Rockies look to Coors Field effect for inspiration

By Larry Fine

DENVER (Reuters) - The Colorado Rockies are hoping the Coors Field effect will help inspire them against the Boston Red Sox this weekend in the 2007 World Series.

Boston won the first two games of the best-of-seven Series at Fenway Park but the Rockies now have home advantage and after mastering the conditions they are desperate to make it pay.

The dry climate and thin air of this Rocky Mountain city a mile above sea level had made Coors Field a nightmare for pitchers and a haven for home run hitters over the first nine seasons of the National League franchise born in 1993.

The formula was not conducive to winning and Colorado made the playoffs just once before this season.

All that began to change, however, when a pair of tight leather hunting boots inspired the use of a baseball humidor that helped change the Rockies' fortunes.

The idea took hold when ballpark maintenance engineer Tony Cowell cursed the fit of his boots while duck hunting.

"He was out hunting one day and realized, 'My leather boots dry up so bad in the weather here, I wonder whether that changes the baseballs, make them fly so much farther here,'" Rockies spokesman Jay Alves said on Saturday.

"It was a good thought process and we thought let's give it a try," Alves said about storing balls in a temperature and humidity controlled system usually associated with keeping fine cigars fresh.