They won’t move because even as a team that can’t win they still finish in top 14 in attendance every year. Not to mention they sold out every single game when they first became a team and that’s 50k plus
I’ve been to Coors Field several times and it’s a fantastic stadium. Friendly crowds, fresh Coors Light, and amazing sunsets during evening games. If the Rockies can ever put together a championship caliber team this debate will end overnight
It's not an elevation issue. It's a skill issue. The Diablo Rojos of the Mexican league play at 7300+ elevation and they have won many championships. The Broncos, Avs, and Nuggets have all won world championships in the same city. The Rockies have had some good teams but their franchise is a mess from top to bottom.
you can't say its not about elevation with a straight face. Baseball is very different that NBA of NFL. Baseball is such that altitude is very important. Believe me, I've followed them since the 90s. Guys with great breaking balls would routinely show up at Coor's and get murdered every time. Matt Morris was the best example I ever saw. His Coors ERA was in the 20s
@@Chck314 The problem is the Rockies on level ground. They can’t pitch a whole lot better away from Coors, and hitting? Total disaster; some power but the BA is almost always 50 to 75 points lower. It has ALWAYS been this way with no exceptions. Except in recent years they suck at Coors in hitting, too.
Building confidence is crucial in the development of young pitchers. Rockies have drafted some elite young arms who were ruined by pitching at Coors because they don't trust their stuff. Name an elite pitcher drafted and developed by the Rockies.....crickets chirping... There aren't many. Uvalde Jimenez is probably the best that comes to mind. You got any?@@GizmoBeach
They can't develop young pitchers because they get shelled at Coors, no confidence. I can't think of a single elite pitcher that came through the Rockies system, can you?
@@Chck314 everyone here knows that so expectations are low. It’s still fun to see a game and the tickets are very cheap. There are a lot of transplants in Denver so you see a lot of people rooting for the opposing team. When I saw the Dodgers the crowd was like 50/50.
I’ve been to every MLB stadium and left field middle upper lower sideways over under jury band box concourse raceway at the What Cha Maw Call-It Park Place Stadium Yard is the most place I’ve ever not experienced. A little context would be nice. WHAT is so special about RF Upper Deck at Coors while watching horrible baseball from 900’ away?
Usually in sports, the home team would have an advantage because they would be more used to the altitude. But due to the nature of baseball, it’s different - both teams’ offense has the advantage at Coors.
Not a bad summary, Ginger. I covered the team from Coors Field's opening up til 2009. A couple of things to note: The effect on pitchers' breaking ball is no joke. Darryl Kile was terrible here in Colorado, and then rebounded to look like gold again after he went to St. Louis. Likewise with Mike Hampton. So pitching is definitely at a premium for the Rockies. Second, the hitters do have some impact when going on the road, because after being at home for a week, they go on the road and now the ball actually breaks. Those fat pitches they jumped on at home are just no longer there, which is why collectively, the Rockies have always been a terrible road team. Lastly, the humidor definitely had an impact when it debuted in 2002. Nobody knew about it until we were into May and the media was like, "what happened, this place is playing like a normal park." During that time, the Rockies also had some terrific groundball pitchers, but the Stat cast era really hurt them a lot, as now hitters will simply let those go by and take their chances with an umpire's call. Throw in that most other parks now have baseball storage in a climate-controlled environment, and the Rockies are back to seeing a really large discrepancy offensively. While they have a 30-year lease, the past 30 years have shown that if the team wants to win, they'd do well to relocate. Sad to say, but fielding a competitive team and high altitude appear to be mutually exclusive. :(
Colorado is the best mountain state to have a team. Fans are honestly passionate and still show up in top 15 attendance damn near every year being such a bad team
I lived there for nearly 10 years... the altitude is less the problem than the dry air... I know live in Phoenix area.. and in Denver, humidity runs about 17%... Phoenix.. 19%.. it's actually Dryer in Denver than here... Even with the fact that they get more rain... and the offensive numbers go down in April when the weather is still crappy in Denver.. HR wise.. The humidor helped.. BUT like you pointed out.. it's the biggest playing surface in the majors... Even when the ball won't travel like its shot out of a cannon.. that is a lot of OF to cover. Personally, I liked it better than the bandboxes we see in many places... When little guys can hit 25 HR's... maybe you're playing in too small a park... The Soto's, Judges, Stantons, and Ohtani's are going to get their bombs... but when little guys have high totals.. park is too small... get back to the line drive hitting vs trying to bomb everything... this swinging from the shoetops on every AB makes for boring baseball. Triples are exciting... HR's... they are getting old.
Went to one game there. Cheapest seats are the Rock Pile in dead center. So my friends and I bought those, but we hung out on the rails by the outfield seats by the Jumbotron. The folks in the seats were PISSED and kept telling us to go back to our seats. Had a chance at a Barry Bonds homerun ball as they were playing the Giants.
