I thought last year's double-header opener was the worst with high 40's, spitting rain/sleet and biting winds, but son's freshman opener scheduled for this evening looks worse. They haven't called the game yet(although the drizzle is off and on all day), and the field may be playable, BUT temps at game time look to be 40-43 w/sustained 25+ MPH winds. Curious to hear the most challenging conditions you've been a part of.
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I live in Northern New England - that's mid-season weather you're having. Kidding aside - it's definitely unpleasant, I've been in your shoes. Have many photos of both boys playing with big snow piles in the background.
9and7dad posted:I live in Northern New England - that's mid-season weather you're having. Kidding aside - it's definitely unpleasant, I've been in your shoes. Have many photos of both boys playing with big snow piles in the background.
Thanks for the perspective 9and7! And even colder for longer for those players north of the border! I will grab my gloves, hat and go enjoy some baseball, rain permitting. As a side note, I looked up the coldest game in MLB history--Rockies vs Braves April of 2013 I believe. Game time temps 23-25!!!! HOLY COW--forget the ice-cold Budweiser!
I've seen more than my share of cold games, and learned early on (son's college freshmen year) to wear many layers and bring everything possible to stay warm including a below-zero sleeping blanket. I can't say we weren't warned about cold northeast games when my son was being recruited. One of the local (Virginia D1 coaches who was from the northeast) used that as a competitive talking point to my son. The point was lost on my son who didn't care for the coach's approach for bad mouthing other schools.
None the less, I very vividly recall a college home game 40 degree weather with rain on April 1, 2012 in upstate NY. They kept bring out turf dry for the pitching mound between innings. My son was pitching in short sleeves. He was in the zone. I was sitting in the parking deck watching the game with my teeth chattering trying to have a conversation with the Softball coach. My wife was in the stands behind homeplate with my son's girlfriend and an umbrella. Nobody was warm except my son who seemed oblivious to the brutal weather.
So, this begs the point....who is more comfortable in cold weather? I think it is a big advantage to the pitchers as they can pitch inside more frequently and make the hitters very uncomfortable. Hitters that can't barrel up a ball get a very unpleasant experience with their hands.
In general I think it's the pitcher's advantage too. Not only for the reasons Fenway mentions but they are active and constantly working when on the mound, and between innings they get to bundle up in the dugout rather than be at the plate, on deck, or on the bases. It can get pretty windy and cold for defensive players on the field often without a lot of movement. The only pitcher disadvantage, at least for my son, is I know he feels like he can never get truly loose unless it's warm out. It's probably in his head, but he does love the heat.
I live in Minnesota, so i've been in plenty of cold weather games in April.
The worst was a Tournament in Fort Dodge Iowa 4 years ago, early April, 40 degrees with sustained 35-40 mph winds and drizzle off and on.
Around here, they start cancelling HS games when it drops to freezing before game time. But, I do remember one miserable game when the temp was 32-34 with some of the worst wind we ever played in. Foul balls were starting behind the 1st base bleachers, only to be blown back onto the field. Wind chill had to be low 20's, if not below. Have also been to some mid-week games at Clemson that were just as bad.
DALEX posted:I thought last year's double-header opener was the worst with high 40's, spitting rain/sleet and biting winds, but son's freshman opener scheduled for this evening looks worse. They haven't called the game yet(although the drizzle is off and on all day), and the field may be playable, BUT temps at game time look to be 40-43 w/sustained 25+ MPH winds. Curious to hear the most challenging conditions you've been a part of.
There were two challenging times we survived.
First one was son's college freshman year (home opener). Drove through snow flurries in route to the game. At game time (1st game of DH) it was 38-40 F with sparse flakes coming down. By the beginning of the 2nd game it was down around 34-35 F and we were numb. When coach pulled him from the lineup in the 4th inning of the 2nd game, Ma Ma headed to the car. I, on the other hand, stayed to watch. A group of us Dad's were by that time rooting for the defense of both teams. We wanted the game to end regardless of who won. I would warm up in the car while the pitchers warmed up. Took us 45 minutes to thaw out afterwards.
Second time was his third year of college. Day before the Super Bowl. A bit warmer this time - 48 F at game time. By the time the sun had set, it was the 6th inning (9 inning game) and the temperature was down to ~38 F. By the end of the 2nd game it was close to freezing. Had to take a hot shower at the hotel to warm up. We had come prepared with blankets, warm hats, gloves, and hand warmers. It was worth it though. Son hit a 2 run HR in the 7th inning of the 2nd game that bounced off the top of the wall and out. It ultimately was the game winning hit. He also went 3-7 on the day - 1-4 in the first game and 3-3 with a walk in game 2.
