, inducing a double play followed by a groundout to end his 8-0, complete-game victory. Marquez struck out five, walked just one, and needed 92 pitches.
12. One hell of a Story
Date: Sept. 5, 2018
All-Star shortstop Trevor Story mashed three home runs, including a 487-footer, in Colorado’s 5-3 win over the Giants. Story’s three dingers traveled a combined 1,362 feet. All three of Story’s homers came off San Francisco right-hander Andrew Suarez.
11. Chuck Nasty’s grand opening
Date: April 4, 2014
Charlie Blackmon was on the roster bubble at the end of spring training, but he ignited his All-Star career in Colorado’s 12-2 home-opening win over Arizona. Blackmon went 6 for 6 with a homer and three doubles, becoming the first player since the Pirates’ Dick Groat in his MVP season of 1960 to have three doubles among six hits in a game.
10. Jon Gray’s 16K gem
Date: Sept. 17, 2016
The “Gray Wolf” let loose a howl at the end of Colorado’s 8-0 victory over the Padres. In his complete-game shutout, the right-hander struck out a club-record 16, the most by any single pitcher in Coors Field history. Gray allowed four hits and walked none.
9. Humidor’s debut
Date: March 31, 2002
Coors remains the most hitter-friendly park in the majors, but the installation of a humidor changed things. From 1995 to 2001, Colorado’s average team ERA was 6.14, and the pitching staff gave up an average of 126.7 home runs per season. But in the first 20 years of the humidor (2002-2021), the ERA shrank to 5.06, and home runs dropped to 98.8 per season. Before the humidor, the Rockies’ batting average at Coors was .328, and they averaged 128.3 home runs per season. Post-humidor, the average fell to .295, and home runs tumbled to 103.2.
8. CarGo’s walk-off cycle
Date: July 31, 2010
Carlos Gonzalez hit a leadoff, walk-off, 462-foot homer into the upper deck in right field off Sean Marshall to beat the Cubs, 6-5. CarGo became the first player since Boston’s Dwight Evans in 1984 to hit a walk-off home run to complete the cycle. CarGo singled in the first, tripled in the third, doubled in the fifth and hit a sacrifice fly in the seventh.
7. 1998 All-Star fireworks
Date: July 6-7, 1998
In the highest-scoring All-Star Game to that point, the American League beat the National League 13-8 in a wild affair that included a record-tying 31 hits. The day before, Ken Griffey Jr., who had initially declined to participate, won the Home Run Derby. Griffey hit 19 homers to beat Jim Thome in the finals.
6. Helton’s walk-off ignites Rocktober
Date: Sept. 18. 2007
Todd Helton smashed a two-run, walk-off homer off closer Takashi Saito for a 9-8 victory, capping a doubleheader sweep of the Dodgers and keeping the Rockies’ faint playoff hopes alive. Helton, displaying rare on-field emotion, ran around the bases with his finger signaling No. 1 and then leaped into a mosh pit at home plate.
5. 1995 wild-card clincher
Date: Oct. 1, 1995
The Rockies rallied from a six-run deficit as Larry Walker and Eric Young hit two-run homers to spark a 10-9 victory over the Giants and clinch the wild-card berth. Curtis Leskanic struck out J.R. Phillips and Tom Lampkin before allowing a single to Glenallen Hill. Then Leskanic induced a groundout to clinch the win. No expansion baseball team ever qualified for the playoffs quicker than the Rockies, who did it in their third year of existence.
4. Dante’s walk-off inferno
Date: April 26, 1995
In the first game played at 20th and Blake, Dante Bichette delivered a magical moment. In the 14th inning of a cold and frosty game, with runners at first and second and one out, Bichette hammered a 2-1 pitch off left-hander Mike Remlinger.
“A high drive, way back, and there’s the storybook ending for the Rockies!” ESPN’s Jon Miller shouted as Bichette’s blast landed halfway up the bleachers in left-center for Colorado’s 11-9 victory.
3. Arenado’s Father’s Day cycle
Date: June 18, 2017
Third baseman Nolan Arenado, blood dripping down his face from a cut above his eye, screamed to the heavens after blasting a walk-off, three-run homer off closer Mark Melancon to beat San Francisco 7-5 in front of a delirious sellout Father’s Day crowd of 48,341. Arenado became the fifth player in big-league history to hit a walk-off homer to finish his cycle. Arenado’s face was cut during the celebration at home plate.
2. Rockies clinch NL pennant
Date: Oct. 15, 2007
Troy Tulowitzki scooped up a grounder hit by Eric Byrnes and rifled a throw to first baseman Todd Helton, who caught the ball and then raised both arms over his head in jubilation. The Rockies were going to the World Series after beating the Diamondbacks, 6-4, to sweep the National League Championship Series. Colorado won 21 of 22 games to reach baseball’s promised land, becoming the first team since the 1935 Chicago Cubs to win 21 of 22 after Sept. 1.
1. Game 163, Holliday crash-lands at home
Date: Oct. 1, 2007
The wild, 9-8, 13-inning wild-card play-in victory in Game 163 over the Padres ranks as one of the greatest games in Colorado sports history. The Rockies squandered leads of 3-0 and 6-5, and their season was on the brink when Scott Hairston hit a two-run homer off Jorge Julio, giving San Diego an 8-6 lead in the 13th.
In the bottom of the inning, Kaz Matsui ignited the rally off super-closer Trevor Hoffman with a double, and Troy Tulowitzki followed with a double of his own, cutting the lead to 8-7. Then Matt Holliday ripped a line-drive triple off the out-of-town scoreboard in right field. With the score tied 8-8, Hoffman intentionally walked Helton to set up the right-on-right matchup with Jamey Carroll.
Carroll hit Hoffman’s first pitch into shallow right, Giles caught it, and Holliday tagged up from third. Holliday charged home, catcher Michael Barrett couldn’t handle Giles’ throw, but Barrett blocked the plate with his left foot, making it unclear whether Holliday touched home with his left hand as he slid headfirst, bloodying his chin. Holliday was called safe, and the Rockies earned the NL wild card, completing a magical run in which they won 14 of 15 regular-season games.
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