Thirty years on, Dante Bichette's walk-off homer still defines the opening of Coors Field

Thirty years ago, on April 26, 1995, Dante Bichette ended the first game ever played at Coors Field with a swing that Colorado Rockies fans have never forgotten. His three-run homer in the 14th inning sealed an 11-9 win over the Mets in a back-and-forth game that ran nearly five hours, and his fist-pumping celebration afterward became one of the most replayed moments in franchise history.

The nickname Blake Street Bombers had not yet entered local usage. It came later that season, when broadcaster Wayne Hagin said it on the radio after Bichette brought it up in the clubhouse. Even so, the slugger's homer was the group's starting point. "With the Blake Street Bombers, what we were legendary at was, no lead was safe in our park," Bichette said. He recalled that the team would trail by three runs in the sixth or seventh inning and still expect to win.

The Rockies had already built a reputation for high-powered offense at altitude during their two seasons at Mile High Stadium, but the 1995 season at Coors Field cemented it. Larry Walker signed three weeks before opening day, beginning a Hall of Fame career in Colorado. Andres Galarraga arrived after two strong seasons in Denver, Vinny Castilla began his first year as the starting third baseman, and Ellis Burks put together a season that foreshadowed an All-Star year in 1996. Together with Bichette, they carried Colorado to the National League wild card, the franchise's first playoff berth and the fastest any expansion team had reached the postseason at that point.

"Dante's homer was the start of the belief that we were a playoff team," said Joe Girardi, the Rockies catcher who was on second base for the winning blow.

Bichette, on a 2-1 count, drove a hanging changeup from left-hander Mike Remlinger into the left-field bleachers. He had just swung and missed at the first strike of the at-bat, and ESPN's Jon Miller asked Joe Morgan on the broadcast whether Bichette was pressing. Morgan said it looked as if he was trying to hit the ball out of the park. Bichette confirmed that he was. His celebration did not please everyone: he said Mets catcher Todd Hundley followed him down the line yelling.

The night carried extra weight for Bichette, who said he was unsure he would rejoin the team until a couple of weeks earlier. He reported late to spring training after manager Don Baylor called to say he wanted him back. Bichette credited Baylor with giving him the chance to keep playing in the majors after 1992. "Once he called me and asked me back, there was no question: I was coming," he said.

The homer also launched a career year. Bichette led the National League with 40 home runs and led all of baseball with 197 hits and 128 RBIs. He hit .340 with a league-best .620 slugging percentage and 359 total bases. He was an All-Star and won the only Silver Slugger Award of his career, but the NL MVP went to Reds shortstop Barry Larkin. Girardi, who later managed the Yankees and now works for the YES Network, said he was shocked and called it an early example of the negative perception of the Coors Field effect. Bichette said he holds no grudge.

For Bichette, the walk-off remains the most heartfelt moment of his career and the one fans bring up most. He joked that he often doubts people who say they were there, since few remained in the cold at the end. Phillip Foster II, a 44-year-old lifelong fan from Denver, was one of them. He was 14, at his first Rockies game, and persuaded his father to stop at the concourse edge to watch the at-bat. He called it the moment he fell in love with Coors Field. His father died last month, and Foster said he still thinks of him at games.

Original season-ticket holder Jim Noland, 63, of Westminster, said the lesson that games are not over until they are over still applies. With this year's Rockies among the weakest hitting teams in baseball, he suggested they could use some of that 1995 swagger, joking that Bichette "could probably still hit .260."