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The final stop of my trip to visit the Oakland Coliseum had me headed to Denver to see the Colorado Rockies. After a delayed flight and a layover in Salt Lake City, I found myself in Colorado ready to see a park that many people rate highly. Coors Field is one of the more interesting parks in MLB by virtue of it being an extreme outlier in terms of altitude -- there are a row of purple seats in the upper deck which signify the point where the park is a mile above sea level. With the exception of the Mexico City Series played at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helú at an astounding 7,350 feet above sea level, no major league game is scraping the altitude of Coors Field. Because of the thinner air at this height, the field itself is expansive to account for balls traveling further -- and the home run rate at Coors is consistently a significant amount higher than at other stadiums. As I lapped the outside of the stadium, I got a sense of its scale: this park is huge but well-integrated into Denver, it is high but not inaccessible. After walking in, I took a lap around the lower concourse as well while grabbing a burger, a dog, and onion rings from the Helton Burger Shack. The concessions weren't the only thing celebratory of Helton, as there were banners for the upcoming "Todd Helton Day" strung around the park and commemorative pieces of his recent induction into the Hall of Fame. Once I made it to my seats in the upper level, I was presented with a beautiful view that made me feel small: rolling mountains in the distance, a beautiful sunset behind them, and an expansive park in front of me.

The game itself saw the defending champion Texas Rangers, that I just watched play two games versus the Athletics, match up against the Rockies. The lead was traded back and forth between the two teams until a run explosion in the seventh inning saw the Rockies flip a 3-2 deficit into a 3-8 lead, which would wind up being the final score of the game. Losing Rangers pitcher David Robertson was shelled to the tune of 4 runs and a walk without earning a single out -- a grimace-worthy performance that made the woeful 2024 Rockies look like they were on fire. During this inning, Rockies legend Charlie Blackmon also came into the game (to lots of applause) and slapped a double towards right field, both bringing in two runs and advancing to third base on an error. Towards the end of the game, rain started to lightly fall, creating a pretty scene of mist hitting the stadium lights.

This stadium was a perplexing one to rate. I recognized the beauty in the mountainous backdrop but preferred the busy cityscape of PNC Park, close buildings like the warehouse at Oriole Park, or the serene ocean like at Oracle Park. The park felt more cavernous than expansive to me, and was emptier than I had hoped it would be. The stadium itself, in my opinion, weren't memorable and the food I had was just alright. That being said, of course, any time watching a baseball game in person is a good one to me and I still had a blast being able to sit a mile high while doing so. I rate Coors Field in the same group as Angel Stadium -- parks that I enjoyed visiting and would certainly visit again, but wasn't "wow"-ed by.