Game 163: The greatest game in Colorado Rockies history

Have you ever hugged a random person? Have you ever been so excited to see the outcome of something that you wouldn’t leave your seat, even if you had three Rockies collectors cups full of Coke?  Have you cried at a baseball game? Do you believe in miracles? I’m not talking about the 1980s-gold-medal-winning USA Hockey team. I’m talking about the 2007 Wild Card Playoff game between the San Diego Padres vs. the Colorado Rockies. In game 163, I did all of the above. To this day, it is still the best day of my baseball life. Here’s why.

Unlike many Rockies seasons, the 2007 season didn’t get off to the best start. The team went 10-16 in April. The last day the team was in first place was on April 6. In May, at their lowest point, they were nine games under .500. They showed resiliency and through August, the Rockies were four games above .500. A rookie shortstop was exceeding expectations and Jeff Francis was making it look like pitching at Coors Field might not be so impossible after all. Nothing earth-shattering but the team showed growth, certainly more than any year Todd Helton had been on the team. But nobody could have predicted the month to come.

You know the rest of the story. The Rockies rode the momentum into winning 21 of 22 games and finished September tied for the National League Wild Card spot. After they tied the Padres, there would be a play in game to see who would take on the Phillies. Walking into Coors Field on the first day of October, I had no idea what to expect.

My whole life, I had sat at 20th & Blake to so many empty crowds with very little on the line. My dad used to tell me how packed Mile High Stadium was when the Rockies first started. I never believed him. I was six the last time the Rockies made it to the playoffs in 1995. I don’t remember any of that. I loved baseball more than anything I could imagine but most of the time, I felt it didn’t love me back.

Colorado Rockies

That all changed on September 18, 2007 at a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers. I remember the date because it was my brother’s birthday. The Rockies won in the first game of a double-header that day. I went to the night game with my family like we always did on his birthday. The Rockies were down 8-5 in the eighth inning. They chipped away to make it a one run game in the bottom of the ninth. Then Todd Helton hit a walk-off homer to win it and what my brother says is still his best birthday ever. That’s when I started believing that this streak wasn’t a fluke. This team felt like they could win any game against any team.

To this day, I don’t know how my dad got tickets to Game 163 but that wouldn’t be the first miracle of the night. Heading into that game on the first day of October, even with that momentum, there was still in the pit of my stomach, I felt like I would go home feeling like I always did with the Rockies. Disappointed. That wouldn’t even be the Rockies fault this time around. Jake Peavy was going up against the Rockies, the pitcher who won the 2007 Cy Young Award. That quickly changed though when I experienced the magic of a playoff baseball atmosphere for the first time. Me and 50,000 fans were there furiously spinning rally towels above our heads. It was so loud, it felt like the Padres didn’t stand a chance.