Let's play two? Mets hopeful at snowy Coors

DENVER -- Roughly two hours before Tuesday's scheduled first pitch between the Mets and Rockies, with large piles of snow still covering portions of Coors Field, Mets general manager Sandy Alderson emerged from the clubhouse wielding a shovel. On the field, he joined dozens of Rockies grounds-crew members and front-office staff loading snow onto carts for removal.

"We're pretty tired of sitting at the hotel," manager Terry Collins said. "Everybody wants to get going. This is what they're here for. They're here to go out and play, and to have two days in a row off is unheard of. Now you're looking at the possibility of even more? We've got to go out and play."

Coming off two consecutive postponements in Minneapolis and Denver, and with more snow forecast Tuesday evening into Wednesday, Alderson and the Mets were desperate to play as much of Tuesday's doubleheader as they could. Some players spent Monday evening sampling local restaurants, while others attended a Colorado Avalanche hockey game.

By Tuesday morning, they were all itching to return to the baseball field.

Problem was, the field itself was still blanketed with snow, after roughly half a foot fell on downtown Denver on Monday evening. Dozens of Rockies employees went to work Tuesday morning with shovels, plows and carts, clearing most of the field by noon MT.

At various intervals, Mets players poked their heads out of the dugout to investigate. Back inside the clubhouse, they fretted about their pitching rotation, which has been in flux ever since Sunday's postponement in Minneapolis.

Originally scheduled to pitch Sunday, then Monday, right-hander Dillon Gee instead was slated to start the first game of Tuesday's doubleheader. The Mets decided to keep fifth starter Aaron Laffey in line behind Gee for Game 2, preferring not to mess with their rotation any more than they had to.

To that end, Collins was not willing to alter his management style simply because of the weather.

"The one thing that only bothers me is that we don't make the game a travesty," he said. "The game deserves our respect and should be played properly and under the proper conditions. If [the Rockies'] front office -- and I know they don't want to get anybody hurt either -- if they think it's playable, then it's playable, and we'll just go out and play it."