Twenty-four thousand souls filled half of Target Field today to witness the Twins' 8-2 whipping of Detroit. The five-run eighth that blew open the game, indeed the final score, will be lost to history as Minnesota drifts into the cellar and Detroit to the top of the AL Central standings.
Witnesses to this event are likely to remember little of the contest but this -- the weather. It was another raw, windy, miserable early-April day in Minneapolis more conducive to sleigh riding than to the Boys of Summer. And yet it counted in the standings.
This scene is being played out across the Northeast and Midwest in places like Chicago and New York and Pittsburgh and Cincinnati. And while Mark Twain's lament about weather discussions being all talk and no action was facetious, a real American today has the right to a serious complaint about MLB's weather-related actions.
Consider this: Road teams this week included Miami, San Diego, Houston and Los Angeles, where Spring is fully sprung and ready for action. How hard would it be to rejigger the schedule so most early- and mid-April (and late September) games occur in warm weather? It would mean the Indians and Rockies and their ilk would wait until late April for their home opener, but they would avoid snow-outs and home field shivering. It would also mean fewer summertime games in the Dallas sauna, the Phoenix microwave and the San Francisco refrigerator.
Assembling a schedule among 30 businesses is a massive juggling act, particularly with all the other considerations, like avoiding dueling home games by teams that share markets. But wouldn't MLB like to have comfortable customers filling the other half of their stadiums?
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