Ballpark
Coors Field
2001 Blake Street, Denver, CO 80205
“Love is the most important thing in the world, but baseball is pretty good too.”
The ballpark is a sacred place. For those who love the game of baseball, those words ring true. The same statement may be an overstated sports anachronism for those who did not grow up either playing or watching baseball. American’s favorite pastime may not be everyone’s favorite activity, but the ballpark is an undeniable place of connection, conversation, and celebration.
The ballpark is where children learn to play, and where adults remember how to be playful. Baseball is an embodied practice of accepting failure. The game requires trust, forgiveness, and collaboration. A single play or player does determine the outcome. Instead, it is accepting errors and losses as a part of the process. The ballpark reminds children and adults, full of adrenaline and emotion, the value of risk and routines, patience and perseverance.
The liturgy of the ballpark is joyfully rehearsed. There is a patient pace to the game of baseball. There is space between pitches, between batters, between innings. The game has an unhurried nature that compels conversation. Sitting next to someone at the ballpark is one of the places where the expectation is to not remain strangers. It is where everyone, regardless of skill, will join in singing a 7th-inning song, and where human emotion is expressed without reservation.
Coors Field is the cathedral of ballparks in Denver. It was built as the home of the Colorado Rockies in 1995. The band of purple seats in the upper deck mark 5,280 feet above sea level. During the construction of the ballpark, crews found bones similar to ribs of plant-eating dinosaurs. Dinger, a fuzzy Triceratops, is the Rockies mascot named after the discovery. The ballpark was built to echo another era with hand laid bricks, a clock tower at home plate, and industrial steel beams.
There are over 1,100 baseball fields in Colorado. Every school field in the city is filled every weekend of the season. These beginner ballparks share the same routines as the stadiums of high schools, colleges, and the Major League. It is a place with a different pace. It cultivates connection, conversation, and celebration. The ballpark is a sacred place.
Thanks to readers: Chris Horst, Bobby Rinehart, Joe Leininger, and Andy Magel for sharing their thoughts on baseball and the ballpark for this article.
