If you have ever been to a major league baseball game, you know the thrill of going to the stadium. The size and wonder of the building, the smell, and the excitement. If you have been lucky enough, you have been to an indoor stadium. I love watching a baseball game from an indoor stadium. But what is the deal with indoor stadiums? Why do some baseball clubs have them?
What Use Are Indoor Stadiums?
The first thing you will notice about an indoor stadium is that it is more effective in all kinds of weather. Not every team has a stadium that has a retractable roof that can close over the field and make the area an indoor arena, but the ones that do have it for a reason.
There are currently six major league baseball stadiums out of the thirty that currently have roofs that can close up and make the stadiums indoor stadiums. These six stadiums have various reasons for having the retractable roofs.
Credit: www.samsungcntblog.com
In a couple of the places such as in Miami and Houston, the enclosures help fans and players manage the heat, humidity and rain. In Houston, the rain falls during baseball season and can gather nearly seven inches of precipitation. Without the retractable roof, there would be many more games called because of the weather, or postponed. The games can go uninterrupted once covered.
The rain is even a bigger issue in Miami than it is in Houston. In Miami, it rains nearly every other day during the baseball season in Miami, and can average over 9 inches. The heat and humidity combine to make this a very uncomfortable atmosphere, not only for players but fans alike. This can really hamper the baseball season.
There is another indoor stadium in Phenix, although not for exactly for the same reason as the ones in Houston and Miami. In places in the southwest desert like Phoenix the heat can be the primary problem. The heat can reach over one hundred degrees during baseball season. Even if games are played at night, the heat can be nearly unbearable at the time of the first pitch. The ceiling can mitigate this heat and make it far better to play and more bearable for fans to go watch games.
Credit: japanryan.blogspot.com
In other places like Toronto and Milwaukee, they have the entirely the opposite the problem. Milwaukee has temperatures just above freezing near the start of baseball season, and Toronto is even closer to the freezing point. There can even be snow in these places that come out and interrupt the games. The roofs close up and help keep the players and fans alike warm and out of the snow so the game can go on.
How Do The Roofs Affect My Enjoyment Of The Game?
Well, the first thing you may encounter if you are a fan of a team that happens to have a retractable roof is that ticket prices may be affected. Not only are the stadiums themselves quite costly, but conditioning the environment in the stadium can cost a pretty penny. These extra costs are often passed directly to the fans buying tickets.
If you look at ticket prices from all around the MLB, you will see that Miami and Houston often have tickets that are on the most expensive side. Both of these places have the enclosed stadiums. These higher costs are usually at the start of the season, but as the season continues and they need the roofs less the price drops.
Credit: unclemikesmusings.blogspot
You can see this trend at all of the stadiums. During times where they tend to close up the stadiums more often the ticket prices rise.
Are There Problems With Indoor Stadiums?
The biggest problem people may have with the indoor stadiums is that it is difficult to have life grass on the field. The solution many stadiums have come to is by having astroturf on their field instead. Players and fans dislike astroturf for various reasons. Some of the indoor stadiums try to let in enough sun to grow natural grass, but this is not always possible.
Inside Baseball
Indoor stadiums exist for a number of reasons. There are some in places where the rain is too much and would impede the game quite often. In other places where the heat is too overbearing, they also look to indoor stadiums to alleviate the weather conditions and let the players and fans enjoy the game in comfort. There are other places where they have a very different problem. The colder areas have indoor stadiums as well to make sure that the players and fans don’t freeze during games and that the game is not impeded by snow.
Indoor stadiums can contribute to higher costs for fans and some accommodations such as fake grass. These drawbacks can hinder the enjoyment of the game, but in the end, the rain heat and cold would halt the game altogether, so it’s better to have a game with those hindrances than no game at all.
