Travel

Colorado Rockies vs. Los Angeles Dodgers
Opening Day, 1 April 2021
Coors Field
Denver, Colorado, USA
Miles Walked: 6.6

“It was a beautiful day in so many ways. Back in the ballpark — the first game at Coors Field open to the public in 548 days. Not a cloud in the sky. The ceremony. The hope that’s part of a fresh start and a new season. Even with pandemic-driven reduced capacity, the magic was back.”
Mattopia Jones

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The Stats

• Attendance (official): 20,570
• Capacity: 21,363 available of 50,144 total seats
• Status: Sold Out
• Final Score: Dodgers 5, Rockies 8
• First Pitch: 14:10
• Game Time: 3 hours 46 minutes

The Protocols

Normally, individual game tickets go on sale in January or February. This year, though, thanks to the pandemic, even that facet was impacted. It was still up for debate as to whether or not there would be a variance allowing any fans into the park. The Rockies also started a ticket passport program this year that seems skewed more in favor of the Rockies than fans. With capacity still to be determined, attending any given game was hardly guaranteed.

Thankfully, Coors Field was allowed to accommodate 21,363 fans, at least through the first homestand, with the prospects of allowing more and more guests as the season progresses and vaccinations become more widespread.

Kudos to the Rockies for putting together a pretty good seating strategy that — even at less than half full — still filled out the ballpark well. Simply being in the park for Opening Day was a big deal, having been to an Opening Day somewhere every year since 1993. That all changed, of course, last year. It’s now a personal streak with an asterisk. I was almost ready to write-off 2021 as another missed year, expecting any and all seats made available would be snapped up season and other tickpet plan holders. Mercifully, merely two weeks before the game, I got an email from the Rox inviting me to purchase tickets to Opening Day.

Game on!

To enforce social distancing in the stands, select seats were roped off so they couldn’t be used. Of course, some still tried.

The Rooftop bar area was closed. The standing areas on the concourse — for beer sipping and hot dog prepping — were also unavailable. But, overall, aside from the mask wearing and the now-typical signage and repeated reminders on the brand-new, super-high-def Jumbotron, things felt fairly normal.

It was simply terrific to have this outlet reopened as life continues to find it’s way back to the state of being most people prefer.

The Tradition

Opening Day is all about fresh starts, high hopes and the ceremony surrounding the beginning of a whole new season at the ballpark. This year’s opening day festivities were clouded by a couple factors: the continued influence of the pandemic and the recent shooting at a Boulder supermarket. In acknowledgement of the former, the capacity was limited to 42.6% of the norm and the Rooftop bar area was closed. In recognition of the latter, there was a moment of silence before the unfurling of the flag accompanied by the singing of the national anthem.

The Stumbles

All things considered, it was business as usual. And that included gate attendants still steering people wrong. While waiting at the Clear entry gate, I heard people at the next gate over being told it would not be opened because they were short of staff. No signs were posted. Some folks who had been waiting there 90 minutes walked away more than a little disgusted. The kicker? The gate did open, after all. It’s a problem that’s happened to me personally, having to move to the back of a different line after being right at the front — and no formal signage to notify fans of the situation, regardless of the fact all the gear was in place for taking tickets and checking bags.

Take comfort in it being one of those things that hasn’t changed and most likely never will.

And there were still issues with Clear. My ticket was assigned to Gate B and entry was being more strictly routed through assigned gates than in the past. Gate B was possibly the longest of all the lines, but Clear members could use the sole Clear gate for entry regardless of the seat location. That worked out well. Sorta. A new process was put in place requiring the scanning of a QR code in the Clear app. But then there was still the need to do facial recognition. It didn’t help sun glare still managed to be a factor under the canopy. And what about that group that was ushered in without scanning their app? What the heck?

As for security, it was still confused. Specifics were posted about bags — single-pocket bags only. Fine. Done. But, even with a camera in hand and bag on the shoulder, I was told to go through the metal detector. Anybody surprised it went it off? Okay. Now, put the bag and camera on the table then go through. That’s called a collossal waste of time. Even with reduced capacity, streamlining security into a sensible process should be a constant goal.

The Crowd

The crowd was roughly 50/50 Rockies/Dodgers fans. Split right down the middle. Of course, the Dodgers are riding high on winning the World Series in last year’s aberration of a season. (Don’t get me wrong, I like the Dodgers and was pleased to see them win.). And, of course, the Dodgers were loud. Really loud. Section 112, my section, happened to be a hotbed of Dodgers fans.

Of course, around the seventh inning, they started to quiet down as the number of outs dwindled while the Rockie’ surprise lead — at the expense of ace starter Clayton Kershaw — did not.

Then there was the talkative Rockies season ticket holder who engaged a couple of Dodgers fans in conversation. He kept asking them if the Dodgers were playing today.

Huh? I was baffled.

Do you know if the Dodgers are playing today?

Do you know if the Dodgers are playing today?

He asked several times. The Dodgers, you see, aren’t listed on the right outfield scoreboard. Are they playing today?

Somehow, the guy pulled it together.

The Rockies were playing the Dodgers!

Today!

The Weather

A couple weeks ago, Denver was covered under a couple feet of snow. Opening Day has been always been a crap shoot when it comes to the weather. I’ve been to Opening Day games in sunshine, rain, snow, cold. But this one was spectacular. 68°. Not a single cloud in the sky. Blue sky, yellow sun. Hot sun.

By the fifth inning, I thought I smelled something burning.

It was my flesh.

Yowza. Red hot knee caps and forearms. My new Rockies cap helped protect the scalp, at least.

The funny thing is, I passed on a seat that would’ve been closer to home plate, but covered by the first level deck. I wanted to be out in the elements — rain or shine — and I certainly got the sun.

The Game

It was one of the very best Opening Day games.

Yeah. It’s always good when the home team wins, but the Rockies did it against the L.A. Dodgers, 2020 World Series Champions. And Clayton Kershaw was their starting pitcher.

The Rockies came across as a scrappy bunch that didn’t necessarily miss Nolan Arenado. There were some awesome plays and one remarkably strange play by the Dodgers in which Justin Turner appeared to hit a home run, but confusion on the bases between Turner and Cody Bellinger led to a play review and a self-inflicted out.

But, it’s early. There are still 161 games left in the season and it’s ridiculous for Rockies fans to talk smack to the Dodgers faithful. Typically, the Rox start strong and fade out somewhere in the second half of the season. Their sole World Series appearance was an abberation, the end result of all the other teams collapsing around them.

Nonetheless, it was a fun game and, yes, a new reason for hope to spring eternal. No foolin’ on 1 April.

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