Game 1 of the American League Championship Series will be played under a closed roof.
The Houston Astros announced today that Game 1 of the American League Championship Series against the Texas Rangers will be played under a closed roof at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas.
Houston is expected to experience unseasonably chilly temperatures of 21 degrees Fahrenheit at approximately 7:00 p.m. for the game. Accordingly, the game will be played with the roof closed.
Minute Maid Park is a retractable ballpark, but due to the hot and humid weather in the Houston area during the summer, it is common for teams to play with the roof closed.
Like other teams with retractable stadiums, the Astros prefer to close the roof in the postseason. This is because a closed roof creates a more favorable environment for the home team with the roar of the crowd.
In their last Division Series against the Minnesota Twins, they closed the roof in Game 1 and opened it in Game 2. Coincidentally, they won the game with the roof closed and lost the game with it open.
Houston manager Dusty Baker previously explained in an interview prior to Game 2 of the Division Series on April 9 that the decision to open or close the roof is “a league office decision.”
“It depends (on whether the roof is open or closed),” he said at the time. “When you open the roof, the wind comes in and then it bounces back out. It’s a little bit like Milwaukee’s home ballpark. In Arizona, the distance the ball travels (with the roof open or closed) also changes. It creates a sort of wind tunnel. Sometimes the wind blows in a different direction than where the flag is flying,” he said, explaining the differences. 메이저사이트
On this day, there was no wind to worry about. In addition, the home fans’ cheers echoed off the roof.
“I think it has a lot to do with it,” Baker said in an interview before Game 1 of the Championship Series. I don’t think there’s anything like the energy that comes from the crowd,” Baker said.
He went on to draw comparisons between 2020 and now, when he played without a crowd due to the coronavirus pandemic. “It was a completely different feeling, a different baseball. It’s a different feeling, it’s a different game,” he said of the power of the crowd’s chants, adding that they bring positive energy, and from there, positive results.
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