The Colorado Rockies Have a Rooted History at Fenway Park

Fenway Park, the oldest ballpark in Major League Baseball, holds the most history in the sport. So it shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise –– as unlikely as it may seem –– for it to be a special place for the National League’s Colorado Rockies.

Built in 1912, the home of the Boston Red Sox has seen it all. The big league debut of 19-year-old Babe Ruth (the human embodiment of the Green Monster), the last team in the Majors to integrate (Pumpsie Green in 1959) and 11 World Series (including four rings since the turn of the century, more than any franchise). And just about everything in between.

When considering the 1993 expansion Rockies missed out on the first 81 seasons of the cathedral on Jersey Street and then didn’t match up against the BoSox until the sixth year of interleague play in 2002, it’s reasonable to think there couldn’t be much history between the two organizations.

The biggest reason for the relationship is the most obvious one: the 2007 World Series.

With everything the Rockies franchise — and its adoring fans — have gone through over the past several years, not to mention what’s still ahead in terms of setting a new modern-day record for most losses in a single season, those four games in late October are held in even higher regard than they were when Rocktober first blessed the baseball vernacular some 18 years ago. 

“Being able to understand the meaning of going to play at Fenway Park, and the amount of deep-rooted history of baseball that they have in that park is so cool,” Kyle Freeland, Colorado’s starter on Tuesday, said. “Being able to take that mound, take the field as a player in that venue, you really got to understand how special it is. I know everyone looks forward to those kind of trips.”

For interim manager Warren Schaeffer, the 37,000-plus seater is the greatest ballpark of all time. As someone who grew up in the Northeast and has spent more than 30 years of his life inside the sport, Schaeffer is trying to impart his wisdom on a young roster still in the establishment phase of their careers.

“Hopefully they can understand the importance of it in terms of baseball history. It’s a really cool thing. You go in there, and you go behind the wall, behind the Monster and everybody signed it in there,” Schaeffer said. 

Despite the sobering results of the team’s only Fall Classic appearance, there are moments in Boston to hold tight from that 2007 World Series. 

Jeff Francis ascending the bump for Game 1. Troy Tulowitzki serving a counterpunch with an RBI-double in the top of the second. Todd Helton doubling off the Green Monster, followed by an RBI the next day to give Colorado an early 1-0 lead in Game 2. Boston failing to record an out against Matt Holliday and his 4-for-4 performance. 

“I was a freshman in high school at the time. I was obviously a massive fan of the Rockies,” Denver native Freeland said of the ballpark. “That ’07 World Series run, going against the Red Sox. I remember it like it was yesterday, it was so cool for me to witness that and now be a part of the organization that was a part of it. I think it’s very cool.”

The Recent History

There have been only 29 regular season games between Boston and Colorado up through 2025. The Red Sox played the Detroit Tigers 22 times in 1925 alone.

Of the 16 contests between the two clubs in Boston during the regular season, one stands out above the rest. The Chris Sale game.

“I started that game. It was my birthday,” Freeland said of the May 14, 2019 matchup. “It was cold. It was sleeting. It was the first time I matched up against Chris Sale, which I thought was really cool, because he was my comp coming out of college.”

Sale set a career-high with 17 strikeouts during his seven innings (21 outs) on the mound. Miraculously, Colorado — who were coming off consecutive postseason appearances for the first time in franchise history — came back to win the game 5-4 in 11 innings. 

“I gave up three solo shot home runs, and then Charlie (Blackmon) hit a go-ahead home run to center field and we won in extras,” Freeland recalled.

Ryan McMahon, in his first full season with the club, was not in the starting lineup against the left-hander.

“I didn’t have to face him. I just remember he had everything going,” McMahon shared. “The fastball was good, the slider was good. He was throwing good changeups. I remember watching the video and just thinking, ‘Man, this guy’s locked in. He’s cruising.’ It wasn’t fun.”

As much as history likes to repeat itself in baseball, the current-day clone of Sale — Garrett Crochet, who also plays in the City on the Hill — will not get a chance at the record books during the three-game set against the Rockies this week.

Home Field Advantage

“Nobody knows Fenway like the Red Sox. That’s a home field advantage for sure,” Schaeffer said, referencing the Green Monster, The Triangle and Pesky’s Pole. “We’ll go over the ballpark factors before the game like we always do, what to look out for for the guys, but it’s just going and experiencing the overall feel.”

Colorado’s home field advantage hasn’t been much of one in this most challenging of seasons. Their 10 wins at Coors Field are the fewest in the Majors this season. They’re coming off a series loss in Denver to the worst road team in the sport, the Chicago White Sox. 

The Rockies have yet to win a series at home this season and have lost their last 17 home series dating back to 2024. That’s tied for the longest home series losing streak in MLB history with the 1916-17 Philadelphia Athletics, per OptaSTATS.

Can the Rockies, who have two series wins on the road and are 8-5 away from the Centennial State since June 2, take advantage of the unique ballpark factors of Fenway Park? 

“I look at the Green Monster, and think, ‘Hey, don’t pull off the ball, man. Don’t be afraid to hit one over there,’” McMahon said of his approach, rebuffing the idea that Pesky’s Pole in right field is the focus of his left-handed bat. “You get enough barrel on it, you can slice one off (the Green Monster) and get a knock. So for me, I always look the other way.” 

To many around the sporting world, it comes as a surprise that a perennial last-place club could be playing in front of such large crowds at home. Coors Field, a baseball cathedral in its own right, has the 13th-best attendance this season with 1,330,120 purchasing a ticket through the team’s first 45 home dates. 

While the lack of empty seats in Boston won’t phase Colorado one bit, the type of fan occupying those compact seats is often different than those in Denver. Call them contemporary cranks or bugs, as they would have been referred to over a century ago.

“They’re rooted just like the organization is. They live and die with their team, and you see it on a day-to-day basis, as soon as Spring Training fires up all the way to their last game that they play,” Freeland said of the Beantown faithful. “Those teams are fun to go in and compete against. Those fans bring the energy, and that’s something that I love. Whether it’s at home or on the road, if there’s fantastic fan energy, it just allows me to feel like the big leagues.”

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