THE 47,394 FANS gathered at Coors Field were on their feet. They were excited. They were loud. And the team most of them were there to see was closing in on a tight victory.
The only problem? It was the visiting Chicago Cubs that were leading in that ninth inning and moments later would secure a 4-3 win over the Rockies, sending Colorado to its 98th defeat of the season. Afterward, one Colorado player estimated that 75% of the fans that late-August day were rooting for the Cubs.
"It has gotten to a point -- especially me being from here -- where it's something I don't enjoy seeing in my home ballpark," pitcher Kyle Freeland, a Denver native and one of the longest-tenured Rockies, told ESPN.