Athletics Continue to Monitor Bay Area Air Quality Ahead of Angels Game
On Wednesday, the Oakland Athletics sent out an alert that there was a chance that the game that night against the Arizona Diamondbacks might have to be postponed because of poor air quality in the Bay Area.
The A’s were cleared that night and went ahead and played both games of the series. But the air quality worsened as Thursday’s game went on.
With wildfires around Northern California set off by a severe lightning storm continuing to generate smoke, there is a chance that Friday’s game against Angels may have to be postponed.
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) moved the scale a bit Friday morning, moving the Bay Area rating from “unhealthy” to “unhealthy for sensitive groups” in the northern zone, which includes Oakland.
While the A’s haven’t said anything one way or the other, one source at the Coliseum Friday said that the smoke was “worse today than it was at this time yesterday.”
And Thursday was bad enough.
“It was kind of smoky out there today, and it seemed to be worse throughout the game,” third baseman Matt Chapman said. “We still played, but being with from California, I know what that means; it just means that the fires are getting worse.
“I know there’s not any rain in the forecast anytime soon, so it’s unfortunate to see that,” Chapman added, saying “we’re thinking about” Aldrete and what he’s going through. “It’s definitely something that’s serious.”
There hasn’t been a postponement for smoke or poor air quality in the half century of baseball played in the Coliseum, in part because the fire season frequently peaks after the baseball season is over.
But sporting events in the Bay Area have been impacted from time to time, including the 2018 Big Game between the University of California and Stanford, which was delayed for two weeks at Berkeley’s Memorial Stadium because of the deadly Camp Fire in Butte County that began on Nov. 8, 2018 and went on to become the most destructive natural disaster in California history.
The last postponed A’s home game at the Coliseum was on April 16, 2017, a rainout.
Follow Athletics insider John Hickey on Twitter: @JHickey3
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