The Evolution of Coors Field

[BronxBomberz]

Coors Field, like the team that plays here, has evolved from prolific home run producer to a ballpark that is undeniably less hitter friendly than it was in the late '90s when homers flew out of here at a record pace. "Used to be some pitchers didn't like to pitch here and you couldn't blame them really," Colorado manager Clint Hurdle said. "Now things are on more of an equal footing." Long looked upon as a launching pad for hitters and a nightmare for pitchers, Coors Field today still has an image as a hitters' park, but to a far less degree than it previously held. The Rockies and their opponents hit 2.26 homers per game this season at Coors Field, which ranked 10th among the 30 Major League ballparks. They also combined to score 10.68 runs per game at Coors, which ranked fourth. Rockies pitchers gave up 82 homers this year at home and 82 on the road. The team's ERA at home and on the road was almost identical -- 4.34 at Coors and 4.29 on the road. "It's a fair park, it's not the best hitters' park in the league anymore," Colorado first baseman Todd Helton said. "When you look at how balls fly out of some of the newer parks, there's no question." Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park and Cincinnati's Great American Ballpark are generally considered the most hitter-friendly parks in the game today. So how did Coors go from a park that yielded a Major League record 303 home runs in '99 to 168 last season and 185 this year? Such a dramatic change came about due to many contributing factors, including the use of a humidor to store baseballs, the acquisition of more pitchers whose talents were better suited for the conditions and the lessons learned from the pitching fraternity over the years on how to pitch in this environment. The Rockies put in a humidor in 2002 to store baseballs on the theory that the facility would prevent balls from shrinking, hardening and losing friction in the thin mountain air of the Mile High City. Balls kept in the humidor did not become the tighter spheres that often wound up in the seats. That was one step, but it was a significant one. "Besides leveling the playing field at home, it cut down the drastic difference when we would travel on the road," Hurdle said. "Because we've been challenged dramatically on the road since the organization's inception, and that has gotten better along about the time of the humidor's existence. So I think they worked hand-in-hand, made the game a little more normal, both places."

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[brewersfan19]

Plus the Rockies philosophy in recent years is too draft or trade for power pitchers instead of off-speed pitchers.