Game-time temperature for the Twins' home opener on Thursday against the Mariners was 38 degreesGetty Images
The big winner so far this MLB season is the weather, as eight games have already been "postponed amid a chilly spring, several others held in frosty settings," according to Ben Walker of the AP. Snow is predicted this weekend for games at Coors Field, Nationals Park and Yankee Stadium, and there is an "outside chance" Target Field this weekend could host the "coldest game on record in major league history." The season began on March 29 and "marked the earliest start date in the majors" outside of games played abroad. White Sox Senior VP & GM Rick Hahn said, "Unless you're going to push back the postseason, which I think is distasteful to a lot of people, or shorten the season, which is probably a long shot, I would say there's probably not much we can do" (AP, 4/6). The game-time temperature for Twins' home opener on Thursday against the Mariners was 38 degrees, the "seventh sub-40 start since the park opened" in '10 (Minneapolis STAR TRIBUNE, 4/6). Temperatures during the Red Sox' home opener against the Rays on Thursday "only reached the low 40s and a brutal wind cut through Fenway Park bleachers" (BOSTON HERALD, 4/6). White Sox TV analyst Steve Stone asked reporter Chuck Garfein during Thursday's broadcast against the Tigers, "Are you as cold as you look, or colder?" Garfein replied, "It's pretty cold" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 4/6).
GETTING OLD FAST: In Detroit, Brian Manzullo notes the Tigers' game Wednesday against the Royals was postponed, the third time in less than a week the team had to "reschedule a game at Comerica Park due to inclement weather." Mazullo: "By 'inclement weather,' we mean near-freezing temperatures, occasional snow showers and 30-mile-an-hour winds that, given all the empty seats at the park, would slap you in the face like a line drive." It is a miracle there have been "only at three postponements." Tuesday's game was "so miserable, it ended in 2 hours and 19 minutes." It "drizzled almost the entire time" and temperatures "topped out in the upper 30s." There were maybe "several hundred fans in the seats." This is the sort of thing that happens when MLB "schedules long homestands in cold-weather cities starting in late March." A big reason for the early start to the season was to "give teams more days off, but it's already backfiring." Now the Tigers have to "play their second doubleheader in three weeks on April 20" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 4/6).
TIMING IS EVERYTHING: In N.Y., Phil Mushnick writes when the regular season starts, MLB, "despite logical options, never gives spring a chance to start up North." The first week-to-10 days -- or the first two series -- "should be played indoors or in warm-climate cities." That would "cut way down on disruptive postponements, make it far more comfy for fans and make better baseball" (N.Y. POST, 4/6). Also in N.Y., Bill Madden writes MLB likely has "plenty of reasons for this scheduling travesty but the fact is there are at least 13 teams either in warm weather cities or with domes." Madden: "There is no reason why the majority of games for the first two weeks of the season can’t be played in places conducive to baseball" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 4/6). In Michigan, Evan Woodbery wrote MLB's schedule makers should "do everything in their power to make sure places like Houston and Tampa and Phoenix get the early games, not places like Minneapolis and Cleveland and Detroit" (MLIVE.com, 4/5). The N.Y. Daily News’ Anthony McCarron said it "seems to make sense to me” to schedule early-season series in warm-weather locales or in domes. McCarron asked, “Why are both New York teams playing their second series of the year in New York?" SNY’s Jonas Schwartz said “people say scheduling gets complicated.” But N.Y. Daily News’ Pat Leonard said with an earlier start date for MLB and said there should have been an "ever bigger emphasis" on avoiding bad weather. SNY’s Sal Licata asked, “How can you accommodate the entire Northeast (with scheduling)?” (“Daily News Live,” SNY, 4/4). SNY’s Marc Malusis asked, “Are you going to avoid all East Coast baseball? Why not start the season later?” He added, “Nobody wants to sit in the snow, 32 degrees outside and watch Major League Baseball" (“Loud Mouths,” SNY, 4/4).
