Proof that the Colorado Rockies have the biggest balls

Yesterday's blog headlined "Colorado Rockies Scoring With Big Balls and Small" prompted a note from Alek Komarnitsky, an amateur photographer whose website, Komar.org, features great family shots and plenty more. (Earlier this year, his photos of dogs chasing off a curious coyote formed the basis of a highly entertaining slideshow.)...

By Michael Roberts

August 25, 2009

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Yesterday's blog headlined "Colorado Rockies Scoring With Big Balls and Small" prompted a note from Alek Komarnitsky, an amateur photographer whose website, Komar.org, features great family shots and plenty more. (Earlier this year, his photos of dogs chasing off a curious coyote formed the basis of a highly entertaining slideshow.) Seems that Komarnitsky has long known about the size of the Rockies' balls, since he owns giant inflatable ones originally made for opening day 2000; they turn his lawn into the most prized package in the neighborhood. As demonstrated by the shot above and several others on view after the jump, size matters. Alek's history of the giant balls: "In early September, 2007, I was driving my kids back from soccer and saw a nearby neighborhood was having a garage sale. I'm always looking for "stuff" ... plus the kids have become big fans of the Colorado Rockies baseball team, so I figured we might find something for them. We picked up a (used) baseball for 25 cents ... and a Rockies 'Dinger' hat for a buck ... but the pickings were slim. As we approached the last house, we saw these monster inflatable Colorado Rockies Balls, so I figured we had hit the mother-lode. But the only Rockies related stuff they had was the inflatables themselves ... and they were for sale! ;-)

"Turns out that four of these were actually commissioned/used by the Colorado Rockies for Opening Day in the year 2000. They were made by the Boulder Blimp company and have extremely durable construction with 2.3 Amp Blower Fans, with velcro across the top so they can be "filled" with Helium Balloons and then 'ripped' open to release 'em.

"One has a slight tear that safety pins will handle ... so it was $10. The other was $35 ... so $45 for the biggest balls around -- not too shabby of a deal, 'eh?"

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Michael Roberts began his career with Westword in 1990 as music editor. In 1999, he took on a new role, full-time media reporter, as author of a column called The Message. In 2008, he became the lead writer for Westword's news blog, The Latest Word, a position he held until January 2023. Michael continues to freelance for Westword, covering everything from business to sports and the media; he also contributes to Jazziz, a national music magazine. He holds a bachelor's degree from what is now Colorado Mesa University and master's degrees from the University of California, Los Angeles, and Northwestern University.

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