MLB just canceled the most games in nearly 10 years
Spring is the perfect time of the year for sunshine, cleaning the house, baseball … and apparently lots of severe inclement weather postponements.
In a big move, MLB has canceled and rescheduled six games on Sunday. The slate of games would’ve included some of baseball’s biggest stars, including Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani, Kris Bryant and countless others.
It’s the most games MLB has had to postpone since late 2008, according to ESPN.
A split double-header between the New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers was canceled due to weather. It was only a double-header in the first place because Saturday’s game had to be rescheduled due to rain.
Meanwhile, the Toronto Blue Jays — who were slated to visit the Cleveland Indians — have now seen both their Saturday and Sunday games postponed to May 3 due to inclement weather.
The Atlanta Braves’ game against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field was pushed back due to the cold and the rain. The Braves and the Cubs were already very unhappy that they had to play on Saturday amid a 28-degree wind chill and lingering mist.
“I mean, (the infielders) literally froze up. You just don’t want anybody to tear their shoulder up or anything like that,” Braves manager Brian Snitker told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Sports Illustrated speculated the only reason the teams played was because the current series represents Atlanta’s sole visit to Chicago and Sunday’s forecast didn’t make it seem any more likely that the game would be played.
The other Chicago team, the White Sox, also had their game against the Minnesota Twins postponed, although that game wasn’t in Chicago. It was supposed to take place in Minneapolis, but a heavy snowstorm meant there was no way it would go on as scheduled.
Minneapolis has declared a SNOW EMERGENCY effective beginning at 9 p.m. Sunday, April 15. pic.twitter.com/rKJ6riJwKU
— Minneapolis Snow Emergency (@MinneapolisSnow) April 15, 2018
The Los Angeles Angels were supposed to face the Royals in Kansas City, but that game was canceled and rescheduled due to snow.
The two teams actually already played in the snow on Saturday. The Angels won 5-3, extending the Royals’ losing to streak to five games, but the matchup still included the very neat visual of Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas hitting a home run in the snow.
This is what it looks like at Kauffman Stadium, on a pitch Mike Moustakas hit over the wall ❄️: pic.twitter.com/xN9pLLIh4z
— TOM MARTIN (@TwoCirclesTom) April 15, 2018
In the grand scheme of things, this probably won’t mean much for MLB. It’s doubtful that months from now, baseball fans will remember that day in April where a near-historic number of games were postponed.
But it will be interesting to see any future measures MLB takes to ensure that canceled games don’t become the norm.
More indoor stadiums and minor scheduling tweaks could be incoming if the next several seasons all experience similar rescheduling issues.
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