And my letter to Dick Monfort Dear Mr. Monfort, I have been a fan of the Colorado Rockies since before the first pitch was thrown in 1993. I remember walking around Denver, while on a lunch break at school listening to the radio as the team drafted David Nied in the expansion draft. In 1993 with my parents, I went some spring training games both in Tucson and in the Phoenix area. I remember waiting by the gate to the clubhouse to get autographs from the players and coaches. And I was lucky enough to get an autograph from Amos Otis. On April 9, 1993 I was lucky enough to be at Mile High Stadium along with 80,277 of my closest friends to see Eric Young Sr. lead off the game with a home run. That is something I will never forget. On April 26th, 1995 I was in the stands when Coors Field opened. I was there on October 1st, 1995 when the final out was recorded on a pop fly to the Big Cat, sending to the Rockies to the playoffs via the wildcard against the Braves. I was at the two home playoff games. I was at a lot of the games throughout the late 1990’s and the 2000’s when the games were still exciting and baseball was still new in Denver. 2007 was an exciting year for baseball in Denver. The team became fun to watch. I was there when the Arizona Diamondbacks won the division at Coors Field. I was there the last day of the season after we went on the miracle run to end the season, to clinch a share of the wild card. I was there for the play in game, game number 163. I was lucky enough to be there when we played the Philadelphia Phillies for both games at home. I was also there when we swept the Diamondbacks on our way to the World Series. I remember Todd Helton with his arms raised in triumph and Eric Byrnes face down in the dirt. I was also there for both World Series games. I got to see the Boston celebrate winning the World Series on our home field. I also remember fondly 2009, when we again won the wild card. I was there again when we played the Phillies. I remember when Jim Leyland (72-90) quit on this team. I remember when Buddy Bell (161-185) was brought in as a new voice to lead the team. I remember being excited when Clint Hurdle (534-625) was brought in because the players had stopped listening to Buddy Bell. I remember when you brought in Jim Tracy (294-308) to lead the team because they had stopped listening to Clint Hurdle. I also remember that you brought in Walt Weiss (113-141) because Jim Tracy quit with some time left on his contract. Why did he quit? Was it because there was too much involvement from upper level management? The Rockies record with Dan O’Dowd as the general manager is 1,102 – 1,259. How is that acceptable? You have tried changing hitting and pitching coaches. You have tried changing managers. Nothing has worked. Isn’t it time to look at what the common denominator is? You have tried a new novel approach by limiting the amount of pitches a starting pitcher throws in a game (75). You tried to go with a shorter rotation (4 man). You tried to re-write the rules of the game to make your team better. All of that failed. Year after year you have blamed the injuries. At the beginning of the year you said that this team could win 90 games if we were healthy. Guess what? Almost no team goes through an entire season injury free. I know that you are a big fan of baseball and this team. I understand your passion for the game. I’m also a big fan of this team. But guess what? I haven’t been to a game this year. I refuse to support a team that doesn’t make changes for the better. What do 2007 & 2009 have in common? You had a team that was put together with a team president, Kelly McGregor (RIP). You had another voice in the front office that you could listen to. I have started to boycott your games. I will not be attending anymore games until some changes are made. I know that one fan not attending games may not mean much to you, but I know that a lot of fans are starting to feel like I do. In order to win be back to the stadium I would like to see the following changes made. 1. Fire yourself as team president. Hire someone else like a Dusty Baker or a Joe Torre perhaps. Someone who has baseball knowledge that knows the game. 2. Fire Dan O’Dowd and Bill Geivett. Let your new team president hire a new general manager. Mr. Monfort, I feel that if you make some of these changes you can win the fans back. Until then, a lot of fans, including myself, are not going to be coming to baseball games. That is a shame because you do have one of the most beautiful ball parks in all of baseball. You have some of the best views as well. I work downtown, and should I chose to go to a game, I can walk to the stadium within 10 minutes. But I’m not going to games. I’m not coming to the stadium to cheer on the Rockies. I leave downtown. I head home. And that’s a shame, because I do truly love baseball. I just don’t love what you have done to the team. Sincerely, Sam Denver (Coors Field)
Posted on: Thu, 10 Jul 2014 20:01:17 +0000
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