Weather throughout the US is highly unusual. Ron Gardenhire, manager for the Twins, said that although he played high school baseball in Oklahoma, he has very rarely experienced a hailstorm such as the one that took place during the match on Tuesday at Target Field.
“I think maybe in Oklahoma one time or another, we might have had some of those,” Gardenhire said. “I haven’t seen that come down here too often like that. That was a first in the big leagues.”
The downpour of golf-sized hail, rain and lightning resulted in a one hour and four minute delay of the game between Minnesota and Detroit. `Many fans retreated to the sides of the stadium for shelter, while others chose to have “hail fights” to pass the time. Tornado sirens could be heard throughout the evening.
“I grew up in Oklahoma. I lived in Kansas for twenty years. I heard plenty if sirens,” Gardenhire explained. “Never one directly over the top of us, but one went a block away from my house when I was a kid.”
And the Players?
The Twins athletes stayed out on the field during the storm. Michael Cuddyet, Alexi Casilla and other big players were fascinated by the size of the hail.
“They braved it and actually stood out there on the field, which I wouldn’t have done… It was pretty crazy,” said second baseman Luke Hughes. “It started off with little ones, kind of a bit of a laugh, and then all of a sudden it turned into golf ball-sized. The boys said that hadn’t seen that up here in Minnesota for a long time. It was pretty interesting.”
Brian Duensing came in as pitcher during the game, for the second time this season during a game delayed because of weather conditions.
“It was different,” Duensing said. “Not only was it raining this time, it was also incredibly muggy. I didn’t know what they were going to do. It was still kind of a long delay. I didn’t know if they were going to send me back out there or not. I’m glad they did. Even that one inning I guess is better than having someone else in the bullpen have to take it. It’s tough.”