Inside the 2007 World Series

In 1993, the city of Denver, Colorado, welcomed in Major League Baseball with the hope of every other major league city - that its people would one day see the World Series.

Fourteen years later, on October 27, 2007, that day comes true as Coors Field hosts a World Series game for the first time.

Even the weather is expected to cooperate for their "Rocktober," as the snow that covered Denver during the Rockies eight-day layoff has gone.

The excitement should certainly compare with that of Arizona, Anaheim, Houston and other cities during their first sight of the Fall Classic. Some wonder if a possible fifth game might overshadow the Broncos' Monday night game against Green Bay.

Not even trailing the red Sox 2-0 may dampen the fans' enthusiasm. It's a dream come true for Denver - one that many felt could never happen.

Keep in mind, the World Series is considered a hallowed ground among those who follow baseball, and they don't often consider outsiders ever making it in. When's the last time the so called "experts" picked a team for the World Series that hadn't made it recently, to say nothing of one that's never made it at all? For those who had their list of teams that would never see the Fall Classic, the Rockies may have been at the top.

The numbers did seem to back it up. The Rockies made the postseason in only their third season (1995), but lean years would soon follow. From 1998 to 2006, they had only one season above .500 and never finished fewer than 15 games out of first place.

In other sports, people look at losing teams and blame the obvious reasons of bad players and management. But baseball people want to point the finger at other factors. Just ask the Rockies' Series opponent, a franchise that was "cursed" for 86 years.

And in Colorado's case, the scapegoats weren't hard to find. They were Coors Field and the Rocky Mountain air.