Pitching in a Winter Wonderland

Sometimes I hate Northeast Ohio, and the first week of April is definitely one of those times. Six inches of snow on the ground on the day of the home opener and it's still snowing. Of course, we've got a grand tradition of this kind of thing. Today's Plain Dealer points out that the Indians have played some mighty chilly openers, and have even had a couple snowed out.

But that only scratches the surface when it comes to this town and snowy baseball. How about the 1997 World Series? I don't think I was ever colder at a Browns game than I was watching Jaret Wright take the hill amid the snowflakes in Game 4 that year. I knew I was chilly, but I didn't know I was making history. That turned out to be the coldest game in World Series history.

How about the first series at The Jake when it opened back in 1994? Opening Day was chilly, but clear and pretty nice as early April days go here. The Indians and the Mariners then took a day off, which gave the snow and sleet just enough time to move in. The first night game in Jacobs Field history was to be played on April 6, 1994, but it was postponed by snow. You can look it up. They got the game in the next night, but the conditions weren't much more auspicious, at least according to Jack Morris, who pitched that night.

Watching a ball game in a snowstorm doesn't exactly make you want to scream "PARTY!", but if that isn't enough to put a damper on today's festivities, some genius scheduled the game on the most solemn day on the Christian calendar. I mean, c'mon, Good Friday?! I don't know about you guys, but that's a day of fast and abstinence for us mackerel snappers. That means no dogs and definitely no beer.

Anyway, it looks like the fates have combined to make the home opener not likely to be much fun this year, so I think I'll take a pass. See you guys in church.