The Home Run K*ng, in all probability, is playing his last game in Denver tonight.
Neither Denver nor THRK* were melancholy, glum or teary-eyed Tuesday night about the end being near.
His presence at the plate in the top of the first was but a nonevent. His absence in left field in the bottom of the ninth was rather insignificant.
After the Rockies won on Brad Hawpe’s walkoff RBI single, nobody cared if he had come to bat or if he sat. So very odd, considering the carnival, the circus, the circumstances and the controversy of less than a month ago.
When he hit a major-league pop foul for an out in the fifth inning, three or four flashes went off. A sitting-on-their-hands-only announced crowd of 20,553 turned out to say goodbye, although he has never said hello.
“STEROID FREAK!” a man in the second deck mentioned.
When he lofted a balloon to short for an out in the eighth inning, he carried the bat all the way to first base (which would have been interesting if the ball had been dropped).
“BOO,” a smattering said.
With the Giants leading 5-4, he retired for the evening. The Rockies would tie it in the bottom of the eighth. About 10,000, apparently unaware that the Rockies were in the game and in a wishful state, got up to leave.
It wasn’t long ago that near-sellout crowds showed at Coors Field when he showed, and they erupted with his every swing. Apathy has set in, not only in Denver, but everywhere outside San Francisco. Number 761. Ho-hum. Wake us when it’s over.
THRK* actually was respected (if not beloved) here when he made his debut in 1993 at Mile High Stadium – in the first year of the Rockies and his first year with the Giants.
On July 30 of that year, he parked two home runs in the renowned South Stands (beyond the distant right-field wall), the first off starter Greg Harris and the other off goofy reliever Curtis Leskanic.
The next season he had two more homers at Mile High – off, guess who, Greg Harris.
He also hit a foul ball that traveled over the corner of the South Stands. Five hundred feet would be a fair guess.
To repeat, that was in 1993 and 1994, years before he developed a Michelin Man body, and years more before all the rumors and accusations and investigations swirled, and years before the world debated his accomplishment.
Juan Acevedo became his first victim at the new Coors Field on May 11, 1995.
In 1998 – a key year in his time line, if you believe the book “Game of Shadows” – he hit five home runs in three games at Coors.
Overall, he has slammed 25 home runs in LoDo on pitches from the likes of Roger Bailey, Jerry Dipoto, Pedro Astacio, Mike Hampton, Shawn Chacon, Denny Neagle, Jason Jennings, Nelson Cruz and Masato Yoshii. Twice he has hit three home runs in one game at Coors Field.
On April 22, 2006, THRK* launched a blast off Aaron Cook, his last in Denver before he set (?) baseball’s all-time career home run record on Aug. 7, 2007.
He had 761 upon arriving in Denver. He has 761 before tonight’s game – the farewell. Don’t expect the Rockies to give him a rocking chair or a plaque, and the crowd won’t give him a standing O.
The Giants won’t be passing this way again in 2007, and the Giants really don’t want THRK* back in 2008. He has stated he will return to the game, but it likely will have to be with an American League club as a sad DH.
He’ll probably stay on the West Coast, and the Rockies will meet the AL Central in interleague play next season.
So, this is it.
He could whack three or four homers tonight, but don’t rush out and buy your tickets, on my authority or in anticipation. He probably will go 0-for-4.
He hasn’t hit a home run since Aug. 24 in San Francisco. He did double to right-center in the first, his first hit in five games. But nobody cares anymore about seeing him double or foul out or pop out or duck out.
The Rockies reigned on Tuesday night. The Home Run K*ng did not. Out with a whimper, not with a bang.
Staff writer Woody Paige can be reached at 303-954-1095 or wpaige@denverpost.com.
