Updraft: July 3, 2009 Archive

A baseball memory from a cold July 4th

Posted at 9:22 AM on July 3, 2009 by Mark Seeley (0 Comments)

The July 4th holiday fell on a Tuesday back in 1967. What a cold Tuesday it was, one of the coldest in the modern era. Pipestone started the day with a reading of 36 degrees F, while campers at Itasca State Park built fires to stay warm with 35 degrees F. Further north in Baudette and Orr it was just 34 degrees F.

In the Twin Cities the Old Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington hosted a double header between the Twins and the Yankees with nearly 25,000 fans in attendance. The Twins were contending that year for the American League Pennant (they ended up finishing 1 game behind the Boston Red Sox), and Rod Carew was having a great year, later rewarded by being named AL Rookie of the Year.

But this July 4th baseball doubleheader was the coldest ever played at the Old Met. During this doubleheader the temperature fluctuated between 55 and 58 degrees F under overcast skies with easterly winds of 8-10 mph. Many of the fans were wearing sweatshirts and jackets, and the pitchers wore their warm up jackets between innings. Despite two homeruns by Mickey Mantle, the Twins won the first game (8-3) behind Tony Olivia (HR,2 RBI) and Cesar Tovar (3 hits, 3 RBI), and 9 strong innings from Mudcat Grant. In the second game, after 3 hours and 15 minutes Tony Olvia hit a single to right field to score Cedar Tovar in the bottom of the 9th inning as the Twins won (7-6) for reliever Al Worthington.

In all the Twins fans endured nearly 6 hours of baseball that day in some of the coldest July weather in history. Most who attended remember the game for two reasons: a rare sweep of the Yankees; and the cold, cold weather. Perhaps such memories will be in the making for the new Twins Stadium starting next year.

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Baseball weather

Posted at 4:53 PM on July 3, 2009 by Paul Huttner (0 Comments)

Target Field rendering shows outdoor baseball under a Minnesota sky. (Image courtesy Minnesota Twins)

Baseball fans in Minnesota are about to undergo a change in thinking. The days of baseball under a Teflon sky will come to an end this fall. Starting next year, Twins fans will be enjoying the full menu of all the weather Minnesota has to offer.

That will be a new thing for baseball fans younger than 37 years. There will be sunny brilliant days, rainy days and maybe even a snowflake or two. From my look at Target Field, the Twins have done a pretty good job of designing a ball park that will take in the best weather Minnesota has to offer and shield fans from the worst. Yes there will still be rain delays, and fans will have to get used to that again. There will be plenty of places to run and hide or grab a beverage on those days. From an overall weather enjoyment standpoint, Target Field looks like a home run to me. The designers have oriented the stadium and the design to create a pretty good microclimate to shield the chilly northwest winds of spring and fall, and shade the hot sun of July.

There are a lot of weather dependant decisions that go into your average outdoor sporting event. There are people behind the scenes that have to make critical decisions at a moments notice.

That's why many MLB teams use a variety of sources for weather support. These range from NWS data to in house weather radar systems and private weather consultants. As with everything in weather no one of these sources may be right 100% of the time. But the batting average is much higher than the best hitters in baseball, and that can save hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars over the course of a season or two.

For my money there will be nothing better than to sit at an outdoor ballgame on a beautiful Minnesota day. The real test for fans will be to see how well we adapt to those weather days that aren't so "Minnesota Nice." I'm guessing most Minnesotans will take it in stride, just like we do every other outdoor event during a Minnesota summer.

PH

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