MLBPA chief proposes plan to combat 'extreme heat' for Athletics upcoming move to Sacramento

It’s no secret that the fans of the Oakland Athletics are not thrilled with their impending move to Sacramento for the 2025 MLB season. And now, another potential issue has begun to come to light about the move after what has been an extremely hot summer in Sacramento.

Thus far in the month of July, downtown Sacramento has had an average high temperature of over 107.5 degrees. This is 13 degrees higher than the 30-year average for the entire month, according to KCRA-3, Sacramento’s NBC affiliate .

Four days this year already have had high temperatures over 110 degrees, which marks the highest number of 110-degree days in a single year on record, which dates all the way back to 1877.

Obviously, these conditions are less than ideal for baseball, both for fans and for players on the field. So, what could the MLB do to potentially offset these dangerous playing conditions?

Well, in a recent conversation with the Los Angeles Times , MLBPA executive director Tony Clark shared his intention to talk with the MLB and put a plan in place to potentially change to early start times in cases of “extreme heat”.

“As it relates to the schedule itself, we’ll have to have a conversation about what that looks like,” said Clark. “Whether that’s playing night games, whether that’s playing morning games, whether that’s moving particular dates to certain times. All of that is going to have to be discussed, all with an emphasis on the health and safety of the players themselves.”

Clark also added that the players are well aware of this potential issue around the Athletics’ impending move, voicing this concern to him.

“It’s important to have as much runway as possible,” Clark added. “These decisions needed to be made yesterday, as a result of where we are in the calendar and the adjustments and considerations that players and their families are going to have to make.”

On paper, this change certainly seems like it would be in the best interest of the players to make sure they aren’t going to have to play in extreme heat.

However, the proposition will be less than ideal for broadcast networks, as this would seemingly throw off their plan entirely in most instances.

Regardless, this is yet another complaint that Athletics fans can add to the lengthy list of issues with their impending move to Sacramento, and later Las Vegas, when their new stadium is built at some point in the future.

[ Los Angeles Times ]

The post MLBPA chief proposes plan to combat ‘extreme heat’ appeared first on The Comeback: Today’s Top Sports Stories & Reactions .