Excessive heat knocks out trio of MLB players at Wrigley Field
Remember all the talk about how the baseball season was being ruined by cold weather and a record number of cancellations?
With scorching temperatures over the last few days, MLB is now having another problem — keeping players on the field.
Three members of the Minnesota Twins left Saturday’s game against the Chicago Cubs game due to heat exhaustion. The Cubs pulled center fielder Albert Almora in the fifth inning due to cramping.
At the start of the game, the temperature at Chicago’s Wrigley Field was a robust 96 degrees. For the players, it felt worse, with a heat index of 107.
Outfielder Eddie Rosario hit a home run in the top of the fifth inning. In the bottom of the fifth, he fielded a base hit, then left the game.
Catcher Bobby Wilson and outfielder Max Kepler also exited early due to the heat.
After catching a 50-pitch fifth inning, Wilson drew a walk in the sixth inning. But when the inning was over, so was his day.
“I just couldn’t catch my breath,” Wilson said after the game. “My heart was fluttering. I felt dizzy. Started getting a headache. Just couldn’t even hold a conversation in the dugout.”
The three Minnesota players were all treated with IV’s, and said to be fine.
The Cubs pounded out 20 hits en route to a 14-9 victory. But after the win, Chicago manager Joe Maddon said he felt bad for all of the players.
“That was a pretty brutal day,” Maddon said. “If you put that on AstroTurf, that would have been like the worst ever.”
In a tweet after the game, Twins broadcaster Dick Bremer said some members of the Twins organization believe MLB should consider postponing day games played in extremely hot conditions.
Commentary from the Twins clubhouse after today's game strongly suggests MLB needs to seriously consider postponing games because of extreme heat as they do for extreme cold. We shouldn't need tragedy to a player or fan to react with common sense.
— Dick Bremer (@dbremer_pxp) June 30, 2018
Rosario, who is an all-star candidate with 18 home runs, was back in the lineup Sunday.
You can be sure all of MLB will be happy playing night games during this stretch of blistering weather.
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