Franklin P. Adams, a columnist and noted author of light verse, once wrote this little bit of doggerel:

The Baseball Player

“In the Spring, when it’s cold out,

Appears the baseball holdout.

In the Spring, when it’s warm out,

He gets his uniform out.”

It’s short and sweet, and makes the point that baseball is a great warm weather game. It will not be so great at the Minnesota Twins home opener on Thursday against the Seattle Mariners. The temperatures are not expected to climb much above freezing. I don’t know if baseball is a fun game to play when the high for the day is 35 degrees. It never occurred to me as a kid to play baseball when it was that cold. My mother probably would have hauled me back inside if I tried.

The Twins and their opponents will be risking hypothermia all weekend at Target Field. Fans may even have to take a snow check on Sunday.

Major League Baseball tries to factor in the weather when it sets up its schedules. The Twins spent a week on the road, played its opening series in balmy Baltimore before heading to Pittsburgh for the second series of the season. By April, one would hope the weather would at least be springlike in Minnesota, but no. Winter has a few more body blows to deliver this year.

I have often complained that professional sports seasons should be tied in to nature’s seasons. Football should be played in the cool fall weather, baseball in the spring and summer, and basketball in the winter when it’s too cold to play outside. Hockey, of course, should be played when it’s cold enough for water to freeze and make ice rinks.

We shouldn’t have the Super Bowl in February, or the NBA finals and Stanley Cup finals in June. It’s just not natural.

But is April too soon to start playing baseball in Minnesota? Usually not. You run the risk of cold weather anytime in Minnesota, right on up to June.

If Major League Baseball is taking a risk with early April games in Minnesota, think of what local high school athletic directors have to deal with. Each year they bravely schedule games for early April, knowing full well they will be luck to get half of those games played when they were supposed to be played. There is always a scramble to get those games made up before the end of the school year.

Soon, though, the weather will turn nice, as it always does. The grass will green up, the flowers will start blooming and the long summer nights, aided by Daylight Savings Time, will offer ample opportunities to enjoy baseball as it was meant to be. Until then, bundle up and Play Ball!

——

Kevin Sweeney has been the managing editor of The Journal since May 1985. A native of St. Paul, he worked at newspapers in LeSueur and Albert Lea before moving to New Ulm. Contact him at ksweeney@nujournal.com.

Note: This article was corrected to show Franklin P. Adams was the author of The Baseball Player.