The Colorado Rockies mascot is a purple triceratops (dinosaur) that happens to walk on his hind legs. He wears a Rockies jersey and black sneakers. The Rockies chose Dinger-the-Dinosaur as a mascot in honor or the dinosaur fossils discovered during the excavations prior to construction of their stadium, Coors Field. The most impressive fossil was a 1,000-pound triceratops skull, 7 feet long! The Rockies choose “dinger” as a name as it is slang for a home run. Dinger loves the Rockies fans and entertains and visits before, during and after the games. Dinger is famous for dancing behind home plate to distract the opposing pitchers, although he quickly sits down before the pitcher begins his motion for the next pitch!
Dinger is not only a Colorado native but he was hatched at Mile High Stadium on the 16th of April, 1994. When he is not busy at the ballpark, Dinger promotes literacy and physical fitness to elementary school kids throughout the Rocky Mountain region.
Because of Dinger’s purple color and somewhat portly stature, he is occasionally likened to Barney the Dinosaur. Because he does not have a particularly fearsome aspect, some of the fans are disappointed. But, you only need to see him interact with the kids at the ballpark or on one of his many community visits to see that the younger fans just love him!
Dinger is proud of his Rockies and has been with them from the beginning when they first played at Mile High Stadium and then when they moved to Coors Field. The Rockies have been in the playoffs five times, always as a wild card. But, they advanced to the World Series in 2007, only to be beaten by the Boston Red Sox. That was the year that the Red Sox finally broke the “Bambino” curse (due to the Red Sox trading young Babe Ruth to the Yankees) by dispatching with the Rockies and our beloved Dinger in four games.