“I think that we started it, and St. Louis is getting all the credit.”
That’s Colorado Rockies outfielder Mickey Moniak weighing in on the recent Tarps Off trend sweeping Major League Baseball.
“I’m looking out for us, the great fans of Denver, Colorado, and giving them credit where credit’s due,” he added.
A recent column in the Wall Street Journal suggested that Tarps Off made the jump to MLB at Busch Stadium on May 15, 2026.
“It started on a whim in St. Louis,” Jared Diamond writes in the preface
to his article. (See Candace Buckner in The Athletic and Max Ralph for MLB.com as well.)
Not so fast.
While it’s true that Tarps Off began getting attention in St. Louis and the organization facilitated fan participation, as it turns out, the movement in MLB arrived at Coors Field on April 8. That’s one month earlier than the event at Busch Stadium. Eli Whitney captured the moment.
The Rockies have the receipts.
“The first day it happened, we were playing Houston, and was a light crowd,” remembers Dennis Eiben, a supervisor who works on the fourth level of Coors Field. “When they were cheering and everything else, it echoed out through the stadium, so that drew a lot of people over.”
As he recalls, that day, Tarps Off started around Section 333.
Mickey Moniak concurred.
“All I remember is playing the Houston Astros, the first home stand of the year, the day game,” Moniak said, “and there was a guy up behind home plate up in the third deck, tarps off, yes, waving it, and then seemed like a week later [someone] did in St. Louis, and got a lot of credit for it.”
Players that I spoke to were well aware of Tarps Off at Coors Field and what it brings to the enthusiasm level of any baseball game.
I spent last week learning more about the phenomenon — how it started, how it works, and what players and fans think about it.
How it started
The Rockies had an 8-1 lead during the day game, a win that would result in the home team securing a sweep.
Rockies fan Tristan Jones was there, seated around Section 153.
“I remember hearing the chants, and I’m like, ‘I wonder where those are coming from?’ And then — I can’t remember what inning it was, but I remember looking up and seeing the bunch of people, but apparently it started off pretty small,” he said.
“And it just kept growing and growing. I went up there — I want to say the sixth inning — but you could just see so many people walking over to where the crowd was. Every single time, we would be chanting ‘One of us!’ along with a bunch of other things as well.”
And the vibe?
“It’s amazing,” Jones said. “Being in like a crowd cheering, especially here, it’s really nice when there’s a lot of people, and especially that game in particular, where we were up a whole lot. We were about to get a sweep. We were just having a blast.”
Plus, Jones appreciated that it was a multigenerational effort that included fans in their 20s and 30s as well as some children and some “older folks” (his words) as well as a few Astros fans.
As Jones recalls, the players noticed, too.
“I definitely remember when they were walking off the field, Kyle Karros, in particular, he looked up, and he was just laughing.”
How it works
Tarps Off is an organic, fan-created movement, but it’s required a some strategizing on the part of Coors Field staff to make the experience work for everyone. Although the Rockies want to ensure the Tarps Off folks have an opportunity to enjoy the evening and add to the Coors Field atmosphere, they also need to be certain that fans who prefer not to find themselves in a shirtless crowd don’t have that experience.
Here’s how it works — and this is from last Tuesday night’s game against the Boston Red Sox. (Eiben says the biggest crowds come together on Friday and Saturday nights.)
First, the Coors Field open admission section will become the locus of action.
Anyone who has a ticket to a Rockies game is free to sit in the Open Seating section — that includes fans like Jones, who joined the party from across the ballpark. When the Tarps Off folks get started, they will be herded to Open Seating to keep from disrupting the ballpark experience of those less inclined to join.
Eiben told me to come back around the seventh inning, so I did. When I arrived, I saw things were just getting started.
Eiben and his staff were quick to step in.
After that, the action picked up rapidly.
“And then, as they’re up there waving their towels, they get hit on the jumbotron, and that draws everybody else over,” Eiben said.
From all over Coors Field, young men stripped off their shirts as they rushed to join their peers in Open Seating. The momentum was undeniable.
The five initiators of Tuesday night’s Tarps Off were more than happy to share their stories.
“It absolutely hypes the team up and gives the Rockies a much better chance to win,” one 23-year-old, third-time participant said. “They love the tarps off. They said a few times on the media.”
Then he added, “They love us when we’re up here with our shirts off. It gives a little energy to the team. That’s all that matters to us.”
Everyone I talked to pointed out the community aspect of Tarps Off: For the participants, it’s just fans getting together to support their team.
What the players think
Response from the players I spoke to was overwhelmingly positive.
From his perspective in the outfield, Jake McCarthy watches the Tarps Off crowd grow throughout the course of a game.
“It’s funny because when I’m in the outfield, I could see it starting, like in like the fifth inning,” he said. “You see four or five kids with their shirts off, and then there’s been a few times where it’s maybe the upper decks, so I could literally see people migrating over to the right-center corner, the right-field corner.”
He continued, “It’s been funny to see it in all the road stadiums, too. So I think it’s good for the sport.”
Third baseman Kyle Karros has noticed as well.
“I’ll hear a chant, and then I’ll look up and be like, ‘Whoa, there’s a big group up there with no shirts on,’” he said, adding, “It’s always fun to feel energy in the ballpark, and I feel like that Tarps Off crew always brings it.”
Count Moniak as a supporter, too.
“I think it’s fun. Everyone’s having a good time. Seems like a good bit of community.”
“Hey, I love it,” said manager Warren Schaeffer. “I think anything to help us win. I love that we have fans that are enthusiastic and want to do that.”
But would they participate?
”I would. I would absolutely partake,” Karros said.
Moniak would join him: “Yeah, why not? Like I said, everyone’s having a good time.”
And McCarthy?
“Maybe, probably need a few drinks, but yeah, it looks, it looks fun.”
Author’s note: To the Colorado Rockies players, fans, and Coors Field staff who answered questions about Tarps Off, shared their stories, and allowed me to take their pictures, thank you!
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