For the entirety of the 2026 MLB season, Colorado Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer had been clear: The Rockies would not have a closer. Instead, they would be more flexible, using their bullpen staff to maximum effect based on the situation facing the team.
That changed in late July, however, when Schaeffer said that the team considered Jordan Romano their closer.
With that decision made, the staff at Rockies TV sprang into action.
“We’re always looking for new, fun, engaging shots that add something
special to our broadcast,” Rockies TV Game Director Erica Ferrero said. “The closer entrance had been done by a few teams around the league, and with Romano’s success in that role since he joined the club, we thought the time was right to explore.”
In case you weren’t at Coors Field on Friday, July 31, here’s what the entrance looked like on TV:
And here’s how it all came together.
Exploring what other teams had done
Having a hype entrance for a team’s closer is not new, and it’s something Major League Baseball has encouraged teams to develop.
Consider a few closer entrances. Edwin Díaz had his epic entrance when he was with the New York Mets.
Here’s Jhoan Durán’s entrance, developed with the Minnesota Twins and traded with him to the Philadelphia Phillies last season:
And, staying in the NL West, here’s San Diego Padres closer Mason Miller:
The moment seemed right for Rockies TV to enter the chat given that Coors Field is an amazing venue, the Rockies were playing better baseball, and they had settled on a closer.
Rockies TV game producer Alison Vigil, Ferrero, and the rest of the Rockies TV staff had been experimenting throughout the season, most notably when Jimmy Herget would serve as the Rockies closer, but now, it was showtime.
Getting the pieces in place
Even though Rockies TV played a key role in putting Romano’s entrance together, they needed coordination throughout the Rockies organization.
First, Schaeffer and bullpen coach Matt Buschmann had to agree — after all, the production would require a camera operator in the bullpen filming Romano as he warmed up and then ran onto the field. They would also need Romano’s consent.
“Bullpen coach Buschmann said, ‘There’s going be a camera guy in the bullpen that’s gonna follow you in. He won’t get in the way or anything, but he’ll just be back in the bushes watching you warm up and follow you out,’” Romano said.
Everyone agreed, though, that this would be a great thing for the Rockies to do, and plans continued.
Second, Rockies TV began working with Rockies Public Relations and Coors Field’s In-Game Entertainment Department. Those are the folks like Rockies Senior Director of In-Game Entertainment Kent Krosbakken, who determine music and light shows. That group worked out the light show — including the digital flames engulfing Coors Field and the camera cut to the Tarps Off section — and selected Romano’s entrance music, DVBBS & Borgeous’s “Tsunami.”
With those decisions made and camera operator David Starcer ready to run in with Romano, the pieces were in place.
Now, all they needed was a Rockies win, and that happened on Friday, July 31, when the Rockies were headed into the ninth inning leading the Kansas City Royals 3-1.
It was time.
Action!
MLB gives their TV affiliates the authority to “kill” the break between the eighth and ninth innings “if something is very momentous,” Vigil explained. “We can really do it last minute, and then what they do is build the commercial break into the (last break) of the show.”
For the Rockies TV crew, it was time.
“It kind of scary to start because I’ve never killed a break like that before,” Vigil said.
“(Starcer) was stationed down there in the eighth inning,” Vigil said. “So we actually took a shot of Romano warming in the eighth inning, which was really cool shot.
“And then I (said to the control room), ‘I’m going to kill the break.’ Erica said, ‘Okay, let’s go.’ So that’s what that’s how it happened.”
That night, play-by-play commentator Marc Stout did not go to commercial; instead, the feed returned to Starcer’s camera in the Rockies bullpen.
With his warm-up pitches completed and the music and lights rising, Romano began his run to the mound with Starcer following along to capture the action. If you check the video I took from the press box, you can see Starcer running beside Romano.
“He was running at a speed that I could keep up with,” Starcer said, “which helped a lot for sure.”
Romano, a former All-Star closer, was no stranger to have a closer entrance, and he thought the Rockies did a good job with theirs.
“I thought it was really cool,” he said.
Plus, it’s a strategy for getting the crowd involved.
“It’s great,” Romano said. “I feel like when you get that kind of light show, it gets the crowd into it. You can feed off the crowd’s energy, and it really just pumps you up and locks you in and gets you ready to go.”
The ninth inning could not have gone better if Vigil and Ferrero had scripted it.
After all the closer-intro hype, Romano got three outs with the Rockies tallying their 43rd win.
“Thankfully,” Ferrero said, “the coaches and the team were on board, and everything lined up perfectly that night with the save situation, the stadium entrance, and Romano going three up, three down.”
This week on the internet
In the course of learning how Jordan Romano’s closer show came together, I got to visit the Rockies TV broadcast truck — and it’s just that: A semi trailer parked beside Coors Field. (Both teams have a trailer/studio available for them as they produce their broadcasts.)