1980 Shea Stadium. 2nd game of the season with about 2,000 people in the place. It was 30 with 20MPH winds. It was like watching a Jets game in December. I bought a 2 hot dogs and they got cold while I fumbled around to get the $2 out of my pocket. The beer I bought actually started to ice up in the cup.
Game was terrible, froze my butt off, tickets were free, skipped school - had a great time with my 3 friends!
We would never practice outside unless the temp. was at least 40. However it was different on game days. We would play in miserable weather. I remember a game we played when the temp was around freezing and the wind was howling. It felt like wind chill might have been below zero. After a few innings it started to sleet. The wind was blowing out to LF and the ice was blowing sideways. I was coaching 3B and the ice was like needles flying into my face. This went on for an inning or so before they took us off the field. We went inside to warm up and get out of the weather. Once the ice stopped we continued the game and going back out there was like torture. We finished the miserable game some how. I have experienced a lot of bad weather, but this was the worst one.
Am I the only parent who tells the kid "I'll be back after the game" and watches it on game changer when it's that cold?
It's HIS team, HIS dream, and HIM that has to freeze his butt off, not me 
Strassburg pitched vs. TCU. Game started at 34 degrees in Ft. Worth. Went down from there and the wind was biting.
My son's HS team in New York City has missed 12 games so far this Spring because of snow, rain, and sub-freezing temperatures. Things are finally looking promising as we head into the second week of April. Once went to a Yankee game with my son -- a bone chilling 40 degrees and rain. Those of us who stayed past the 7th inning were rewarded by the Yankees with free tickets to a future game.
A long down coat with a hood has served me well these last three college seasons. Highly recommend. Just a tad more fashionable than the down mummy sleeping bag I was considering. But not by much.
Any number of games at Candlestick Park in mid-summer.
High school game, 25 degrees with wind blowing. Our guys had a space heater in the dugout (visitor's), home team coach had nothing-showing team how to be tough...but frozen was more like it. We were up by 20 and in the top of the 4th, 3 guys in a row struck out horribly, including my son. Head coach, giving signals, made a "K" with his fingers, signaling for them to strike out so we could get the game over with sooner. Never had seen a 'K" sign before.
11U Tourney at East Cobb, appropriately named Spring Frost. Temps in the 20's, snow delay (not joking), space heaters in dugout and stands, absolute misery!
HS scrimmage (10 [damn] innings) this year. When I got there with 3 layers on my teeth where chattering and I was shaking within 5 minutes. Game time start was maybe 40F with a steady 10-15 mph breeze. By game end (my wife asked to leave half-way, and I graciously accommodated her 
), I was told it was like 35F with a stiffer wind. Many parents were ticked they did not just call the game after 5-6 innings.
My son, the catcher, wore a snowboarding head covering the only let his nose and eyes visible. Never took it off.
Son's first ever "travel" game. Early April....11U game maybe. Waited all day for the call that the game was cancelled. It never came so we jumped in the car and headed to the field. Wind coming out of the North (off of a cold Lake Erie)...and it was miserable. Couldn't understand why we were there. Snow flurries most of the game. After the game, the opposing parents come out with a huge cake. Turns out one of their coaches from the previous year (and his son who was on the team) were moving out of state the next weekend and they both wanted to get one more game in with the team before they moved. At that point, at least playing in the snow made a little more sense and I really couldn't be upset.....I know my son would have wanted the same thing if it was him..... but it didn't make it any warmer.....
First two home weekends in Seattle were tough this year. High 30's, early 40's with wind and full damp. Chill to the bone weather. My wife and I attended all games each weekend and found ourselves still occasionally shivering on Monday and Tuesday following the weekend. While watching TV together in our cozy family room. Brrrr! I cannot imagine how tough that was on players that didn't grow up here playing in that crud every year at the end of the winter.
Played in: Stepped out of the box in Pullman WA. Told the umpire I was having trouble locating the pitch through the snow. It wasn't accumulating. It was the big flake, borderline freezing wet snow..
Watched/son: It was mid 30's and windy in SE PA. It was so windy the flag was straight out and snapping as it flapped. Some of us parents jogged to the foul pole and back between innings.
Watched: About ten years ago, Georgia Tech at BC, 26 degrees. One thing BC has going for it is a high rise parking garage overlooks the field. If you get there early enough to get a great parking space you have your own heated luxury box. I didn't. I left after game one.
Someone asked me if the Georgia people were cold. At a baseball game 26 is cold for everyone.
hahaha... Too many to count at this point in my life! Baseball in NH was an adventure more often than not... Night games when the day temp was maxing at 40 are just brutal. Although there was a "spring break" trip to Myrtle Beach a few years ago where day 1 the temps were in the 70s-80s, but by day 5 it was more like I was used to in NH - 30s, mist, wind, and well miserable.
One thing I have found out though - it takes far less time to cool down from a really hot day/game than it does to warm up after a really cold one. Something about that shivering reflex that the brain cannot overcome for hours!
