Dodgers, Rockies avoid snow delay after believe-it-when-you-see-it rally from grounds crew

Spring is the season that marks the return of baseball, but it also marks the return of soggy weather as the temperatures change dramatically. The Los Angeles Dodgers probably thought that they were going to be able to avoid spring storms with their road trip to take on the Rockies. While they did technically avoid a rain delay, the weather in Denver had a trick up its sleeve.

You are not hallucinating. That is snow on the ground at the stadium in the middle of April and a good bit of it. No word yet on how Emmet Sheehan's snowman turned out, although his form looked good in that short clip and he seemed focused on the task at hand. It looks like he is having a great time.

It looked like there was no way this game was going to go forward, even hours before first pitch. But the Rockies' grounds crew did their jobs — and they did it very well. When all hope looked lost, they had not just the entire field but most of the stands clear of snow.

Dodgers, Rockies narrowly avoid a rare snow delay after huge effort from Colorado's grounds crew

Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register testified to not only the Rockies' employees but the brass' desire to do whatever was necessary to get players onto the field. "I was here for a day game when the front office and even ownership family were on the field helping grounds crew shovel off snow," he wrote. "They played that day."

The fact that those terrifyingly gray clouds overhead cleared up helped with the snow, but it couldn't do anything for the temperature. The thermostat at first pitch read 35 degrees, the coldest start in Dodgers' recorded history. It tops a previous franchise record — also set in Colorado — of 37 degrees on April 21, 2004.

Tomoyuki Sugano, who has been lights out since he signed with the Rockies, faced off against fellow countryman Shohei Ohtani for the fifth time in their respective careers, and Ohtani didn't miss. Despite the cold being mightily inhospitable to all involved, Ohtani shot a double into right field to lead off the game. Freddie Freeman brought him home on a double of his own.

The cold isn't going to get to these Dodgers, but a hat tip goes to the staff at Coors Field who made it possible.

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