The Only Baseball Game Played in the Snow Was At Toronto’s Exhibition Stadium

A snowstorm didn’t stop the American League debut of MLB in Canada.

by Rich Watson 

The Toronto Blue Jays entered Major League Baseball as an expansion team in 1976. A plan to move the Giants from San Francisco was blocked due to a court ruling. The Canadian metropolis was awarded an original team instead, in a wave that also gave birth to the Seattle Mariners.

The name “Blue Jays” had been used by the Phillies in the fifties for a time, but Torontonians selected it as part of a fan contest.

Canadian National Exhibition Stadium, a football venue built in 1948, was the chosen home site. It had been outfitted recently with AstroTurf, new at the time. The city council had also approved $2.8 million (Canadian) for stadium renovation.

An expansion draft assembled the players, among them Vancouver native Dave McKay. A schedule was drawn up, and tickets sold. The new team would play its first game on April 7, 1977 against the White Sox.

Everything went fine—as long as no one looked at the weather forecast.

That Time When a Game at The Astrodome Was Rained Out

The Astrodome was built to avoid weather issues. How could a ballgame get called on account of rain?

by Rich Watson

The Astros were born in 1962 as the Colt .45s, and the city of Houston was glad to have them. Watching games at Colt Stadium, though, was like sitting in a sauna. During the heart of the summer, game-time temperatures in the upper nineties were not unusual.

When co-owner Roy Hofheinz visited the Roman Colosseum, he learned it used to have an awning, called a velarium, to shield the audience from the sun. As a result, he financed and developed the creation of the Astrodome, the first domed sports stadium in the world. 

Prior to Opening Day 1965, the legendary Satchel Paige test-pitched within the dome’s $4.5 million dollar air-conditioning system. He declared it a “pitcher’s paradise.” 

The Colt .45s became the Astros. The dome opened in April. Soon it was also home to the NFL Oilers and many pro and college teams.

Games and other events could be watched at a comfortable seventy-three degrees. Mother Nature, it seemed, had been conquered—until a bizarre incident during the Bicentennial year of 1976.