Steamboat Pilot & Today

Steamboat Springs — Sure, some will make the argument that Rocky Mountain National Park, Trail Ridge Road or a concert at Red Rocks are the most beautiful things to see in Colorado, and I would agree.

But on June 11, I sat in one of the most scenic places in all of Colorado, and it was nowhere near the mountains, there wasn’t an aspen tree in sight and the only thing to climb there are the stairs.

I never dreamed that I would find such a breathtaking sight in the heart of downtown Denver at 20th and Blake streets. However, every time I go to Coors Field, I leave thinking there can’t be a better stadium in all of baseball.

Most fans wouldn’t consider the view I had as the best in the house — my seat was in the third deck behind the foul pole in right field. My guess is that I was a little more than 400 feet from home plate. But I’m not complaining.

I haven’t seen a live major league baseball game for at least 13 years, and though I have continued to follow the Colorado Rockies on television, most baseball fans understand that seeing a game on the boob tube just isn’t the same.

Sure, when it comes to watching the game, it’s hard to beat my La-Z-Boy. The view on my television is like being in the middle of the field, and it’s hard to get any closer to the game than watching it in high definition on a Samsung. If I miss a close play at home, I don’t have to sit around and guess or ask that annoying guy in the seat next to me, the guy with a $7 beer in one hand and a giant foam finger he bought from Diamond Dry Goods-Coors Field Store on the other hand, what happened. I can simply watch the slow-motion replay on my television and then yell at the umpire for making the wrong call.

But that’s not the way the game of baseball was intended to be watched, or at least that’s what most real baseball fans will point out.

The last time I watched the Rockies play somewhere other than on my television, Andres Galarraga and Vinny Castilla were on the corners, Walt Weiss and Eric Young (senior) were in the middle of the infield, and Dante Bichette, Ellis Burks and Larry Walker were roaming in the outfield. These days, Eric Young’s son is playing for the Rockies, and needless to say the rest of the gang is enjoying retirement.

But last week I finally broke down and returned to Coors Field. This time, I took the whole family to the Rockies-Dodgers game. It was a first for my son and daughter, and I wasn’t sure they would enjoy sitting in one place for nine innings.

But after watching the home team fall to the Dodgers in an 11-7 game, both of my children left the ballpark with smiles on their faces. Neither seemed to care which team won or lost. It was simply about enjoying one of our country’s greatest games the way it was intended to be watched.

To reach John F. Russell, call 970-871-4209 or email jrussell@SteamboatToday.com