Slippery when wet

What’s it like to try to pitch effectively in a pouring rain? To throw strikes with a wet ball? To not let the ball slip out of your hand and bean the batter? To not go down in a mud slide from the mound?

Ask Brett Anderson.

The Dodgers’ lefty had the unenviable task of trying to sit down Colorado Rockies’ hitters Friday night while also attempting to ignore pesky, steady rain drops. And yeah, he also had to maintain his footing and not slide of the slippery mound.

"You can't really think about that, or you'll be hesitant and you could hurt yourself worse," Anderson said. "But it was weird circumstances."

In this video (for some reason the video is not embedding on the blog), you can see Anderson struggle through the rain as he faced the Rockies’ Charlie Blackmon. Anderson got off to a good start against Blackmon, tallying a no balls and two strikes count, but then threw four straight balls to walk the Rockies’s outfielder. Anderson, as you will see, slipped and almost fell as he threw ball four.

Give Blackmon credit; he also had to focus through the rain drops on some 91-mph heat from Anderson to draw the walk. And you know he had to be thinking about the possibility of a wet ball zipping toward his skull after slipping from Anderson’s hand.

Lousy weather conditions persisted and umpires called the game after five innings, shortly after Blackmon’s at-bat, giving the Dodgers a 2-1 win over the Rockies at Coors Field.

"It was difficult. Pretty poor conditions," Anderson said. "I can't believe we played through five innings of that. It's probably the hardest rain I've played through on the field.”

Rain postponed the following night’s action, and then… then came the snow, which covered Coors Field Saturday, prompting Anderson to tweet:

On second thought, that rain I pitched in wasn't so bad. pic.twitter.com/Rt89Y24Zqu

— Brett Anderson (@BrettAnderson35) May 10, 2015

Cold, Frosted Coors

I’m in the minority here, I know, but I love playoff baseball games played in football weather. According to the forecast for Saturday night, that’s exactly what we’ll get when the Colorado Rockies host the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 3 of the National League Division Series in Denver. Weather.com is forecasting – get this – a 70 percent chance of snow showers and temperatures to be in the mid 30s when the first pitch is thrown at 7:37 p.m. local time. The wind chill at game time will make fans at Coors Field feel like it’s about 23 degrees.

I know baseball purists hate cold weather baseball games, but I love the added drama that little snow and chill can deliver.

Sox Win, Helton Happy on Couch

Take a look at this picture. This could be your World Series. Snowy! Cold! Awesome! At least two games, and possibly three, will be played in frigid Colorado for this year's, um, Fall Classic. On Sunday, the Rockies were forced to practice indoors as they continued on their fall break while awaiting the winner of the American League Championship Series, which we now know is that team from Boston. The Rocks have been doing their best to stay focused by simulating game conditions, while the Red Sox have been playing meaningful games and building momentum while rallying from a 3-1 deficit to overcome Cleveland in seven games in the ALCS. According to a USA Today story on Monday, Todd Helton, isn't too concerned about the rest and relaxation the Rockies have been getting nor the fact that the team was snowed out of practice Sunday. "Good huntin' weather," said the Rockies first baseman. "It'll be a short day for us. Good day to sit on the couch, I know that." Sit on the couch? Holy cow, it's over. Red Sox in four.

You Are Not Looking Live

The possibility of rain and therefore rain delays existed last night in Cleveland for Game 4 of the ALCS, and I, a dude who operates a sports/weather blog, was all set to do my first ever live blog of the event. I was sitting on my couch with my laptop on my, uh, lap and eating popcorn left over from Sunday's Patriots at Cowboys game. However, before Paul Byrd could finish his warm-up pitches, my wife and two kids quickly reminded me that I sort of have a life and the words "live blogging" did not, and could not ever exists in my universe.

Speaking of blogs, my favorite blogger, sports media and business columnist Neil Best of Newsday in New York, has gotten into the sports weather spirit today with a post about the Rockies and Broncos possibly playing on the same night (Oct. 29) in Denver. The Broncos have a game that Monday night, and the Rockies are scheduled to play Game 5 of the World Series, if it goes that far, at Coors Field. Best is looking forward to the possibility of an October snow storm in the Mile High City that night, making for a "highly entertaining TV evening," he said.

I Thought This Was Winter League

The Rockies did it. They finished off Arizona Monday night in four games and clinched the team's first ever World Series appearance.

Wonderful! But wait.

The Series begins Oct. 24, and is still eight full days away. That's a lot of downtime. If you heard Mike and Mike on ESPN Radio Tuesday morning, you may have heard the duo offer suggestions to the National League champions on what they can do during their down time. Visit Britney Spears kids, apply for the Yankees managerial job and print out a roster of their own team and try to figure out who the heck they all are were among the suggestions.

Funny. But what will the Rockies really do?

