Opening Day of the Major League Baseball season may be celebrated as an unofficial national holiday,but that doesn't mean spring weather hasn't occasionally thrown a monkey wrench into the festivities.
With the exception of a couple of games already played in Tokyo,Japan,Thursday kicks off baseball's 2025 regular season for most teams.
Only a few minor weather headaches are possible this Opening Day,so let's take a look back at when the weather didn't exactly cooperate.
Last Year:A Pair Of Rainouts
Opening Day games in New York (Milwaukee Brewers vs. the Mets) and Philadelphia (Atlanta Braves vs. the Phillies) were postponed due to rain last March 28.
New York's LaGuardia Airport picked up 0.76 inches of rain that day. Philadelphia only managed 0.07 inches of rain,but also winds as high as 20 mph.
2018:An Awful Spring Start
There were two rainouts – Cincinnati and Detroit – on Opening Day,March 29,2018.
That was only the start of a challenging stretch to get games in around the weather.
The New York Yankees'home opener in the Bronx on April 2 was snowed out. Central Park's 5.5 inches of snow that day marked the city's snowiest April day in 36 years,and more than the average for the entire month of March.
In the first three and a half weeks of the 2018 season,there were 28 games postponed by weather. That included six games postponed on Sunday,April 15,alone,including a doubleheader in Detroit and games in Chicago,Cleveland,Kansas City and Minneapolis.
2007:Series Snowed Out
That photo from Yankee Stadium is impressive. But any Cleveland baseball fan who has followed the team over at least the last 18 years will likely raise their hand and mention 2007.
There may not have been a worse stretch of Opening week weather in any recent year other than early April 2007 in Cleveland.
It started with the team's home opener on April 6. Cleveland pitcher Paul Byrd was just one strike away from the game becoming official in the fifth inning – a no-hitter,no less – when visiting Seattle Mariners'manager Mike Hargrove insisted the game should be delayed due to snow. An hour and 17 minutes later,the game was officially suspended.
The snow and cold lingered for three more days,wiping out the entire series with Seattle. After a foot of snow blanketed the field,Cleveland ended up moving their following three-game home series to Milwaukee's Miller Park,which has a retractable roof,in a bit of Major League coincidence.
Other Opening Day Oddities
Ask any Baltimore Orioles fan and they'll probably mention 2003 as the most memorable weather-related Opening Day.
The game started with sunshine,but by the third inning,the snow started and in a matter of minutes became a heavy snow shower. Orioles pitcher Rodrigo Lopez said in the interview below that it was hard to see the signs from his catcher,so he figured it would be easy to get the Cleveland batter,Ellis Burks,out.
Except Burks lined a shot to right field into the snowy kaleidoscope. Orioles outfielder Jay Gibbons couldn't see the baseball and it took first base umpire Chuck Meriwether a few seconds to rule it was a fair ball.
After a snow delay,the Orioles prevailed in 13 innings,6-5.
Milwaukee Brewers fans in the 1970s may tell Orioles fans reminiscing about snowy Opening Days to "hold my beer."Among the many challenges in April Wisconsin weather before Miller Park (now American Family Field) and its retractable roof were built,1973 was probably the worst case. Almost a foot of snow fell in Milwaukee the day before Opening Day 1973,and snow kept falling the next three days.
After the storm,knee-deep snow buried some seating areas of County Stadium. Up to 200 people helped clear both the field and stands as best as possible,including former owner and MLB Commissioner Bud Selig. That's something you're used to seeing fans of the Buffalo Bills or Green Bay Packers do.
According to the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel,a helicopter had to be brought in on the morning of the rescheduled opener three days later to act as a giant dryer because the field was so soggy,even though it was covered by a tarp during the storm.
But the weirdest Opening Day weather story,by far,happened in 1907.
Prior to the April 11,1907,opener between the host New York Giants and Philadelphia Phillies,a snowstorm hit the tri-state area,with 5 inches reported at New York's Central Park.
According to the Baseball Hall of Fame,grounds crews shoveled the accumulated snow into large piles in foul territory and deep into the outfield. But late in the game with the home team behind 3-0,frustrated fans first threw snowballs onto the field,then spilled onto the diamond in a large snowball fight.
Police struggled to restore order and after being hit with a snowball,home plate umpire Bill Klem announced the Giants would forfeit the game to the Phillies.
Jonathan Erdman is a senior meteorologist at www.weathernow24.com and has been covering national and international weather since 1996. Extreme and bizarre weather are his favorite topics. Reach out to him on Bluesky,X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook.
