I have tickets tonight for the Twins game, and the temperatures will be chilly, and rain and wind are on their way. Today, ESPN1500’s Judd Zulgad lamented the MLB’s scheduling so many home games in Minnesota, saying that there was no excuse for stacking home games in Minnesota in April.
Well, first, let me say that it is patently unfair to treat any one team differently than another when creating schedules. It can significantly impact team revenue, fan interest, and of course, on field performance. There are perpetual climatological obstacles that influence all markets, and people don’t try to schedule around those. The summer heat in Texas, hurricane season in Florida, or the return of winter to the north in late September and October. Surely, we wouldn’t make Minnesota play most of their games on the road late in the season, lest they find themselves in a pennant race, would we? Why are so many people intent on cherry picking the cool weather of April in Minnesota as such an inhospitable environment?
My point, however, is this. How inhospitable is Minnesota, really? In their three years at Target Field, only once has a game been canceled or postponed due to wintry weather, and that was this year. This year is exceedingly unusual. It is one of the 10 coldest Aprils of all time in Minnesota. Today, for example, we are nearly 20 degrees below normal. If today was normal, it would be almost 60. That’s baseball weather. This is the coldest April 17th we have had in 10 years. In that time, we have had more days over 70 than under 50.
The cold weather is not a big deal. It’s unpleasant, when it happens, but it just doesn’t happen often enough to change the way we do things.
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