Baseball guru Seth Everett said on Steve Czaban's radio show – wow, that's two days in a row I've mentioned the Czabe – that the Rockies may move Rocktober Fest to some winter league location to practice where temperatures will be a bit warmer than those on Rocky Road. (Man, I'm getting in all the new Rockies bandwagon slogans, aren't I?)

The weather in Denver over the next eight days isn't exactly summer-like, but it's not too bad. According to The Weather Channel's extended forecast, the best day for the Rockies to practice in their home city is Saturday, when temperatures are expected to reach 75 degrees. The worst days will be Wednesday (60 degrees, chance of thunderstorms) and Thursday (54, morning showers and windy) of this week.

By the way, my pal told me this blog might actually get some readers if I posted photos of Stephanie Abrams of The Weather Channel. So, there ya go. Now, how can we work Erin Andrews on to this blog?

Buy Me Some Peanuts and Cracker Jacks... and a Poncho

I love October baseball. Most people I talk with say they hate when cold weather comes into play during the playoffs. "It's just not baseball weather," they tell me. I, of course, disagree. The cold, rainy playing conditions at Coors Field last night, and every other time the weather has come into play in the MLB playoffs, creates an entirely new challenge for the teams embarking on the grand prize. It's a beautiful stage that blends perfectly with the emotions of the games. And you can't tell me the fans at Coors last night didn't just absolutely dig it that their team is kicking the frozen snot of a Diamondbacks team that hails from Arizona and plays in a ballpark with a retractable roof. I'm sure the folks in Denver believe the cold weather is to their team's advantage – they're probably right – and cheer louder with each drop on the thermometer.

A look at the weather-related sports headlines in the Denver Post today gives insight into how into the mindset of the Colorado faithful. Here are a few of those heads:

- Rockies fever keeps away cold
- Almost on Ice
- Rockies Right As Rain
- Arizona Gets Lost in the Fogg (Referring, of course, to Josh Fogg, but still…)
- Rain, Snow, and Base-brrrrrr (This headline actually was in Sunday's Post, but it is my favorite.)

In case you missed the game last night, the Rockies defeated the D-Backs 4-1 at Coors as temperatures dipped into the 30s and cold rain fell before the game during the early innings. It was a beautiful sight. Tonight's Game 4 weather forecast calls for temps in the high 30s, but with mostly clear skies. It’s Broncos weather in Denver, but as their team sits one way away from reaching the World Series, fans in the Mile High City are hot for the Rockies.

Meanwhile, the ALCS moves to Cleveland tonight with the Indians and Red Sox tied at 1-1. Folks at the Jake should be fairly comfortable with low temperatures expected to be in the mid 50s with a slim change of precipitation. Tomorrow night, however, could be a different story. Rain is being forecasted all day with a chance of thunderstorms at night during Game 4.

Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

Full disclosure: I'm a Yankees fan, so I need not explain to you why I want the Red Sox to be eliminated from the MLB playoffs as soon as possible. Also, I still have bad memories of the Diamondbacks beating Mariano Rivera and the Yanks in the Fall Classic a few years back. All that said, you can probably gather that I'm rooting for an Indians-versus-Rockies World Series. The above reasons withstanding, I would love to see how the weather plays a factor for late October baseball games in frost-brewed Coors Field. I hope, good golly I hope, we see something resembling the above photo. Go Tribe! Go Rockies! Go Snow!!!

Is It Open Or Not?

This is hardly news or anything other than what you might expect, but the retractable roof at Chase Field will be closed for tonight's National League Championship Series opener between the homestanding Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies. Why? Because it's going to be hot as the third layer of hell outside the ballpark, with high temperatures there expected to hit around 97. Temperatures will be a very cozy 72, I assume, inside Chase. Temps hovering in the high 90s are forecasted for game two, so don't expect to see any daylight in this series until the two teams depart for Coors Field. I can’t wait to see what kind of weather we get for those games in Denver.



UPDATE: According to a story today in the Pueblo (Colo.)Chieftain, the Chase Field roof will be closed for tonight's NLCS opener, as I wrote above. However, I just now discovered that the Chase Field Web site states that the roof will be open tonight and also for Game 2. So who do we believe? I guess we'll just have to tune in tonight and see for ourselves. The Chase Field site does list a phone number – it's not toll free, by the way – that gives out roof information. I haven't had time to call it, but I may at some point today. If you want to call, the number is 602-379-7663.

Coors Served Cold

Many folks around the country are experiencing an October heat wave, but as the weekend arrives, folks in Denver will have to deal with some pretty cool baseball weather as the red-hot Rockies try to handily dispose of the National League East champion Philadelphia Phillies. Saturday night at Coors Field is going to be a bit nippy, but if the Phillies can force a game four, Sunday night will be nasty with a chance of rain and even a slight chance of snow and low temperatures dipping into the 30s. Brrrrrrrrrrrr!