It’s timely, then, that last week, Rockies TV posted some video footage of what they see in the truck:
That’s Alison Vigil’s voice you’ll hear counting down to the start of the broadcast.
I’d like to thank Alison Vigil, Erica Ferrero, David Starcer, and Jordan Romano for talking with me about how the production came together. They are very busy people, and I appreciated their fitting me in and providing such generous answers.
On the farm
Triple-A: Albuquerque Isotopes 8, Sugar Land Space Cowboys 5
The Albuquerque Isotopes plated three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, and the bullpen wiggled out of numerous high-leverage jams over the final three frames, as they earned a 8-5 victory over the Sugar Land Space Cowboys to win four of six games in the series.
Mason Green was able to escape a bases-loaded, one-out predicament in the seventh with a strikeout and flyout. In the eighth, Andrew Baker walked two but also struck out a pair, leaving the tying run at the plate. Sugar Land had two on with one out in the top of the ninth, when Braden Shewmake hit a rocket near the first-base line, and Charlie Condon made a diving catch. TJ Shook then struck out Garrett Guillmette to end the ballgame.
Albuquerque has won 10 of their last 12 games, after sweeping a six-game series from El Paso on the road last week. During the stretch, they are outscoring opponents by a combined total of 128-86.
Zac Veen was on base three more times via two singles and a walk. Veen is slashing .452/.553/1.115 in his last 12 games with six doubles, two triples, eight homers and 24 RBI, reaching base in 32 of 60 plate appearances during the span. Veen had hits in seven consecutive at-bats from Friday-Sunday, falling two short of tying Ryan McMahon’s franchise record set in 2017.
The Isotopes (59-55) now head to Oklahoma City to begin a six-game series with the Comets.
Double-A: Binghamton Rumble Ponies 4, Hartford Yard Goats 3
The Yard Goats jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the the third inning thanks to a Jimmy Obertop home run, but weren’t able to hold onto it. The Rumble Ponies (Mets) answered back in the fifth when Kevin Parada hit a homer of his own off Connor Staine. Mitch Voit singled in the next at-bat, but then Staine got Marco Vargas to strike out to end the inning.
Unfortunately, though, the scoring didn’t stop there for the Rumble Ponies. The sixth started off with a single by Émilien Pitre followed by Jefferson Rojas reaching first on a fielder’s choice, and then Pitre reached second on an error by 1B Jack O’Dowd. Billy Amick then homered to put the Ponies up 4-1. Two more Ponies singled, but then Parada and Voit flied out and popped out to end the inning.
In the seventh, the Goats fought back when Andy Perez homered. O’Dowd flied out, but then Braylen Wimmer doubled. Mike Antico was hit by a pitch, and they both stold the next base. A throwing error by Parada allowed Wimmer to score and Antico to advance to third. However, back-to-back strikeouts by Opertop and Skyler Messinger ended the threat and the scoring. Wimmer was the only Yard Goat to record multiple hits, going 2-for-4 with a double, a run scored and a strikeout. Perez’s and Obertop’s home runs were the only other two hits of the night.
High-A: Eugene Emeralds @ Spokane Indians — Cancelled
This game was cancelled due to poor air quality. The Emeralds record remains at 65-42 while the Indians are 50-57. Next up, the Indians will face the Everett AquaSox.
Single-A: Visalia Rawhide 8, Fresno Grizzlies 3
The Rawhide (Diamondbacks) jumped out to an early 2-0 loead in the first, thanks to back-to-back singles by Abdias De La Cruz and Ivan Luciano. But the Grizzlies punched back in the fourth, thanks to a Cristian Arguelles walk and a single by Wilder Dalis (No. 24 PuRP). Dalis was also able to reach second on a fielding error by the center fielder, and then stole third base. He attempted to steal home, but was thrown out. Ronny Ugarte, though, hit a single that drove him Aidan Redahan, who had walked two batter earlier and reached third on Dalis’ attempted steal of home. The game was tied 2-2 after the fourth.
The Rawhide tacked on another run in the fifth on a wild pitch by Manuel Olivares, and another in the sixth when De La Cruz scored on an RBI GIDP by Victor Santana. The Grizzlies scored in the seventh when Dalis scored Ashly Andujar (No. 20 PuRP), who singled three batters before. Unfortunately, though, that was the end of the scoring.
Luciano homered in the eighth to put the Rawhide up 5-3, and then things got away from Yanzel Correa in the ninth. He started by hitting Tytus Cissell, but then got Yerald Nin to ground out to first. But then he walked three of the next four batters, which ended up scoring Cissell. Austin Newton relieved Correa, and immediately gave up a two-run single to Luciano to rack up the score 8-3.
Dalis went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a strikeout, while Andujar and Ronny Ugarte also had two hits apiece. Newton was the only pitcher to be fully unscathed, though he only pitched 0.1 innings. And Manuel Olivares gave up two runs in three innings, but neither were earned.
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