| Travis Heath. 21st August, 2005 - 4:30 pm
 This weekend, Coors Field will be infested with fans wearing jerseys of a different color. They are loud, passionate, and at times overbearing. They come from places all throughout the Rocky Mountain region just to see their team play. They are the devoted fan-base of America?s most loveable losers, the Chicago Cubs. And once every year, these Cubs fans turn Coors Field into what I like to call -- Wrigley Field West.
Friday afternoon, I attended the first game of the three game weekend series between the Rockies and the Cubs. I arrived in time to see the Cubs take batting practice. As I looked at all of the one- hundred or so fans in front of me, not one of them was wearing Rockies paraphernalia of any kind. Even worse, 75% of the fans were wearing Cubs gear. Not that this was a surprise, as it seems to happen every year when the Cubs come to town -- and it seems to be getting progressively worse each year.
Usually, someone watching a sporting event can fairly easily deduce who the home team is based solely on the sound of cheers in the background after one of the two teams competing makes a play. This was not the case on Friday. The fans went nuts when the Cubs notched a base hit in the first inning. The chant of, ?Let?s go Cubbies,? quickly ensued. This chant was heard frequently throughout the duration of the game. Unfortunately, this too was no different from previous years.
However, I did see something novel in the fifth inning. Rockies outfielder Jorge Piedra hit a towering homerun into the second deck in left field. A small group of enthusiastic Rockies fans could be heard cheering. Then all of a sudden, I heard a loud roar from the Cubs fans. As I glanced back towards left field, I saw the Cubs fan who caught the homerun ball firing it back onto the field -- in much the same fashion that a fan at Wrigley Field would. Why should Wrigley Field West be any different?
What happened in the eighth inning was also a new experience for me. As Kerry Wood made his entrance from the bullpen, the Cubs faithful went absolutely bananas. The only entrance I?ve seen that rivaled Wood?s, was watching Trevor Hoffman trot out onto the field in San Diego in a game I attended last year. I guess the only thing missing for Wood on Friday was Hells Bells blaring from the speakers atop the stadium.
The Rockies always try their best to act as though they aren?t affected by essentially being relegated to visitors in their own home ballpark. Rockies manager Clint Hurdle said after the contest, ?I?m all for people showing up at the ballpark. We had a lively crowd. We had a good baseball game, but we didn?t win.?
Hurdle?s words though, are nothing more than lip service. The human condition doesn?t let players -- or managers for that matter -- escape the slap in the face the Rockies inevitably feel each time the Cubs come to town. Showing up at your home ballpark, looking into the seats, and seeing nearly all the fans wearing jerseys in support of the other team, is kind of like coming home and finding your spouse in bed with someone else. Not very good times.
The fact that fans from an opposing team can take over the Colorado?s home ballpark, is really nothing more then a sad commentary with regard to the state of the franchise. Quite frankly, it?s unacceptable.
Fortunately, at least one Rockies player gets it. First baseman Todd Helton had this to say after the game, ?You?d rather it be your fans in the stands. That?s part of what we have to get done here. We are looking to give the fans a reason to come back.?
I?ll do Helton one better. The Rockies goal should be to one day turn Wrigley Field in Chicago into Coors Field Midwest. I just hope that I?m still alive to make the trip to the Windy City when that happens.
Travis can be reached at travismheath@msn.com |
