DENVER — Who says that opening day has to be just one day?
Not the Colorado Rockies. Now that they have gotten approval for the full 50,000 capacity at Coors Field for the June 28 against the Pittsburgh Pirates, the team announced it will host an "Opening Day 2.0."
The game will now be at 3:10 p.m. instead of 6:40 p.m., and include all of the usual opening day fanfare that was missing during this year’s affair starting at 2:30 p.m.
Yes: that includes fireworks during the national anthem.
Another thing to note? The first 15,000 fans to show up will receive a t-shirt commemorating the second opening day.
To avoid crowds, the Rockies are asking people to show up at the gates listed on their tickets.
Speaking of tickets, those are available at Rockies.com/tickets, by calling (303) ROCKIES (762-5437) or by visiting the Coors Field Ticket Office and Rockies Dugout Stores.
This comes after the city of Denver removed all capacity limits on outdoor events, as well as many of the rules for indoor gatherings (venues with more than 2,000 people in a room will still need to get clearance from the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment).
The state has removed all of its rules for indoor events, but counties could be asked to come up with their own restrictions if hospitalizations exceed 85% capacity.
The news about Coors Field comes in time for the MLB All-Star Game, during which Governor Jared Polis and Denver Mayor Michael Hancock had said weeks ago they were hopeful Coors Field could host all of the fans it can.
The All-Star Game is on July 13.
The Rockies started the season at just over 40% capacity, and that was bumped up to 70% this month.
Starting June 28, that number will be at 100% for the rest of the season.
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