Twins' Home Opener set to be one of coldest on record
MINNEAPOLIS -- When the Minnesota Twins welcome the Houston Astros to Target Field on Thursday for the Home Opener, it's going to be less than ideal baseball weather.
The current forecast pegs the high at a breezy 37 degrees, with partly cloudy skies. At least it will likely be dry.
If that high indeed holds, it would be third-coldest outdoor home opener for the Twins on record, per the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. If nothing else, it'll be cheap -- a recent study showed the Twins have the most affordable Home Opener experience in MLB.
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The coldest home opener was on April 14, 1962, at Metropolitan Stadium. With a high of just 34 degrees and a 12-5 loss to the Los Angeles Angels, it's safe to say Twins fans were probably pretty miserable that day. In 2013, the thermometer didn't break 36 degrees when the Twins lost 4-2 to the Detroit Tigers.
The Twins have had some warm outdoor openers, though. The warmest on record came in 1980, when the Twins topped the California Angels 8-1 in 90-degree weather on April 22.
Technically, the second-warmest opener came during the COVID-shortened 2020 season. However, that game was played on July 28 -- about three-and-a-half months later than their typical opener. The Twins beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-3 as the high reached 85, though no fans were in attendance.
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The Twins have been very lucky when it comes to precipitation during their outdoor home openers. Per the DNR, they've never endured more than one-third of an inch of rain. In 1972 and 2022, fans saw trace amounts of snow fall. And despite the frigid lows, they've actually been fairly lucky vis-à-vis temperature, too, with an average high of 58 degrees -- not bad weather for enjoying a beer and a baseball game.
Though the forecast is cold, the Twins are off to a hot start, having swept the Kansas City Royals in their opening series and shutting them out in two of the three games. They've got a three-game series in Miami before the Home Opener. Per CBS Miami, highs will be in the 80s there this week.
