DENVER -- Outfielder Raimel Tapia expected to experience some firsts when the Rockies called him up this month. But Friday night's unexpected hailstorm during the ninth inning of an 8-7 victory over the Padres wasn't on his list.
"That was my first time," Tapia, a native of the Dominican Republic, said in Spanish, laughing. "I was just sitting there in the dugout, looking at the hail coming down. It was kind of impressive. I didn't try to catch it. It was coming down hard."
Many players from tropical Latin America are introduced to new, often uncomfortable weather, when they come to the United States.