The excitement is definitely building as the 2010 home opener for the Minnesota Twins is played outdoors. The home opener is on April 12th against the Boston Red Sox.
It’s been a long time since the Twins have played an outdoor game at home. In fact if you’re younger than 35, chances are you don’t remember a Twins home game played outdoors. If you’re younger than 27 , you will have never been to a Twins outdoor baseball game that’s played at home.
Well, that’s all about to change. Outdoor major league baseball is finally coming back to Minnesota for the first time in 28 years! Also for the first time in years we could have weather that will delay or postpone our home baseball games. Minnesotans are going to need to re-learn how to dress for the weather when they now go to the ball park.
Minnesota receives a lot of attention when it comes to cold weather. Many who have never been to Minnesota think it’s nothing more than some sort barren tundra where nothing can grow. Many will also wonder how we’ll ever survive in an outdoor ballpark.
We thought it would be interesting to compare the average temperatures in the Twin Cities to other MLB cities around the country. Obviously those locations below the Mason-Dixon line will be warmer. But, when you compare the MLB cities above the Mason-Dixon line, there’s actually very little difference in average temperatures between the Twin Cities and other northern MLB cities.
The following is a chart that illustrates how the temperatures in the Twin Cities compare to those other cities. This is data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
| City | Ave. Monthly Temp (°F) | ||
| April | July | Oct | |
| Boston, Mass. | 48 | 74 | 54 |
| Chicago, Ill. | 48 | 73 | 52 |
| Cleveland, Ohio | 48 | 72 | 52 |
| Denver, Colo. | 48 | 73 | 51 |
| Detroit, Mich. | 48 | 74 | 52 |
| Milwaukee, Wisc. | 45 | 72 | 51 |
| Minneapolis–St. Paul, Minn. | 47 | 73 | 49 |
| New York, N.Y. | 53 | 77 | 57 |
| Pittsburgh, Pa. | 50 | 73 | 53 |
| San Francisco, Calif. | 56 | 63 | 61 |
| Seattle-Tacoma, Wash. | 50 | 65 | 53 |
The Twin Cities and Milwaukee are the closest, both proximity and temperature wise. The Twin Cities are two degrees warmer than Milwaukee in April, but two degrees cooler in October. During the summer, the Twin Cities are actually warmer than Cleveland, San Francisco and Seattle-Tacoma, and are the exact same average temperature as Chicag0, Denver and Pittsburgh.
So all-in-all, outdoor baseball in the Twin Cities is going to be great AND will not be nearly as cold as everyone thinks. For the 2010 season, the Minnesota Twins are on track to go well over 3 million in attendance. Those are big city numbers and it’s going to be a thrill for all of us to watch baseball as it should be played, outside. Let’s play ball!