Best Memories at the park

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Rockies play-in game against the Padres in 2007.

I started following the Rockies seriously in 2006, having moved to Colorado in 2004.

On the last Saturday of the 2007 regular season, the Padres were in Milwaukee with a two-game lead and one strike away from clinching the division. That’s when Tony Gwynn Jr. miraculously tripled to the right field corner off Trevor Hoffman to tie the game, which the Brew Crew eventually won in extra innings. Meanwhile, the Rox were man-handling the Dbacks to extend their win streak to 11 out of 12.

On Sunday, the Rox beat the Dbacks again to make it 12 of 13 and the Brewers crushed the Padres to deadlock the division. Nobody in the Rockies organization was apparently prepared for this and there had been no tickets offered for a play-in game that had seemed so improbable but was now a reality.

Five minutes after the Rox won to clinch the tie I went to the team website and, sure enough, they had just posted tickets for the play-in game that would take place the next day at Coors Field. I scored two tickets behind the Rockies dugout for $30 a piece. I was shocked and amazed at my good fortune.

I took my son to the game the next afternoon. Full house, beautiful day, stellar seats. Amazingly, Josh Fogg managed to work out of several jams and struggle to a 6-6 tie against Jake Peavy that sent the game into extras. After a few quality innings of relief by both teams, in the top of the thirteenth Clint Hurdle decided to play the “death card” and bring-in the cast-off Jorge Julio. Julio had been embarrassing himself on the mound for months and I told my son that Hurdle had just thrown the game. Sure enough, Julio proceeded to give-up two runs to the Paddogs without getting a single out. He left the mound to a deserved chorus of boos, but was relieved by Ramon Ortiz who retired Adrian Gonzalez, Kalil Greene and Morgan Ensberg in order to end the inning.

Then lightning struck. The Padres brought-in Hoffman to close. Kaz Matsui doubled to right center. Troy Tulowitzki followed with a double to right and Matt Holliday tripled off the right field scoreboard. All of a sudden it was 8-8 with nobody out. After Todd Helton was intentionally walked, journeyman Jamey Carroll hit a fly ball to right. Holliday chugged-in and with a head-first slide was called safe by Tim McClellan on a bang-bang play. 9-8 Rockies. Game over. The crowd goes wild.

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I was at Yankee Stadium the day David Cone threw his perfect game. It was incredible. I'll never forget him dropping to his knees after the last out.

Another great game was the final game at old Yankee Stadium. Andy Pettite started against the Orioles. Rivera came in and got the last out. It was both a high and a low. My father had gone to that stadium with his father. My dad and I went to games my whole life there. It was hard to leave.