Hottest MLB game recorded 42.7 C in 1988

Home teams hold authority over weather-related delays, postponements

Japan also lacks cancellation clause — KBO puts it in writing

A Korea Baseball Organization game between the Kiwoom Heroes and LG Twins at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Songpa-gu, Seoul, on Wednesday. [Yonhap]
A Korea Baseball Organization game between the Kiwoom Heroes and LG Twins at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in Songpa-gu, Seoul, on Wednesday. [Yonhap]

Major League Baseball and Nippon Professional Baseball have no unified rules for canceling games due to extreme heat. The KBO League formalized exactly such a policy Saturday, using Korea Meteorological Administration heat alerts as its benchmark.

The hottest game in MLB history was played Aug. 27, 1988, when the Texas Rangers hosted the Toronto Blue Jays at Arlington Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

The temperature at first pitch reached 42.7 degrees Celsius. Even today, Texas night games frequently begin at around 38 C.

MLB has no standardized rule allowing game cancellations once temperatures exceed a certain threshold. Authority over weather-related delays and postponements before a game begins rests entirely with the home team. The league office and the crew chief step in only when the matchup is the final regular-season meeting between the two clubs and rescheduling must be considered. Once both teams have exchanged lineup cards, authority over cancellations shifts from the home team to the crew chief.

Given the vast geographic spread of the United States, the MLB office finds it difficult to apply a universal heat policy. Teams based in hot-weather states — Texas, Arizona and Florida — have instead installed retractable-roof stadiums to regulate temperature on a game-by-game basis, protecting the health and safety of players and fans.

NPB, whose teams endure hot and humid summers, similarly has no provision for canceling games when extreme heat persists beyond a certain temperature. There is one precedent, however: last month, a minor-league game between the Chiba Lotte Marines and the Orix Buffaloes was called off in the fourth inning after players showed symptoms of heat-related illness, including heatstroke, during 39 C heat.

The NPB Players Association has also lobbied for more games at dome stadiums with climate control during the height of summer, citing player safety.

Unlike MLB and NPB, the KBO League has since 2019 written into its official rules a framework for reviewing game cancellations based on special weather advisories — both watches and warnings — issued by the Korea Meteorological Administration. When a warning or higher alert is in effect, a KBO game operations committee member holds authority to cancel before first pitch, while the crew chief may do so once play has begun, after confirming conditions with the local meteorological office.

For heat specifically, the KBO uses the administration's heat wave warning — issued when daily high temperatures reach 35 C or above for two or more consecutive days — making 35 C the threshold for considering a cancellation.


eyre@heraldcorp.com