RJM posted:Played in: Stepped out of the box in Pullman WA. Told the umpire I was having trouble locating the pitch through the snow. It wasn't accumulating. It was the big flake, borderline freezing wet snow..
Watched/son: It was mid 30's and windy in SE PA. It was so windy the flag was straight out and snapping as it flapped. Some of us parents jogged to the foul pole and back between innings.
Watched: About ten years ago, Georgia Tech at BC, 26 degrees. One thing BC has going for it is a high rise parking garage overlooks the field. If you get there early enough to get a great parking space you have your own heated luxury box. I didn't. I left after game one.
Someone asked me if the Georgia people were cold. At a baseball game 26 is cold for everyone.
OMG Pullman is cold even when it's warm!!!
Spectator: Back in my college days went to a Giants/Dodgers night game at the stick. Several beers into it on a very windy night and after the fog had rolled in my buddy bet me $20 I wouldn't take off my shirt for three consecutive outs. Not being in a peak mental state and with $20 being ever so important for more beer I lost the shirt. Unfortunately my timing was off. With 1 out in the top of the 7th I peeled off my sweatshirt and shirt. The Dodgers proceeded to score about 6 or 7 runs before ended that half of the inning. Then there was the 7th inning stretch, then the Giants scored about 6 or 7 before the first out of the inning. I believe there were about 4 or 5 pitching changes in between. I had every fan walking by on the upper deck high fiving me thinking I was some outrageous fan, when I was only in it for beer money. Never again.....unless it was $100.
Okay. Today. Bronx Science against George Washington, one of the most storied of NYC teams -- think Rod Carew and Manny Ramirez -- 46 degrees and windy as hell. GW sits up on a bluff high above the East River exposed to the elements. The game started out competitively, 2-2 through four innings, but turned ugly and took 3 1/2 hours to complete seven innings. Hats were flying off the players heads, and at one point a plastic trash can got picked up and rolled onto the field. Those of us watching were chilled to the bone and crying out in agony every time the umpire called another ball. The strike zone just did not get any bigger as the game wore on and on and on and the sun went down. We're home now trying to thaw out, and have to be at another field tomorrow morning at 8am. Aargh!!
I had a 27-degree college single (thankfully) game last year. Seemed to be going along well, until the VT scored a touchdown and a field goal in the seventh and ninth to make it 15-9. We squeezed a little baseball into that 3:25, too.
Son played in 32 degrees last year in April. Also wife and I went to see the MWC championships last May near Green Bay. It was snowing although not sticking. Being From So. Cal never had that happen. I joked to the coach after the game that our So Cal winters were not this cold. He laughed.
Turf field. Turf had to be cleared of snow the day before the game. The kids arrived to an afternoon game at 9am to shovel the walkways,bullpen and dugout so they and the fans would have access. By fans , I mean me and a few dads who managed to bundle up enough to watch....
When my 2018 was an 8u, our opening game of the season was played in 28 degrees and driving snow with about a 40 mph wind. It was brutal. Every other game in the league had been canceled but ours, for some reason. I was coaching first base. Our dugout was on the third base line. I could hear the crying and wailing from where I was. The other team, wisely, had three heaters in the dugout. We walked the first 17 batters in the first inning. To this day, I can't believe we didn't just insist the game be canceled.
Snow flurries, Artificial Turf field, including Mound. High 20's to low thirties. Wind gusting in the teens. and Swirling.
Spring Baseball in Ohio. This game was late February or early March in Chillicothe.
fenwaysouth posted:I've seen more than my share of cold games, and learned early on (son's college freshmen year) to wear many layers and bring everything possible to stay warm including a below-zero sleeping blanket. I can't say we weren't warned about cold northeast games when my son was being recruited. One of the local (Virginia D1 coaches who was from the northeast) used that as a competitive talking point to my son. The point was lost on my son who didn't care for the coach's approach for bad mouthing other schools.
None the less, I very vividly recall a college home game 40 degree weather with rain on April 1, 2012 in upstate NY. They kept bring out turf dry for the pitching mound between innings. My son was pitching in short sleeves. He was in the zone. I was sitting in the parking deck watching the game with my teeth chattering trying to have a conversation with the Softball coach. My wife was in the stands behind homeplate with my son's girlfriend and an umbrella. Nobody was warm except my son who seemed oblivious to the brutal weather.
So, this begs the point....who is more comfortable in cold weather? I think it is a big advantage to the pitchers as they can pitch inside more frequently and make the hitters very uncomfortable. Hitters that can't barrel up a ball get a very unpleasant experience with their hands.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0009PUR9U/?tag=znt0319-20
This is required gear for baseball in these parts. Once my son was done I donated mine to a poor freshman parent.
The sea was angry that day. Like an old man trying to return soup at a deli.
