With the first pitch in Colorado Rockies history on April 9, 1993, Mile-High Stadium became the first major league ballpark in both the mountain time zone and the 14 westernmost inland states. There was clearly a pent-up demand for big-league baseball in this large and overlooked region -- attendance was so high during the team's first few games that the team instructed the architects of Coors Field to increase the already-designed new park's seating capacity in whatever way possible. Thanks in no small part to Mile-High's incredible seating capacity of 76,000, the club smashed the single-season ML attendance record by drawing nearly 4.5 million fans in their first year out of the gate.

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While Mile High is principally a football stadium (home of the NFL's Denver Broncos) it originally grew out of a minor league baseball park built in 1947 as the home of the Triple-A Denver Bears. In 1968, after a series of expansions, the park (then called Bears Stadium) was renamed Mile-High. Thanks to an ingenious hydraulic mechanism developed before the Rockies' tenancy, the massive three-tiered left field stands could be moved in or out about 150 feet to frame both a baseball diamond and a football field. While the stadium lacked the charm of a classic ballpark, it was nevertheless a lofty, substantial and impressive structure with a true major league feel. After two years in Mile-High, the Rockies left for the newly-constructed Coors Field before the 1995 season.

Despite a 370-foot right field line and a 423-foot center field, Mile-High Stadium was an extreme hitter's park, thanks to an altitude that reduced the movement on pitched balls and caused batted balls to carry about 10% farther than they ordinarily would at sea level. It revived the flagging career of Andres Galarraga, whose batting average jumped to an NL-leading .370 in 1993 (after he hit only .243 the year before in St. Louis), and helped Dante Bichette go from 5 HR and 41 RBI with the Brewers in 1992 to 21 homers and 89 RBI with Colorado in 1993. (JP)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » June 3, 1982: A minor-league attendance mark of 65,666 is set at Denver's Mile High Stadium as the Omaha Royals top the Bears 7–4. » April 9, 1993: The Rockies defeat the Expos, 11-4, before 80,227 fans in the first major league game played at Mile High Stadium in Colorado. » June 15, 1993: After baseball owners have an all day meeting in Denver to discuss, among other things, bench-clearing brawls, they arrive at Mile High Stadium for the 7th inning, and witness two fights and four ejections. After a Ramon Martinez brushback pitch, Andres Galarraga singles and breaks for second clipping 2B Jody Reed with his spikes. Martinez then plunks Charlie Hayes, who charges the mound, and the brawling starts. Rocks reliever Keith Shephard, a former boxer, throws at Cory Snyder in the 8th, then gestures him to come on. Brawl two and two more ejections. The Dodgers win, 12–4.