Twins push Opening Day back

[wsnydes]

The Twins have announced that Opening Day will be pushed back to April 8th.  

 

[Riverbrian]

It will be hard for me to wait an extra day. 

My internal baseball clock buzzer has been going off for awhile. 

I'm ready to go now

[stringer bell]

One additional day to ponder who is on the Opening Day roster and if there will be any 40-man roster changes. The weather forecast doesn't look great for Friday either. Look for lots of balaclavas on the field on April 8.

[Dave The Dastardly]

23 minutes ago, stringer bell said:

One additional day to ponder who is on the Opening Day roster and if there will be any 40-man roster changes. The weather forecast doesn't look great for Friday either. Look for lots of balaclavas on the field on April 8.

Outdoor baseball! Gotta love it!!

[TopGunn#22]

I kind of expected this.  The weather on Friday won't be "rainy" but it will be COLD (especially if there's any wind).  Still don't understand why "northern" teams don't open on the road in warmer climes as standard operating procedure.  

[Number3]

Not having a roof is worth it for the 20 or so perfect days for outdoor baseball in Minneapolis. The other 61 are rolling the dice and this season is starting late. October end of regular season is also something to look forward to. All of October's games are at Target and may mean a lot against Sox and Tigers. Target has been anything but a home field advantage.

[stringer bell]

18 minutes ago, TopGunn#22 said:

I kind of expected this.  The weather on Friday won't be "rainy" but it will be COLD (especially if there's any wind).  Still don't understand why "northern" teams don't open on the road in warmer climes as standard operating procedure.  

They were scheduled to open on the road. The revised post-lockout schedule starts with what would be the second week of the season. Unfortunately, we're stuck in a weather pattern that is more like late February, early March. As an avid golfer, I look out and mutter every morning!

This is also the price we pay for expanded playoffs. In the 60s when I first started following baseball, the season started in the middle of April. The first Twins game was in New York on April 11, 1961, and the home opener was April 21. 

[wsnydes]

10 minutes ago, Number3 said:

Not having a roof is worth it for the 20 or so perfect days for outdoor baseball in Minneapolis. The other 61 are rolling the dice and this season is starting late. October end of regular season is also something to look forward to. All of October's games are at Target and may mean a lot against Sox and Tigers. Target has been anything but a home field advantage.

I'd disagree with pretty much all of this, but even still, I'll take those 20 perfect days at an outdoor park instead of wasting them inside.  

[PopRiveter]

Works well for me. More convenient a time to skip out form work early and and sip a beer at a local tavern with a real, live Twins game.

I'm more excited for baseball than I've been since 2019 even if it requires a sweater and a toque. (that mean's hat in Canadian)

[Squirrel]

Indoor baseball ... is an oxymoron.

A roof in Minnesota doesn't help the other teams ... who had more postponements due to weather than the Twins. If weather is an argument to roof Target Field, it should also be an argument to roof Comerica, Wrigley, Guaranteed Rate (still an awful name), Progressive, Yankee Stadium ... it's outdoor baseball in April, wherever you are. Weather happens.

GO TWINS!  

[whosafraidofluigirussolo]

Just curious, has it been announced whether Ryan still will start (putting the whole rotation on an extra day of rest) or the Twins skip to whoever was going to start the second game?

[Trov]

38 minutes ago, TopGunn#22 said:

I kind of expected this.  The weather on Friday won't be "rainy" but it will be COLD (especially if there's any wind).  Still don't understand why "northern" teams don't open on the road in warmer climes as standard operating procedure.  

They actually did open on the road in the original schedule, but with lockout those games were cancelled, now to be replayed.  They could not move the whole schedule around, and you cannot start the season where northern outdoor teams play on the road until May.  That would mean, Twins, both Chicago teams, both NY teams, Boston, both PA teams, Nats, Baltimore, Colorado, Detroit, both OH teams, maybe more, all would be playing road games for awhile.  When so many play in same division it makes it hard to match up all those division games later on.  Would you also say road games in September as late September it can get cold again too? 

