Baseball

Retired Colorado Rockies first baseman Todd Helton is teaming up with the organization RIP Medical Debt to help eliminate $10 million in medical bills for residents around the state.

Elias Díaz may be the most unlikely All-Star MVP. Just 3 1/2 years after Pittsburgh failed to offer a contract and allowed him to become a free agent, his go-ahead, two-run homer off Félix Bautista in the eighth inning lifted the National League over the American 3-2.

Researchers from Dartmouth College concluded that higher temperatures lead to more home runs, highlighting one of the ways climate change is altering baseball.

Every Tuesday, KUNC reporters talk with our colleagues over at the Colorado Sun about the local story they’re following. This week we spoke with Sun reporter Michael Booth.

Scientists predict climate change will lead to unpredictable precipitation and possible water shortages in Arizona and throughout the West in the coming years — on top of the current drought. Four pro teams in the Colorado River Basin states of Arizona and California spoke with The Associated Press about water usage and sustainability strategies.

As the Colorado Rockies' season came to a close, fans still made their way to Coors Field to support the players and spend time with one usher — who is perhaps the most popular in the stadium's history.

Back in June, Tattered Cover opened up a new location across the street from Coors Field in Denver, complete with a new collection of baseball books to boot. Thus, reminding fans to engage with what is often considered the most written-about sport there is.

The Home Run Derby, the opening act for Major League Baseball's All-Star game, came to Denver last Monday. While the night was a fun-filled, power-hitting face-off for most, it was also riddled with emotion for one Rockies player who may soon be leaving the team.

Earlier this week, Major League Baseball announced that the annual All Star Game would be moved from the suburbs of Atlanta to Coors Field in Denver in order to demonstrate the league's opposition to Georgia's new restrictive voting laws. KUNC's Alana Schreiber spoke to Professor Tom Zeiler about this surprising decision from a sport that often strives for political neutrality.

Most people know the story of Jackie Robinson, who integrated Major League Baseball in 1947 and paved the way for future athletes of color to finally achieve the status and recognition they deserved. But who paved the way for Jackie Robinson? According to Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, a chunk of that credit goes to a historic, yet largely unknown event in Denver, later dubbed "The Little World Series of the West."