DENVER—Craig Watson of Boulder hadn’t been to a Colorado Rockies game in 10 years and thought it was time to break his streak to attend the Rockies’ play-in game Monday night.
“They haven’t been that good,” Watson of why he’s stayed away from Coors Field for the last decade. “Now, they are.”
Fans new, old and back again celebrated after the Rockies rallied for three runs in the 13th inning to beat the San Diego Padres 9-8. They advanced to the playoffs as the NL wild card against Philadelphia in the longest one-game tiebreaker in major league history.
“They haven’t been that good,” Watson of why he’s stayed away from Coors Field for the last decade. “Now, they are.”
The city was bubbling over with Rockies fever. There was a rally next to the ballpark before the game, complete with a live band. Each fan in attendance was handed a “Go Rockies” rally towel.
Michael Longballa, a season ticket from Frisco, said he and his father rooted for the Rockies through the tough times.
“It’s nice to see hard work rewarded. This team has pulled off a lot of comebacks, just in the last few weeks,” said Longballa, 33. “We’ve got a lot of young guys. I think they don’t know how to lose.”
Jeff Winters of Aurora cut out of work early to head to the ballpark—and he’s not even a die-hard baseball fan.
“I wanted to see what a big game was like,” said Winters, a UPS worker. “I’ve never been to a big game.”
The Rockies bandwagon was open to all fans, and manager Clint Hurdle said anyone’s welcome.
“That’s why they got ’em, so you can jump on them from time to time,” Hurdle said. “It’s better to get them on than to never have them on.
“These (players) have worked hard to make baseball respectable again in Denver. I think we’ve gotten the attention of the National League. We want to continue in that vein and work to getting the attention of the American League and taking this further.”
The big problem Monday was locating tickets at a reasonable price.
“I’m having a difficult time getting my hands on any,” said one scalper, who didn’t want to reveal his name but was selling tickets at inflated prices 30 yards away from police officers who didn’t seem to pay much attention.
Winters said he was offered two tickets for $80 in the upper level. Those tickets usually cost around $18 apiece.
“I’ll pay whatever. But we’re going to walk around for an hour or so and find the best tickets we can,” Winters said. “This is definitely exciting.”
Even Nuggets coach George Karl has jumped on board with the Rockies.
“I want them to win so bad because that would (give) our training camp some energy,” said Karl, whose team starts camp Tuesday. “I love championship pushes and runs and I like watching. … When I grew up the first thing I was a baseball player and the first race that you followed was a baseball race, so I’m into it.”
Same with star Carmelo Anthony.
“I’ve been watching that closely,” he said. “I’m slowing but surely becoming a Rockies fan. I hope (Matt) Holliday can do it for the Rockies. I’ve got faith in him today.
“I think (Denver) is becoming one of the biggest sports towns in America. You have us, you have the Rockies now, you have the Broncos—they’re going to get their stuff together, I’m pretty sure they will—and the Avalanche. So, if you have all four of those teams playing at one time, this is a hell of a sports city right here.”
Fellow All-Star Allen Iverson said he was cheering for Colorado because when he came over from Philadelphia in a trade last December he became fast friends with Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, who lives in his building.
And he’s not going to change his allegiance to his new favorite baseball team now that the Rockies are playing the Phillies, either.
“I didn’t want the Phillies to win (the NL East),” Iverson said. “I didn’t. I absolutely didn’t.”
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AP Sports Writer Arnie Stapleton contributed to this report.
