Thank You, Juan
After the cancellation of Friday's game due to extreme cold, Juan Rincón sounds off on the vagaries of scheduling:
"Am I wrong? I thought we had a dome," pitcher Juan Rincón said. "If we're going to play a series with the White Sox this early, why not in Minnesota, where we still have a dome?
"Tampa Bay opens in New York. Toronto, with a dome, opens in Detroit. I must be getting really stupid, because I don't understand."
Juan, honey, you're not the one who's getting stupid. We've all been scratching our heads over stuff like this (and other such moments of beaurocratic brilliance from the MLB) for years.
3 rejoinders:
I think every club just likes to have a home series as early as possible, to sell tickets before the fans get a real good look at the team, and to put on the Opening Day pagaent while everything is fresh. To hold a home opener 2-3 weeks into the season every year, when your team might already be sinking to the bottom of the division, would be a drag.
Some Northern teams might also feel it would be a disadvantage to begin every season with a long road trip; or, some teams in warmer climes or domes may balk at long homestands to open the season because it means longer roadtrips and fewer homestands in the summertime, which is hard on their players and gives those clubs fewer dates to sell tickets when the kids are out of school.
You have a great point, especially about getting the home opener in while the season's fresh, but the season's still pretty fresh at game #7.
The first week is really two series--usually six games--and that's a pretty standard road trip, there. Half the teams in the league have to start on the road, anyway, so why not pick that half carefully and send 'em out for two series? I don't think anyone's suggesting that cold-climate teams go on four-city tours to start the season.
How much would you expect the weather to change in Cleveland, Detroit, and other Northern cities between April 1 and April 8?
Even if Cleveland had its home opener today, April 10, their field is still in no shape for games and the forecast calls for possible snow tonight. Detroit has the same forecast. Chicago expects rain/snow and wind, temps in the 30's tonight. No snow in Boston and New York, but still cold--temps in the 30's this evening. Pennsylvania will be cold and wet this week; Baltimore/DC expect evening temps in the 40's. (I once went to an April game on a blustery afternoon in Baltimore when the wind chill was in the 20's.) It will be cold and wet all week in Kansas City and St. Louis, too. Temps on the West Coast should be milder, but Seattle and the Bay Area could be chilled by Pacific winds.
It's just going to be awhile before any of those places, at least half the teams in the majors, can typically hope for comfortable baseball weather.
Go On, Spit It Out