Thursday, October 4th
Monday afternoon Cuz (our audio engineer) and his wife Maggie invited us all to their home for a barbecue. Cuz grilled buffalo burgers, Colorado trout and some portabella mushrooms. Maggie dished out some goodies from her garden: pickled peppers and carrots, fresh grapes and homemade apple crisp (with apples from their backyard tree).
Their home is adorable. It’s a little house on a city lot. Maggie is an artist (you can see some of her work here) and their home is filled with her work. The front yard is one big flower garden. The back of their home features a nice big deck that abuts the big, built-in, brick grill that Cuz manned so ably all afternoon. Maggie has a big vegetable garden, an apple tree and bunch of grape vines that grow alongside her art studio.
It was a relaxing afternoon. We hung out in the back yard, played with the Spamily dogs, and drank Cuz’s delicious margaritas.
The Colorado Rockies have been playing like a team possessed. When we went to the baseball game during the first week here in Denver, the Rockies were pretty much out of the play-off picture. They went on a late season winning streak that, combined with a late season collapse by the Mets and a less than amazing run by the Padres, put them right in the thick of things in the last week of the season. The Rockies won 13 of their final 14 games to force a one game wild card play-off on Monday with the Padres. Tickets went on sale Sunday evening (after the game became a reality). I scored 6 seats to the game with the repeated use of the refresh button on my browser and had no trouble finding 5 other folks to come to the game with me.
The first pitch of the game was scheduled for 5:37 on Monday night. By then, Denver was deep in the grip of baseball fever. The mood in town was electric as we headed to the park. The Air Force Academy provided a fly-over. We had great seats in the first two rows of the upper deck around past third base. Coors Field was packed to the rafters and everyone was rooting for the home team.
Their home is adorable. It’s a little house on a city lot. Maggie is an artist (you can see some of her work here) and their home is filled with her work. The front yard is one big flower garden. The back of their home features a nice big deck that abuts the big, built-in, brick grill that Cuz manned so ably all afternoon. Maggie has a big vegetable garden, an apple tree and bunch of grape vines that grow alongside her art studio.
It was a relaxing afternoon. We hung out in the back yard, played with the Spamily dogs, and drank Cuz’s delicious margaritas.
The Colorado Rockies have been playing like a team possessed. When we went to the baseball game during the first week here in Denver, the Rockies were pretty much out of the play-off picture. They went on a late season winning streak that, combined with a late season collapse by the Mets and a less than amazing run by the Padres, put them right in the thick of things in the last week of the season. The Rockies won 13 of their final 14 games to force a one game wild card play-off on Monday with the Padres. Tickets went on sale Sunday evening (after the game became a reality). I scored 6 seats to the game with the repeated use of the refresh button on my browser and had no trouble finding 5 other folks to come to the game with me.
The first pitch of the game was scheduled for 5:37 on Monday night. By then, Denver was deep in the grip of baseball fever. The mood in town was electric as we headed to the park. The Air Force Academy provided a fly-over. We had great seats in the first two rows of the upper deck around past third base. Coors Field was packed to the rafters and everyone was rooting for the home team.
The view from our seats at the top of the game.
Monday night’s game was one of the most thrilling baseball games I have ever attended. I say that as a Yankee fan who has been to a couple of Yankees/Red Socks contests. Monday’s game was certainly the equal of the Yankees defeat of the Red Sucks in game 3 of the 2004 ALCS. The game had everything: the home team took an early lead, fell behind and caught back up, a grand slam, the umpires absolutely blew a homerun call that would have given the Rockies the win, and there was a heart-stopping play at the plate. The game went on and on. The Rockies Rookie of the Year candidate (Troy Tulowitzki) played late inning defense that was not to be believed to keep the Rockies alive inning after inning. In the top of the thirteenth inning, the Rockies bullpen gave up a two-run homer. All the air went out of the park. The crowd that had been wild all night long (we stood for 80% of the game) was suddenly morose. In the bottom of the thirteenth, the Rockies scored one and then another run to tie the game. With runners on the corners, the batter popped up to right field and the runner on third came home. The Rockies MVP candidate, Matt Holliday, dove head-first toward the plate as the throw came in from shallow right. The players crashed together, the ball popped loose and after an awful delay the home plate umpire called the runner safe. The ballpark erupted. The Rockies won 9-8. The centerfield gate opened and the Denver police roared around the warning track on motorcycles with lights flashing. A wild shirtless fan tried to circle the bases pursued by security guards. The centerfield scoreboard fired off volley after volley of silver and purple fireworks. Strangers embraced. We all screamed with what was left of our voices. It was after 10 PM – 4 and a half hours after the first pitch.
Holliday comes in to the plate.
Safe at home.
We must have hung around in the park for almost half an hour after the game just cheering and high-fiving. The atmosphere was electric. We climbed up 20 rows to have our pictures taken in the mile-high seats before we finally started to leave. When we made it out to the street, the police were containing the pandemonium. The major streets were open, but the fans streamed down the middle of the side streets cheering and chanting. Magical. None of us wanted to go straight home so we stopped in at the Rock Bottom Brewery for a celebratory drink and some food.
The Rockies went into the play-offs as the hottest team in major leagues. Denver has gone crazy for them. On the street the purple and black of the Rockies now outnumbers the orange and blue of the Broncos. Baseball fever has a-hold of Denver. I couldn’t be happier. I would hate to be the Phillies and have to play the hottest team in baseball… (The Phils dropped both of their home games (4-2 & 10-5) to put them in a big hole in the division series - the Rockies have a chance to wrap it up at home on Saturday.)
JV
The Rockies went into the play-offs as the hottest team in major leagues. Denver has gone crazy for them. On the street the purple and black of the Rockies now outnumbers the orange and blue of the Broncos. Baseball fever has a-hold of Denver. I couldn’t be happier. I would hate to be the Phillies and have to play the hottest team in baseball… (The Phils dropped both of their home games (4-2 & 10-5) to put them in a big hole in the division series - the Rockies have a chance to wrap it up at home on Saturday.)
JV
No comments:
Post a Comment