"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,"
""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. "Inside of our own ballpark, when we have 60/40, sometimes 70/30 split of fans from the other side, it eats at you a little bit.""
"That kind of scene has become commonplace in Denver, and while the Rockies' overall attendance still ranks in the middle of the pack -- in part thanks to those visiting fans -- it has taken a precipitous hit since Colorado last made the postseason in 2018. The Rockies drew more than 3 million fans that year, with most of them presumably rooting on the home team during a stretch of consecutive playoff appearances."
Coors Field often hosts large crowds that sometimes overwhelmingly favor visiting teams, as exemplified by a late-August game when the Chicago Cubs led in the ninth and secured a 4-3 win while many fans cheered the visitors. Pitcher Kyle Freeland, a Denver native, said heavy visiting-fan splits in the ballpark have become unpleasant for local players. The Rockies' attendance still sits around the middle of MLB, bolstered by visiting fans, but overall attendance has plunged since the club's last postseason in 2018, when more than three million fans came. The franchise remains regarded as a sleeping giant despite recent sustained on-field failures.
Read at ESPN.com
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