I took my New Joisey accent and my New Joisey good looks to Colorado for the past few days visiting some family right outside Denver. While out there I wanted to check our Coors Field and see it in all of it’s glory while scouting Clint Hurdle. Coors Field did not disappoint. I was at Camden Yards last season and I actually thought this was nicer. We went into downtown Denver early before the game to check it out. I wanted to see what the city was all about. Turns out, there is not as much to do as I had thought although the city was really beautiful. We did drink beers and eat at the
Rock Bottom Brewery which was really good. The taster of all the beers was great and food was very good bar food. After we ate we walked around the 16th Street Mall some more and then we decided to head towards the stadium since there did not seem to be much else to do. We got to Coors Field an hour early which turned out to be a great decision. We got a chance to walk around and check the place out. They had a batting cage which mimics you going up against pitchers like Randy Johnson and Pedro Martinez, they had a speed pitch, a game called
Painting the Corners in which you were pitching to Barry Bonds and location was the object of the game, they had bat engraving, they showed you how they carve a bat from a block of wood, they had the anatomy of a glove and showed you every component that went into the glove, and the place was just amazing. The rocks, the fountain, and the landscaping in centerfield was awesome and that led into the Colorado bullpen contributes to what I think is the nicest bullpen in the majors. It puts Franco's tomato plants to shame. There was food a plenty to eat and lots of choices. Their hotdogs seemed to be longer than foot longs (Denver Dogs, Chicago Dogs, New York Dogs, etc.) they had bratwurst, burritos, BBQ (pulled pork, brisket, chipotle BBQ burger, etc.), their own micro brewed called beer call Sandlot which was great, sushi, wasabi pees, a taco salad bar with a ‘chef’, and lots more. They also had some crazy elevator attendants and in stark contrast to Shea, nice ushers. Our seats were actually in the Club 1 section which had waiters and waitresses waiting on you and if you went back to the concession yourself, you’d be in the comfort of an enclosed glass area that is air conditioned and very reminiscent of a hotel lobby. For me, the best place to hang out was behind left field. This area was very similar to
Eutaw Street in Camden Yards which was just an open area where you can see the field and has lots of food vendors, beer, and other stuff to do. But the best thing about all of these new fields is that you can watch the game from wherever you are. If you are on line for some food or walking around the concourses everything is open and you see the action on the field.
While at the game I got to see what looked like Matt Holliday assisting a Barry Bonds hit over the wall as it looked to bounce off his glove and over the wall, Jeromy Burnitz made me think I was at Shea in 2002/2003 by having his bat slip out of his hands and fly behind the first base dugout hitting a fan and following it up by striking out, a Mark Sweeney grand slam, almost another Barry Bonds homer, a Burnitz two run jack to take the lead, and the eventual almost implosion of Shawn Chacon. Chacon came in with a run lead, gave up a run and loaded the bases before striking out the last batter and jumping up like he won the World Series. Coors was a great experience and good times.
Colorado as a whole was great. I got to play golf once in Evergreen and that certainly gives you a bit more for you money. While we were playing about five Elk came trouncing around the course and were a site to see. That is not something you see to often. At one point they were standing in the middle of the fairway on my approach shot and I had to wait until they got out of the way. I also got to hike around
Alderfer/Three Sisters Park, went to
St. Mary’s Glacier, and went to the
Red Rocks. I wanted to get to the
Hanging Lake, but there was not enough time and three days was definitely not enough. You could spend a week there and not spend a dime because all the hiking and all the site seeing is free. Colorado is a great experience and I’ll be looking forward to going back. It is not often you wake up to dogs barking and Elk bugling.
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Next stop for me in terms of baseball fields is going to be PNC park and Citizen’s Bank Park in 2005.
I come home and what do I find? I find a rare Met victory. Benson pitches six solid innings and stops the gapping wound that has become the New York Mets. Some things still stay the same though, David Wright is a stud. Good to see him at the number three spot in the order.
Yusmeiro Petit is a super stud with his blister shortened 4.1 inning dominating debut in the playoffs.
From NJ.com:
Two baseball officials familiar with the proceedings said that Benson's agent, Gregg Clifton, asked the Mets for a three-year deal worth in the neighborhood of $27 million, with a buyout and an option on a fourth year for $10 million. The Mets won't give him that, but Benson said they had agreed on the framework of the deal in terms of three years with an option on a fourth.
A middle ground of three years at $22 million with a $2 million buyout and a $9 million option seems reasonable for both sides. Benson said he didn't want to "break the bank" and leave the Mets unable to sign a big hitter, but he also didn't rule out going the free-agent route.
9 Million a year? No thanks. Three years at 22 million is palatable I guess, but the fact is he is a sub .500 career pitcher with a career ERA of 4.32. Not only that, how many times in his career has he topped 200 innings? I am not against resigning Benson, but only if it is for the right price.
This was a bit a good news while I was gone.
The Post has learned, and the Mets may be emerging as one of the leading candidates for his services.
I have no idea if he is really good, but only costs the Mets money. Worth a shot if you ask me. The article also mentions that the Yankees are one of the other top teams in the running.
My only question is this, if you were able to sign with any team, would you sign with the Yankees as a guy who would have to work up through their farm system? Fact is, the Yankees use their prospects as trade bait. If Kendry signs with the Yankees, he can be rest assured he'd be dealt. At least not signing with the Yankees allows him to control which team he would like to be on.
