The Twins on Wednesday officially announced a decision that had become a foregone conclusion in recent days to anyone with a weather app: They postponed Thursday's scheduled home opener and rescheduled it for Friday.
Glorious April of 2010 gave Twins, fans a false sense of weather security
We haven't come close to an April as warm as the year Target Field opened.
April 6, 2022 at 5:01PM
In this case, it was the lesser of two evils: Thursday is showing a likelihood of rain with a projected high of 38. Friday looks overcast but dry, with highs in the low-to-mid 40s. As we say here often as we put on brave faces and head outside: It could be worse.
That said, this is not necessarily unusual for early April in Minnesota.
What was unusual, and perhaps became the basis for years of unfair comparisons, was the first month Target Field was open in 2010.
In that year, the average high temperature during April was 66 degrees. That's a full 11 degrees warmer than a normal year in Minneapolis.
An April in Minnesota has not topped 60 degrees for a monthly average high since then, and many Aprils have been considerably colder. Two, in fact, did not crack 50 degrees for an average highs in what is typically baseball's opening month.
First impressions being what they are, though, I have the sense that some Twins fans still remember 2010 and have unrealistic expectations.
That was, after all, our first taste of sustained outdoor MLB action in almost three decades. For most of the life of the Metrodome, it was the same temperature at game time in early April, mid-July and late October.
Does any of this really matter? Not necessarily. But you can find at least some correlation between nice April weather and good starts to the season for the Twins.
The 2010 team went 15-8 in April. The 2011 team went just 9-17 in a much cooler spring. The 2018 team went just 9-15 in March and April, when temperatures (average: 47 in April) were the coldest for the month since Target Field opened.
Every time the Twins have made the postseason in the Target Field era, the April average has been at least 55 degrees. In the years with the three coldest Aprils (2018, 2013 and 2014) the Twins have averaged 91 losses for the season.
At least there's this: Saturday and Sunday look like decent days, and the Twins should be able to get in the rest of their first homestand through Wednesday even with the possibility of a rain interruption early next week. After an April 13 home game, they aren't back at Target Field until April 22.
It could be 70 and sunny by then, sparking those old visions of 2010 again.
When he was hired after the disastrous 2016 season to reshape the Twins, Derek Falvey brought a reputation for identifying and developing pitching talent. It took a while, but the pipeline we were promised is now materializing.
