Coors Field Gives Ortiz, Red Sox a New Look

DENVER, Oct. 26 -- As the Boston Red Sox took batting and infield practice Friday afternoon at Coors Field -- towering fly balls soaring into an endless sky, and line drives careening into vast expanses of grass where the Red Sox are accustomed to seeing crooked walls -- a strange, powerful flash of light, emanating from the area around the first base bag, pierced the bright sunshine, threatening to blind all in its path.

It was not a wayward star, or a malfunctioning spotlight. It was the glint of sunlight reflecting off the massive diamond earrings of David Ortiz, the Red Sox' burly designated hitter, as he took ground balls. The pattern of flashes, according to those conversant in Morse code, appeared to spell out SOS.

The World Series, which the Red Sox lead following wins over the Colorado Rockies in the first two games in Boston, enters a strange, new territory this weekend, starting with Game 3 on Saturday night -- the Mountain Time Zone, Big Sky country, 5,200-feet altitude and cavernous Coors Field, where the game is played far differently from that to which the Red Sox are accustomed at Boston's Fenway Park.

This is a land where baseballs are stored in humidors to keep them from drying out and shrinking, where the mile-high altitude necessitates the deepest fences (and, thus, the most expansive outfield) in the game, and where pitchers, per National League rule, must hit -- which explains Ortiz's dusting off his first baseman's mitt, which he will don Saturday night and most likely in Game 4 Sunday night as well.

"Gold Glove-caliber," Ortiz joked before the Red Sox' workout about his defensive prowess. Turning serious, he said, "I'll be fine."

As big a home-field advantage as the Red Sox enjoy at intimate, quirky Fenway -- where they are 7-1 this postseason, including the two wins over Colorado -- the Rockies believe their advantage is just as acute at Coors Field, particularly against an American League opponent such as Boston that is forced to sit an everyday player (in the case of Game 3, first baseman and No. 2 hitter Kevin Youkilis) in the absence of a DH.

The Rockies are 3-0 at home in this postseason, and they tied for the NL lead during the regular season with 51 home wins. Their defense, which set an all-time record for fielding percentage this season, is built for patrolling the wide-open spaces of this ballpark, and their hitters, particular NL most valuable player hopeful Matt Holliday, specialize in blasting rockets into all those open spaces, then running until someone retrieves them.

Once upon a time, Coors Field was a pitchers' purgatory where the game scarcely resembled the version played in every other stadium. Six of the seven highest home ERAs of all-time belong to the Rockies, the worst being a 7.11 mark in 1999.

However, that has stopped being the case since the introduction, in 2002 of the humidor -- or as the Rockies prefer it be called, the "environmental storage chamber," a nine-foot-by-nine-foot, steel-walled room behind the Rockies' clubhouse where baseballs are stored at a constant 70 degrees and 50 percent humidity. In 2001, batters clubbed 268 homers here, the most of any ballpark in the majors, but this year that number was down to 185, which ranked 10th.

Before the humidor, Rockies pitching coach Bob Apodaca told reporters Friday: "We'd be pitching with Titleists. Now, we're pitching with Rawlings. Well-pitched games happen here consistently now."

The Red Sox, who have held the NL's top-hitting team to a total of two runs in the first two games of the series, vowed not to change their approach out of concern for the Coors Field Effect at high altitude -- which is said to cause breaking balls (including, presumably, the mythical "gyroball" of the Red Sox' Game 3 starter, Daisuke Matsuzaka) to lose some of their bite.

"If we make too much out of it and say we have to adjust, then we're doing each pitcher an injustice," Red Sox pitching coach John Farrell said. "People are aware that pitching at altitude, the action to a breaking ball may be a touch different at times. But I can tell you it's not a focal point of our meetings and discussions."

Of more concern to the Red Sox is the diminished quality of their lineup -- not to mention Ortiz's defense at first base and the continued health of his chronically sore knee -- without the benefit of a DH.

Youkilis, who will be on the bench Saturday night, is hitting .396 with four homers and 10 RBI this postseason, and his ability to get on base ahead of sluggers Ortiz and Manny Ramirez has been crucial to the team's success.

"Some [AL] teams might not suffer as much [in NL parks] because their DH is not their No. 3 hitter," Youkilis said. "If you ask me, David Ortiz plays every day. . . . If I have to sit on the bench, so be it. Let's win."

Ortiz typically spends his time between at-bats in the clubhouse, studying video of his just-completed at-bat. Instead, at Coors Field, he will be standing at first base, wearing a mitt and replacing a player (Youkilis) who fielded 1,080 chances in the regular season without making an error.

"It's a little different. I usually watch a lot of video," said Ortiz, who played seven error-free games at first base during interleague play. Tapping his index finger on his temple, he added, "I'm going to have to watch my own video right here."