Bike to the Rockies Day
It was a special day for BBBS kids and volunteers and Biking for Baseball. Matches were provided a couple of options for the day. They could:
- Attend the baseball clinic in the morning with Biking for Baseball
- Arrive at 12 PM with their bicycle and ride to the Rockies game with the Biking for Baseball team
- Do both!
We had a few matches that were able to have the time and the excitement for both. But the ones that didn’t stay for both said, “Awwww! I wanna do that too!” about whichever part they didn’t get to do.
We met at Curtis Park at 10 AM and started getting our arms loose with some warm-up toss for the baseball clinic while the grill fired up. It was a beautiful day in Colorado after it had been rainy most of the day Saturday. We were very excited that it cleared up for us.
Awesome day filled with lots of baseball. Clinics set-up for diving catches, crazy legs base running, hit the bucket and soft toss home runs littered the first half of the event. We even had a new record for how many people hit the bucket. Three people walked away with a Biking for Baseball bandana. Wear it with pride!
This group in Colorado has had experience with us and knew the routine for our unique style of playing a baseball game. They were so good at it, that they even were able to run over and grab a hot dog, bag of chips and a Gatorade as they patiently waited their turn to hit next. Thanks to BBBS-CO for providing the chefs (Annie and Katie – BBBS employees) and the food/drinks for 25+ matches.
Then, it was time to bring in our cyclists. We had an entourage of 30 riders on our way to the Rockies game. We were quite the cavalry heading down 21st Street all the way to Coors Field.
One up the bike ride, it was actually Bike to the Rockies Day. Which means that the Rockies put a couple of employees just outside the 21st St entrance to hand out raffle tickets (could win autographed baseball, tickets to a Rockies game, calendar, etc), free tickets to a future Rockies game, Clif bars and bottle water. They have a large dirt bicycle parking lot right across from the stadium. Ride your bike to the game, get free stuff, not have to deal with parking and get tickets to go to a future Rockies game? Ummm… OK!
We had over 80 seats filled with BBBS-CO employees, kids and volunteers and Biking for Baseball employees and supporters. It was exciting to watch a Rockies game again at the home ball park. They didn’t play too well as the Mariners completed the sweep of the Rockies in an inter-league “rivalry.” Although I don’t know who thought that the Rockies and Mariners was a rivalry… We did get to see a long smash from CarGo. Really love seeing his swing live. It’s a thing of sheer beauty. Long and sweeping, he’s a masher.
It was a lot of fun to be able to reconnect with our littles. They were the reason this whole idea started, because we saw the positive impact we were having with them and the reciprocal feeling they delivered back by getting excited to see us and hang out for an afternoon. Really going to miss those Colorado kids… On to Arlington!
Gm 1– 4/13 @ Safeco Field – Oakland A’s @ Seattle Mariners
Oakland wins 4-0 (WP – Colon, LP – Hernandez)
Gm 2 – 4/24 @ O.Co Stadium – Chicago White Sox @ Oakland A’s
Oakland wins 2-0 (WP – Milone, LP – Floyd, SV – Balfour)
Gm 3 – 4/27 @ AT&T Park – San Diego Padres @ San Francisco Giants
San Diego wins 5-3 (WP – Luebke, LP – Hacker, SV – Street)
Gm 4 – 5/3 @ Angels Stadium – Toronto Blue Jays @ LA Angels of Anaheim
Toronto wins 5-0 (WP – Morrow, LP – Haren)
Gm 5 – 5/7 @ Dodger Stadium – SF Giants @ Los Angeles Dodgers
Dodgers win 9-1 (WP – Lilly, LP – Zito)
Gm 6 – 5/8 @ Petco Park – Colorado Rockies @ San Diego Padres
Padres win 3-1 (WP – Suppan, LP – White, SV – Thayer)
Gm 7 – 5/11 @ Chase Field – San Francisco Giants @ Arizona Diamondbacks
Diamondbacks win 5-1 (WP – Cain, LP – Cahill, SV – Casilla)
Gm 8 – 5/20 @ Coors Field –Seattle Mariners @ Colorado Rockies
Mariners win 6-4 (WP – Beavan, LP – Guthrie)