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| Photo Credit: Adam Rubin |
One week before actual games are scheduled to be played outside, the thermometer reads 1 degree fahrenheit.
Pitching injuries are at an all-time high in Major League Baseball, and that’s even with optimal conditions. Expecting 18-22 arms to be prepared for the polar vortex is irrational and ludicrous.
There appears to be an easy fix, and it doesn’t involve spending $634 million on a venue.
Football is a sport that is not dependent upon ideal weather conditions. A playoff game was once played with a wind chill of -48 degrees. By the way, it was a sellout of over 50,000 fans.
Simply put, football is meant to be played in the cold.
During a college season, however, the practices begin in the suffocating summer heat. The opening weekend is the last week of August. The regular season concludes at the end of November. That is with teams playing one game per week.
My proposition is to switch the seasons, and begin the college baseball season during the last weekend of August and conclude it on Halloween weekend.
“I’ve been saying this for five years,” said Dowling Head Coach Tom Caputo.
According to historical data, the average temperature in New York during August is a low of 68 degrees with a high of 83. The season would conclude during a month that has a low of 50 degrees and a high of 64 degrees.
That beats playing games like this.
The seasons have shifted, and it basically doesn’t become bitterly cold until December. It makes no sense to subject players–and especially pitchers–to brutally cold temperatures at the end of February. Here’s a look at the lows and highs of each month in New York.
high low
January 38 27
February 42 29
March 50 35
April 61 45
May 71 54
June 79 64
July 84 69
August 83 68
September 75 61
October 64 50
November 54 42
December 43 32
