What Drought?

I've been waiting to be a part of history at a baseball game, but a rainout isn't exactly what I had in mind. This past weekend, I had two games rained out due to an abnormal summer monsoon system. I went all the way up to the High Desert for a wash out, and, for the first time in 20-years, the Angels rained out against the Red Sox.

Aside from the frustration of going to the ballparks and watching the rain ruin the day, I got to thinking of the weather-related experiences I've had on Baseball Road Trips. I've had a number of rain outs, but my mind is fixating on a few notable events from the past. 

I think the most significant event was my visit to Wrigley Field in 2009. Let me paint a picture for you: night game at Wrigley, crosstown rivalry with White Sox and Cubs, and tickets in the bleachers. I remember walking from my hotel in Wrigleyville about a mile from the park. As I was walking, I saw the storm roll in, and my anxiety creep in. I got to Wrigley and toured the famous venue, but the dreaded words of "Postponed due to Rain" still agonize me to this day. I was so devastated. 

The next day was an adventure too. I left Chicago and took the train to St. Louis to see the Cardinals play at Busch Stadium. While the rain held off, it was the tornado warnings that freaked me out. Being a small-town kid from Oregon, I had no idea what to do in a tornado. After the game at Busch Stadium, I was walking back to the hotel when the sirens went off. I ran back to my room and held up in the bathroom. A tornado touched down about 20-miles from me, but it was freaky to think of something so destructive being so close. 

Sometimes the weather is linked to inevitable dread. It was back in 2010 when I went down to San Francisco for a Road Trip through California. I figured that being June in California, why would I need to pack a jacket? After a beautiful day of sightseeing in San Francisco, my old roommate and I made our way to AT&T Park to see the A's-Giants tilt. We had seats in the left field bleachers, and around the 3rd inning, I saw the fog creep in over the city and into the China Basin. It was a slow, inexcorable, crawl over the beautiful city. Yeah, I froze my butt off. It was miserable. Lesson learned: Mark Twain wrote that "the coldest winter he ever felt was a summer in San Francisco." 

The flip side to the freezing cold is oppressive heat. Living here in the Inland Empire, I've been to some pretty toasty games. The award for hottest game may have to belong to Palm Springs. Any game in the summer is brutal there, but last year's 112-degree scorcher was the winner. Luckily, the misters at Palm Springs make watching games there really nice, but riding my bike during the day was all I could really handle. 

What are some of your weather stories at baseball games?

This weekend is my last 66ers/Angels Circuit for the season. It's hard to believe that it's almost August and that there are fewer days of the season in front than behind. I really developed a great routine for these weekends, and I can't wait to plan them again for next year. 

Always take on a 3-0 pitch ;)