30th Anniversary at Coors Field sparks the question: Will the Rockies ever return to glory?

The Colorado Rockies are one of the youngest franchise in Major League Baseball. But, they already have a pretty storied history. Success in the first decade of the Rockies’ existence will give a team that.

And on Saturday at Coors Field, Rockies fans young and old were reminded of that storied past when the team celebrated 30 years of Coors Field with all kinds of festivities. 

And one the best moments of the day came when Colorado here Dante Bichette threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

Bichette was part of some of the most memorable moments in Rockies’ history, and especially at Coors. Included in those moments was the first-ever game played at Coors when he hit a walk-off home run to beat the New York Mets in extra innings. It was an incredible moment in time, and there was literally no better way to open a new stadium then for one of the team’s biggest superstars to hit that iconic homer.

To this day, Bichette says that home run to open Coors Field is the most important moment of his career, and the one that’s closest to Rockies’ fan’s hearts.

Seeing Bichette back at Coors on Saturday, as well as all the highlights and music that went along with the game against the Reds also harkened back to a time when the Rockies were becoming a perennial powerhouse. And it begs the question, did Rockies fans think things were gong to be like that forever? 

I don’t know the answer to that, but, that was a different time in Major League Baseball, and it was conceivable that Rockies’ fans could have possibly thought they were going to be a dominant franchise longterm.

Of course, those days are long gone. After that amazing 1995 season, the Rockies had some struggles, but between 2007 and 2009, they made the playoffs three times and appeared in the World Series once. However, from 2010 to 2024 the Rockies have made the playoffs just twice, and Colorado has still never won a division title. 

And now, things are even harder. The Rockies play in the loaded N.L. West, which, features four good to great teams. They also have reverted to being one of the more small-market, small-budget teams that have an ownership group seemingly uninterested in bringing in top-tier talent to the Mile High City. Colorado was also once the prince of Denver, with only the Broncos really being the king. Now, the Nuggets and Avalanche have supplanted the Rockies as the more popular franchise due to recent world titles in both sports.

Again, things are just so different now, and the Rockies are struggling mightily to change. And Saturday was a stark reminder of just how different things are now. On one hand, you had a nostalgic celebration of an era that is revered in Denver, and on the other, you saw a Rockies’ team lose its 23 game of the young season. The contrast couldn’t be more striking.

And that’s what’s so hard about being a Rockies fan today. They’re loyal, they’re passionate and they’re dedicated. And yet, they’re also wondering, stressing, agonizing over one question: When will the losing end?