I grew up in Colorado. I had this debate with Rockies fans 20 + years ago. I said Rockies will never win and they would get irate. sadly, die hard Rockies fans are starting to give up and so is the management. They should move but can't/won't because of that ballpark
The air pressure in Denver is about 12.1 psi, whereas it is 14.7 psi at sea level. Therefore, the difference in pressure would be 2.6 pounds per square inch, or about 375 pounds on each square foot. Let's say we shrunk Coors Field to the size of a typical baseball field of 8100 square feet. The difference in pressure would still be some several thousand tons for the stadium and everything else. I don't think a dome could be constructed without girders. The dome would need to be able to withstand a small airplane flying into it or a meteor hitting it, without turning into a catastrophe. (It could break and depressurize slowly.) In normal operation, the spectators, players, etc., would need to be able to enter and leave, perhaps through pressure chambers. Before embarking on such a project, it would be helpful to investigate if a similar project has been constructed anywhere in the world. Certainly, there must be a need for a pressurized building somewhere.
The distance to the walls can't be fixed, you can move them way back and you will have doubles and triples on fly balls that would normally be caught.@@GizmoBeach
Another outstanding video / commentary from DG. However I disagree with the premise of this video. Coors field is not "broken" for the reasons given. Its just not "more of the same" like every other ballpark in MLB. We need more uniqueness / quirks / outliers in sports, not less. Heck - move all the fences back to 450 feet would be even cooler in my book. Triples are FUN. Life doesn't always need to happen in climate controlled, cookie cutter, clean room laboratories. Granted, Rockies ownership has to use a significantly different strategy to build their franchise given their location/altitude/spin rates quirks. but I don't chalk that up as a bad thing AT ALL
Ubaldo had ridiculous movement on his pitches. It seems it was actually advantageous for him to pitch where his pitches flattened a bit so he could actually throw a strike lol
They can’t figure out how to build a team. Personally I would move the fences in get some HR hitters like they had when they started get some ground ball pitchers and hope they can play well enough on the road. Moving the fences back only really hurts them.
Sometimes the Rockies TV announcers said that the Rockies are at a disadvantage. They are constantly having to re-adjust as they travel to low altitudes and come home to Coors Field. The hitters and the pitchers are both dealing with situations where the pitch moves differently due to air density. The pitchers have to adjust how they throw the ball to get the pitch they want. They might have to adjust their arm motions once a week as they take road trips.
Funny how visiting teams are never at a disadvantage. 🤔 They pitch just fine most the time, hit more often. Why don’t *they* have trouble adjusting when they move to the next venue or get back home? Answer: They don’t suck. 🙄
Doesn't help the owner and FO doesn't believe in advanced stats and analytics. Players have said it's like going back to 1995 playing for the Rockies. They've tried the ground ball pitcher thing. Ubaldo should've been their hint they need power pitchers who can get strike outs.
Would the Rockies benefit from having a dome stadium or a a more enclosed stadium. Maybe that would combat the thinner air and fewer homerun and extra base hits. I'm just throwing this out there. Maybe it will help I don't know if this an option.
Too bad Frank Taveras never got to play for the Rockies - Career: 4,043 At Bats, 2 Home Runs - played entire career with the Rockies and had 1/2 his games at Coors Field: 8.
the best proposal is for them to dig below field level. Make the field in the stadium play in a deep bowl next time. One must combat the thin air by trying to get away from it, of course also making it a permanent dome where you could control the air, that would halp...even though nobody likes those dome stadiums.
It is a great ballpark. And Denver sports fans have proven they will support their teams. But, it seems the only way the Rox can win is if they have a superior defensive player at every position(because of how unforgiving the ballpark is--the big outfield means too many bloop hits, the grass is so hard that grounders that normally are fielded scoot through the infield for hits)and all-star caliber pitching throughout the staff. Throw in the Rox ownership and baseball people seeming indifferent, combined with incompetence...you have the current situation
A Green Monster type outfield wall could have kept things a bit more honest in terms of those down the line doubles being stretched into singles. It would have allowed them to pull the fences in but I guess it would lose the look and charm or being a more traditional looking ballpark 🤷
Which really isn’t all that old. 29 years old…she’s still just a baby lol. Then you look at teams like Red Sox and cubbies playing in 100 year old + stadiums. Dodger stadium was built in the 60’s I think.
Coors field is an awesome place!!!... the thin air causes balls to not move like Atlanta or tejas...so you have a lot of arrogant and stubborn pitchers trying curve balls or sliders and it just hangs over the plate... the humidor keeps a lot in the park though.... but most pitchers just throw meatballs... we do have the worst owners managers and organization in all of sports... most rox fans in 2024 would support contraction...ugh...
I’ve thought of that before, but they could call it the Continental Divide. And if anyone can hit a ball over it have a blizzard of fake snow start falling.
Atlanta is up there, cause new stadium 🏟️, Truist Park, is North of Atlanta. Start of the hills ( Higher Elevation ) Stone Mountain ⛰️ is right near that area ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-foFWgsSFaXw.htmlsi=vBVdyxUrJfQTeQFG Turner Field, Old Stadium, was in center of the city 🌆 of Atlanta. I believe they donated to a local University
Atlanta was already highest elevation in baseball prior to CO and AZ getting teams, even playing in A-FC and The Ted (next to each other). Another reason A-FC was frequently referred to as the launching pad.