I read that starting next year the plan is to have a balanced schedule with less division games and playing more interleague play games, this could allow for more planning like having north outdoor teams playing on road, but you need to draw a line somewhere.  Keep in mind, Sunday is supposed to be in high 60's, so a 20 degree difference in just 2 days.  You can not account for all weather issues. 

[terrydactyls]

DirecTV is offering a free look at it's MLB package this weekend.  I predict it will be similar to their free preview of their NHL package when not a single Wild game was aired during the preview.  The MLB preview starts Thursday (already postponed) and runs through the weekend.  You should expect all Twins games to be postponed until the free trial ends.

[wsnydes]

23 minutes ago, Squirrel said:

Indoor baseball ... is an oxymoron.

A roof in Minnesota doesn't help the other teams ... who had more postponements due to weather than the Twins. If weather is an argument to roof Target Field, it should also be an argument to roof Comerica, Wrigley, Guaranteed Rate (still an awful name), Progressive, Yankee Stadium ... it's outdoor baseball in April, wherever you are. Weather happens.

GO TWINS!  

Agreed.  MIlwaukee is the only roofed stadium in the either Central division.  Both teams have to play in the same weather, so I'm not sure how it benefits one team over another.

[Trov]

46 minutes ago, Number3 said:

Not having a roof is worth it for the 20 or so perfect days for outdoor baseball in Minneapolis. The other 61 are rolling the dice and this season is starting late. October end of regular season is also something to look forward to. All of October's games are at Target and may mean a lot against Sox and Tigers. Target has been anything but a home field advantage.

Following this logic, every team should play indoors, other than maybe San Diego, and LA teams.  Every city has weather issues, cold, rain, snow, or other issues throughout the year. Personally, I hated games at the dome.  I went to Brewers game too and hated there even when roof was open, because there was still walls around the field.  Just because there is a sun roof on nice days does not make you indoors.  

I am a firm believer in outdoor baseball.  Just because you can point to some cold days or bad weather does not mean we should have roofs on all fields. 

[AlwaysinModeration]

40 minutes ago, whosafraidofluigirussolo said:

Just curious, has it been announced whether Ryan still will start (putting the whole rotation on an extra day of rest) or the Twins skip to whoever was going to start the second game?

From Do-Hyoung Park’s article:

“Twins manager Rocco Baldelli previously indicated that a change in the schedule will not change his choice for Opening Day starter, with rookie right-hander Joe Ryan still in line to toe the rubber as scheduled.”

[USAFChief]

1 hour ago, whosafraidofluigirussolo said:

Just curious, has it been announced whether Ryan still will start (putting the whole rotation on an extra day of rest) or the Twins skip to whoever was going to start the second game?

In addition to AIM's mention of Ryan still starting the opener, the other starters won't be affected. Friday was a scheduled off day, game 2 was always Saturday. 

 

[howeda7]

3 hours ago, Squirrel said:

Indoor baseball ... is an oxymoron.

A roof in Minnesota doesn't help the other teams ... who had more postponements due to weather than the Twins. If weather is an argument to roof Target Field, it should also be an argument to roof Comerica, Wrigley, Guaranteed Rate (still an awful name), Progressive, Yankee Stadium ... it's outdoor baseball in April, wherever you are. Weather happens.

GO TWINS!  

On the original Twins preferred stadium site, where the Guthrie now is, a roof might have made sense.  It was never an option on the current site. And I hate how Milwaukee and most of the other stadiums look. That plus the fact that it cost an extra $100 million plus, it was never going to happen.

[theBOMisthebomb]

4 hours ago, howeda7 said:

On the original Twins preferred stadium site, where the Guthrie now is, a roof might have made sense.  It was never an option on the current site. And I hate how Milwaukee and most of the other stadiums look. That plus the fact that it cost an extra $100 million plus, it was never going to happen.

That Milwaukee stadium is a real turd. My dad and I went to a game there last season in late April and they kept the roof closed on a beautiful spring night because it was "cool". Never again.