The first pitch forecast for tonight’s game between the Milwaukee Brewers and Colorado Rockies is sunny and 64 degrees, an ideal night for baseball if there ever was one in Southeastern Wisconsin.
And yet the Brewers have made the decision to close the roof at Miller Park tonight. Because of something that’s happening in Minnesota.
Smoke from the 60,000-acre Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness wildfire in Northeastern Minnesota has drifted southeast into Wisconsin and Illinois Reports out of Milwaukee say the smoke has created extremely hazy conditions, leaving a distinct smell of smoke throughout much of the area. Because of that, the team has made the decision to close the roof in order to literally clear the air in the stadium, giving fans and players as healthy of an environment as possible to watch/play the game. The fire was reportedly caused by a lightning strike on August 18th and has been growing steadily ever since, to the point where it is now consuming 93 square miles of land.
It’s going to be interesting to see if the team’s plan to close the roof proves successful or if any smoky air that had entered the park earlier in the day when the roof was open lingers throughout the game. Of all the reasons to close a retractable roof though, smoke from a wildfire taking place hundreds of miles away has to take the cake as the most unusual.
