Baseball paradise

Kevin Vaughan, Rocky Mountain News

Published October 13, 2007 at midnight

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PHOENIX — The Stevens family of Firestone came to Arizona to watch baseball. They just didn't know it would be Rockies-Diamondbacks at Chase Field.

Matt Stevens, an 18-year-old senior at Fort Lupton High School, had a game Friday morning in the Arizona Fall Classic, where he pitched for the Angels Elite Rocky Mountain team.

For the record, he threw 49 pitches, struck out 6 and issued no walks.

Then he and his parents, Mike and Joanne Stevens, hustled across town to a bigger ballpark to watch their favorite team, the Rockies.

"We had plans all along — since he got picked for this tournament," Mike Stevens said. "We said, 'Wouldn't it be something if they played Arizona?'"

After the Rockies took care of the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League Division Series, Joanne and Matt jumped on the Internet and grabbed three tickets to the game.

They were shocked that they could buy three seats in the lower level of the stadium.

Tickets too hot to handle

Colorado Springs native Justin Harris calls Phoenix home now, and the climate is definitely to his liking.

"I like it," he said of his new home, where he works for the Transportation Security Administration. "I like the weather.

"No snow."

Friday afternoon, he wandered up to the box office at Chase Field with a friend, looking for a ticket to Game 2 of the National League Championship Series.

What he got was a shock — though there were lots of tickets still available, the cheapest seats left were $60. So he decided to go out on the prowl and look for one on the street.

Happy birthday

Aurora resident Richard Friedman had to wait a day for his birthday present.

Friedman, who turned 53 on Thursday, decided at the last minute to head to Phoenix to watch his beloved Rockies, but ended up in San Francisco when he couldn't find a flight to get him to Arizona.

So he watched Game 1 of the National League Championship Series in a bar on Fisherman's Wharf, then hopped a plane Friday morning bound for Phoenix.

Friedman, who works in the receiving department at Safeway, has been a Rockies fan since day 1 — since April 9, 1993, when they played their first home game, an 11-4 beating of the Montreal Expos at old Mile High Stadium. And he's been a baseball fan even longer than that.

"I've been a fan of baseball in Denver since there were Bears," he said.

For the record: The Arizona Diamondbacks escorted 20 fans out of Game 1 after the sevenh inning bottle-throwing incident, but none of them was arrested.

According to Doug Matteson of the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, which handles security inside Chase Field, five people were ticketed at the game — one for running on the field, and four others after two separate fights in the stands.

Question: Who is your favorite Rockies player, and why?

Justin Harris, 33, of Phoenix: "I don't really know a whole lot of their names. I was a big (Andres) Gallaraga fan, but he's gone."

Joanne Stevens, 42, of Firestone: "I would say (Troy) Tulowitzki, just because of his enthusiasm and his energy."

Matt Stevens, 18, of Firestone: "I'd say Tulowitzki, because he's a rookie but plays like a veteran."

Richard Friedman, 53, of Aurora: "Troy Tulowitzki, because he's got such heart and plays so hard and with so much enthusiasm every single day."

Jeremiah Sauter, 30, of Fort Collins: "Probably Tulowitzki, just because he's come into the game and played the right way. It's kinda cool to see a rookie contribute — and all the young players, really — but he's kinda the leader of that."

Brian Westhoff, 30, of Denver: "I gotta say (Todd) Helton. I mean, he's a guy that labored with the team for a decade and then finally gets there. For a guy who shows no emotion, to finally see that during that stretch — he hits the walk-off homerun (against Los Angeles on Sept. 18), and that's when you really saw them get cranked up. It's been fun to watch, but especially for him, I think."

Tim Westhoff, 25, of Fort Collins: "I think right now, (Matt) Holliday would be my favorite. I share his number — 5. That's been my number forever."

Foster J. Sauter, 54, of Hoyt: "Helton. He's been there through thick and thin."

Catherine Sauter, 19, of Greeley: "Helton, because of the beard. It's perfect. I love it. And he's such a good guy who loves to play the game."

Seen and heard

SEEN: More than five hours before the first pitch, a radio-controlled plane buzzing the Chase Field outfield.

SEEN: Through a window cut into a wall near the entrance to the Diamondbacks team store at Chase Field, a display case housing the team's 2001 World Series tropy.

HEARD: Over the public address system at 5:03 p.m., "Ladies and gentlemen, the doors to Chase Field are now open."

SEEN: On a sign held by Rockies fan Matt Stevens:

The

Rookie

Of the

Year

SEEN: On three hand-made signs behind the Rockies dugout during batting practice:

We Drove

From Denver

To Bring

Our Boys

Mile High