Hickenlooper proclaims Tuesday 'Purple Tuesday'

Rocky Mountain News

Published October 16, 2007 at midnight

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Got purple? Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper proclaimed today "Purple Tuesday."

In honor of the team he urged Rockies fans everywhere to get out their purple gear and sport it with pride.

Hickenlooper also joined Gov. Bill Ritter in renaming a stretch of 21st Street at Blake Street Rockies Road. Reading from an official proclamation, the mayor said the Rockies helped revitalize Lower Downtown — including a few brewpubs, one of which he used to own.

A very big Holliday

What could be better than a guy who led the National League in batting average, hits and RBIs? How about a 20-foot-tall version?

The Ginn Mill bar near 20th and Larimer streets unveiled a mural of Matt Holliday on its back patio before Sunday night's game. Denver artist Adam Moorhead spent a day and a half spray painting the image of No. 5 swinging for the fence, and the words "Go Rockies."

"Everyone seems to dig it, so who knows how long it'll stay up," Moorhead said.

The bar's owners said it will stay at least through the World Series, and they're hoping the real Matt Holliday will swing by at some point to see his larger-than-life self.

Better than Blackhawk

Jeannette Cook is a 74-year-old self-described super fan.

She's watched just about every televised game the Rockies have ever played, her husband at her side at their home in Krimley. Not even her two other favorite pastimes — shopping and gambling at Blackhawk casino — can pry her away from her beloved Rockies.

"If there's a game on, she doesn't go anywhere," her 22-year-old granddaughter, Michelle Strahl said.

So when Strahl's aunt got two tickets to tonight's game, it was like a dream come true. Sunday night, grandmother and granddaughter were just a few rows up from first base, cheering on the Rockies in person for the first time, purple foam fingers waving.

"I think they're gonna win it," Cook said. "They've been really working for this, and they deserve it."

Snagging signatures

Julie Fleischman still remembers the day Denver Broncos coach Red Miller scrawled his signature in her notebook when she was a little girl.

And all these years later, she's still hunting for autographs.

So Fleischman, 34, and her boyfriend, Kirby Loeck, 25, found themselves below the Rockpile two hours before Game 4 of the National League Championship Series, hoping to snag autographs from superstar Frank Thomas and Hall of Famer Cal Ripken Jr.

Thomas and Ripken are part of the TBS broadcast team, and they are working in a booth constructed above center field, just below the Rockpile section of seats.

Fleischman and Loeck have collected scores of autographs, on photos, jerseys, magazine covers and balls.

As for that old notebook full of Broncos autographs?

"It's probably in our garage someplace," Fleischman said.

Mom may miss school

Paula Hawpe is a proud mother, but it's not as easy for her to watch her son play baseball as you might think.

Hawpe is an elementary school teacher in Texas and the mother of Rockies right fielder Brad Hawpe.

She took a couple of days off from school to watch the Rockies play in Philadelphia, but she skipped the trip to Arizona before coming to Colorado for Game 3 of the National League Championship Series.

But if there's a World Series, she's not planning to skip anything.

"I'll go the whole stretch," she said. "It's the chance of a lifetime."

xxx

Janae Brown, 40, of Colorado Springs heard enough of Diamondbacks' left-fielder Eric Byrnes and his statements that the Rockies had come "not even close" to outplaying his team.

So she made up a sign and headed to Coors Field.

With apologies to MasterCard, here's what it looked like:

Rockies jersey$95

Rockies playoff ticket $65

Beer & Brat $11

Watching Byrnes

eat his words priceless

Seen and heard

Seen: Everywhere — brooms, some of them spray-painted purple.

Seen: On the button on an usher's hat, "TROY for R.O.Y."

Seen: Outside the stadium, a vendor who had doubled the price of peanuts, from $1 and $2 to $2 and $4.

Seen: On a fan's hand-made sign: "Refuse 2 Lose."

Seen: On a fan's hand-made sign: "Snakes On A Plane."

SEEN: Spelled out in peanut shells on the concourse behind Section 151, "SWEEP."

SEEN: Gov. Bill Ritter signing a baseball for 14-year-old Davis English of Boulder. English wanted to give the ball — a foul ball from a Rockies/Phillies game — to the governor to thank him for renaming part of 21st Street as Rockies Road. But the guv told him to keep it, offering an autograph instead. "That was really nice," English said.

SEEN: A paper sign reading $40, taped over the permanent $10 sign at a parking lot near 20th and Larimer streets. It was still a relative bargain compared to a lot one block closer to the stadium, where spots were going for $50 — and filling up fast.

HEARD: In the left field stands, just as pinch hitter Seth Smith came to the plate, "I hate pinch hitters. This guy's zero-zero-zero. One at-bat."

A few moments later, Smith hit a bloop single to left that scored two runs and gave the Rockies their first lead of the game.

Question

As a sport fan, how does the Colorado Rockies run rate on your list of greatest moments?

"It doesn't compare to anything ... This is going to be nuts." Drew Mahoney, 15, of Boulder

"If the Rockies and Red Sox can both pull it off and face each other in the World Series, that would be it ... You couldn't lose ... I'd be ecstatic." Tim Cox, of Longmont, who grew up watching games at Fenway Park.

"Very high. It's a Mile High Miracle."

Michael Skebe, 49, of Arvada

"Being a Broncos season ticket holder, it has to be right up there with when the Broncos won those Super Bowls — maybe higher because it was unexpected. We had the Broncos in '97 and '98, but this was totally unexpected."

Scott Robinson, 46, of Carbondale

"Probably tied with the '77 Broncos. And they're real hot. I've watched these guys really be bad, including this year. And it's a thrill how they've come together."

Jimmy Winokur, 62, of Denver

"I think it's right around when the Broncos first won the Super Bowl."

Cindy Fitzpatrick, 30, of Colorado Springs

"I would put it right up there with the Broncos going to the playoffs — maybe more this season because of Barry Bonds, it seemed like it cheapened the sport. So this kind of gets back to the sport."

Jim Fitzpatrick, 31, of Colorado Springs

"A lot of people didn't expect the Rockies to go this far and I would put it right up there with the Broncos going to the playoffs."

Lori Brown, 26, of Englewood

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