Euphoria sweeps over Coors Field

Sara Burnett, Rocky Mountain News

Published October 7, 2007 at midnight

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More Rocktober 2007: Colorado Rockies Playoff Run

So this is what a Rockies division championship feels like.

Up by one run in the top of the ninth, the Coors Field crowd is on its feet, rally towels waving, brooms in the air with chants of "Sweep! Sweep! Sweep!" Fans cheer every strike like it's a home run, high-five the first two outs like they are game-winning grand slams.

And when Kaz Matsui tosses to first for the final out, and the Rockies have accomplished something not done before in the team's 15-year history, the celebration begins.

People who never have met throw their arms around each other. Camera phones are out and the dancing begins — Celebration, then Let's Go Crazy.

"I can't think of a better place in the world to be right now," says Brandon Howard, a 30-year-old fan from Thornton after grabbing his friend, Danny Sachs, in a tight bearhug in the concourse along the third base line.

"For not being a baseball town, this feels like a baseball town to me," Sachs says.

Christine Gallegos, whose husband has had season tickets since 1993, says she knew all along this day would eventually come. She's most happy for Todd Helton, the veteran first baseman who has been waiting a decade to make the playoffs.

"He's stuck with us," she says. "It's just awesome. ... I'm so glad for all of them."

On the lower deck behind home plate, Bruce Smith and Mike Smiley, friends for more than 20 years, stand in awe as the crowd slowly clears out.

Smith has been going to Rockies games since the beginning, when the team played at Mile High Stadium. He has sat beside Smiley for a lot of those games, including the one Sept. 29 and the Rockies' 9-8, 13-inning win Monday in the wild-card play-in game to get to the playoffs.

But nothing compares to this.

"I've been a baseball fan all my life, and this is a rung I've never been on," says the 55-year-old Smith.

Even Smiley, who came to the game in a Phillies T-shirt and calls the Rockies his "number two favorite team," was OK with the Rockies clinching.

"He deserves this," he said, pointing to his friend. "This was such a great game tonight. I don't mind losing."

Outside Coors Field, fans spilled onto the streets, cheering. They took turns climbing on top of the Branch Rickey statue at Blake and 20th and snapping pictures.

Nearby, Mayor John Hickenlooper and former Gov. Bill Owens celebrated with fans in the middle of Blake Street. Hickenlooper took Owens to the game, footing the bill for the $70 tickets, because the governor's softball team beat the mayor's in their annual matchup last year.

"You're not going to see a better game than this," Hickenlooper said as fans gathered round, hoping to get their pictures taken alongside him and Owens. "This is great for the city and great for the state."

Hickenlooper made a bet last week with Philadelphia's mayor. On Monday, he said, he hopes to collect his winnings — and authentic Philly cheesesteak, straight from the City of Brotherly Love.

"Having a cheesesteak is never going to have tasted so good," he said.

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