Todd Helton trots around the bases slowly Sunday – fans roaring their approval as AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” vibrates throughout the stadium. Helton, looking as if snatched from a Norman Rockwell painting, returns to the dugout.
For a fleeting moment, the Rockies embellished their legacy as a team with matinee-idol sluggers capable of creating hives for any pitcher. Helton’s 19th home run was vintage Coors Field.
The final score, a 6-2 loss to the San Francisco Giants, in which the Rockies managed five hits, is new Coors Light Field.
Colorado closed out its home season in disappointing fashion, finishing 40-41 during a sixth- month grind, with the highlight coming on opening day. Clint Barmes knocking out Trevor Hoffman with a blast to left field remained unique as much for the drama as for the incongruity.
No Rockies team has hit fewer home runs on Blake Street than this season’s bunch. Same goes for the opponents, whose total of 84 isn’t even within screaming distance of the previous low, 101, set in 1998.
Runs and home runs are down throughout baseball. Some point the finger at shrinking players and increased steroids testing. In Denver, fresh evidence points to the ballpark, if not the humidor. Since the humidor opened its doors in 2002, runs at Coors Field are down 14.5 percent. Home runs have fallen by 12.9 percent.
And this year, the differences are more glaring.
Coors Field averaged 11.07 runs and 2.09 homers this season. Compare that with the 13.83 and 3.20 compiled from 1995 to 2001.
“It’s been talked about regularly in here, and the fact is the ball hasn’t gone out of the yard as much,” said second baseman Aaron Miles, whose game-tying triple was squandered when closer Brian Fuentes suffered a rare ninth-inning hiccup.
“Who knows what the real reason is, whether it’s the humidor, the weather, better pitching or hitters who just aren’t as good.”
The humidor was designed to help maintain the baseball at manufacturer’s specifications, preventing it from hardening and shrinking in the dry air. This season the team changed the length of time balls are stored, adopting a firstbox-in, last-box-out system.
The Rockies finished with 86 home runs this season, shattering the 2002 low-water mark of 97.
Coors Field ranks 10th in home runs allowed this year with 170. Four stadiums have yielded 200.
“It’s good the way (the field has played), gets you home a little quicker even if it doesn’t help your home run numbers. It’s been the coldest summer weather I have been around,” said Helton, who then joked, “Plus, they are storing the balls in water so I have to wear glasses because it splashes when I hit it.”
Kidding aside, the pitchers have noticed a discrepancy that goes beyond the thicker infield grass, which has helped produce more double-play groundballs for the staff’s sinkerballers.
Jamey Wright said there’s no comparison between the way the ball grips now and before the humidor. “It used to be like a cue ball. There’s a huge difference,” Wright said.
Mike DeJean agreed, saying a better grip means more confidence. Aaron Cook said a more pitcher-friendly ballpark ultimately will benefit the Rockies.
“The core of every good team is almost always pitching,” Cook said. “It doesn’t matter how many runs you score; if you can’t hold the other team down, you are going to lose. I like it.”
Staff writer Troy E. Renck can be reached at 303-820-5447 or trenck@denverpost.com.
