As fans of Bounding Into Sports are aware, the New York Yankees had to postpone their Monday contest against the Florida Marlins by a few hours due to the solar eclipse.
That’s right. A day which they had marketed as “Solar Eclipse Day”, where the first 15,000 fans to arrive at the stadium will receive a Yankees Solar Eclipse T-Shirt, had to be moved by the very thing they’re celebrating.
Which got me thinking. First, about how much lack of faith one must have in fans to not look up and stare at a burning star and sizzle their retinas for you to move the game.
But then, I started thinking about other events that caused sporting events to be canceled or postponed. And I gotta say, ‘solar eclipse’ doesn’t really rank that high on the danger scale.
Here are some examples of that.
9/11
This is the most obvious example. Then-MLB Commissioner Bud Selig canceled games after the terrorist attacks of 9/11. The cancellation would extend six days before resuming on September 17th, 2001.
The first game back would be the St. Louis Cardinals and the Milwaukee Brewers at Busch Stadium. The first game back in New York wouldn’t be until September 21st, with the Mets facing the Atlanta Braves at Shea Stadium.
The Yankees would return to the field on September 25th. It was a contest that would help heal the nation after a devastating attack that killed nearly 3,000 Americans that day, and countless others since.
Eventually, the Yankees would play in the World Series that year. Prior to game 3, President George W. Bush would don a bulletproof vest and deliver a ceremonial first pitch that ranks up there as an all-time iconic sports moment.
In addition to baseball, the NFL decided to postpone its Week 2 games of the 2001 season, originally scheduled for September 16 and 17, until the end of the regular season.
The Green Bay Packers hosted the first Monday night game after the attacks. Packers coach Mike Sherman had outside linebacker Chris Gizzi, then a reservist in the Air Force, lead the team out on the field in yet another iconic moment following the tragedy.
The COVID Pandemic
The 2020 MLB season was one of the most abbreviated and altered in that sport’s history. The season was shortened to 60 games from the usual 162, and all neutral site games were dropped.
It would mark the first time since 9/11 that games had been put on hold.
Rule changes were implemented at the height of the pandemic. For instance, seven-inning doubleheaders (of which there were many) to keep things moving at a brisk pace were introduced.
Additionally, the postseason was expanded into a 16-team tournament. And the entirety of the World Series was held at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas, to diminish the impact of potential outbreaks and centralize the games to minimize travel risks.
All other major sports saw disruptions due to the pandemic as well, ranging from the NHL and NBA to collegiate sports and figure skating.
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Buffalo Blizzard
The NFL playoff game between the Buffalo Bills and the Pittsburgh Steelers earlier this year was postponed due to severe weather conditions in Buffalo.
Namely, a blizzard that blanketed the Bills stadium in Orchard Park.
Of course, this conspiracy theorist thinks it was more an effort by New York’s governor to make sure a freak weather event didn’t affect her precious Bills. But maybe that’s just me.
I mean, the Chiefs played their game in frigid temperatures and it wasn’t postponed. And their fans ended up having to get amputations after sitting in the cold.
Not to mention, of course, the famous Ice Bowl. Man, they just don’t make athletes like that anymore.
World Wars I And II
The 1916 Berlin Olympics were shut down due to World War I. It marked the first instance in modern Olympic history where a scheduled Games was not held due to global conflict.
The 1918 World Series, which was played during the final stages of World War I, was nearly canceled due to the ongoing conflict and the Spanish flu pandemic. It was moved to early September, however.
Think about that – A global war and a pandemic and the World Series still went on.
The Olympic Games in 1940, as well as the Games of 1944, would also be canceled because of World War II. The 1943 NFL season was shortened to 10 games and only eight teams competed. The MLB All-Star Game was canceled on April 24, 1945, due to wartime travel restrictions.
This is all to say that there have been legitimate reasons to postpone games throughout history. Is it safer to move “Solar Eclipse Day” until after the solar eclipse? Sure.
Does it compare to pandemics and World Wars on this list? Probably not.
