MINNEAPOLIS — The meteorologists with the KARE 11 Weather team look forward to Twins Weather Day at Target Field each year in May. We celebrate weather, science and of course, Twins baseball!
Because we couldn’t be at the field this year with students from across Minnesota (and parts of Wisconsin too!) we created a video for you instead. And we asked a bunch of Twins players to help out too!
These players have been swinging the bat since they were itty bitty, so we knew we would get some interesting answers when we asked each of them, “What’s the weirdest weather you’ve ever played baseball in?”
Pitcher Taylor Rogers once saw a haboob while playing in Arizona. A haboob is a huge dust storm, common in dry and sandy parts of the world. Every once in a while, one stirs up in Arizona. Wind gusts from thunderstorm clouds stir up the dust, sand and soil on the dry land and carry it high into the air. The result is what looks like a wall of dust moving in.
Miguel Sano said he once played in a game so cold that he was breaking bats left and right. And temperature does play a factor in breaking bats. When the temperature is really cold, both the bat and the ball are more dense than if the air was warm. In other words, they are harder. The impact of the cold bat on a cold ball results in the bat breaking far more often than in hot weather.
We also asked the Twins players what their ideal baseball weather is. As you might imagine, many of their answers line up with what we would say is the best weather for watching baseball!
Check out our Twins Weather Day video with your favorite players and the whole KARE 11 Weather team for more baseball and weather science.
We will see you next year at Target Field! We can’t wait!