(COMERICA PARK, DETROIT) — Temperatures will warm into the upper forties Friday around the time the first pitch is thrown at Comerica Park. A slightly cooler than average spring day is ahead but abundant sunshine and light winds will make it feel slightly warmer than upper 40’s.
Even though temperatures will be slightly cooler than seasonably average we are far away from the coolest opening days. The top five coolest home openers in Tigers history have all been since 1997.
Coolest Home Openers:
1. April 4th 1997 – Actual temperatures were not too cold, but a gusty 25 mph wind dropped wind chills into the low 20’s.
2. April 11th 2000 – Temperatures were only at 36 degrees by the first pitch.
3. April 5th 2002 – Temperatures only warmed to 37 degrees.
4. March 31st 2003 – Slightly warmer than the previous year at 38 degrees.
5. April 9th 2009 – Ties with 2003 at a chilly 38 degrees.
Most of the coolest openers however were dry with the exception of March 31st 2003 where a rain/snow mix fell and in the last 60 years there have only been around 14 other home openers with some sort of precipitation.
When you factor in the coolest and warmest home openers it seems that the Tigers have a better record when it’s on the cooler side. Out of the five coolest home openers three resulted in wins, 2 in losses and the warmest home openers resulted in 4 losses and only 1 win.
If you are wondering, last years high was 49 degrees and the game resulted in a 3-2 win over the Boston Red Sox.
