MLB fans were supposed to see all 30 teams take the field as every team had a game scheduled. However, two games were postponed due to the recent wildfires in Canada causing poor air quality for many areas of the northeastern United States.
This was a problem as well on Tuesday, as the New York Yankees played through a game against the Chicago White Sox.
Fans in attendance for the game took to social media at the time to complain about the smell of smoke around Yankee Stadium.
We’re getting closer to first pitch here at Yankee Stadium and the air quality is real bad. It’s ominous. Smells like smoke.
Meanwhile, Triple-A SWB just postponed their game due to poor air quality… pic.twitter.com/UZMoAvpYTL
— Max Goodman (@MaxTGoodman) June 6, 2023
The problem remained on Wednesday and perhaps got even worse. Yankees beat writer Erik Boland posted a picture of the stadium on Wednesday which shows an extremely foggy and almost apocalyptic setting in the area.
And scene inside Yankee Stadium… pic.twitter.com/ocPBsPk0ZB
— Erik Boland (@eboland11) June 7, 2023
This ultimately led to the Yankees deciding to postpone their matchup against the White Sox on Wednesday night, with plans to instead play a doubleheader on Thursday.
Tonight’s Yankees-White Sox game (Wednesday, June 7) is rescheduled because of poor air quality due to smoke from the Canadian wildfires and will be made up tomorrow, Thursday, June 8, as the first game of a single-admission doubleheader, which will begin at 4:05pm. pic.twitter.com/nx1WxqUaTU
— New York Yankees (@Yankees) June 7, 2023
The Philadelphia Phillies are also dealing with this issue, as it looks like the visibility in the area also got worse on Wednesday in Philadelphia.
Could see semblance of Philadelphia skyline from Citizens Bank Park last night. Can’t see it this afternoon. pic.twitter.com/7kDdfg4gIP
— Jason Beck (@beckjason) June 7, 2023
This led to them also postponing their game against the Detroit Tigers, also moving the game to Thursday night.
Tonight’s game between the Phillies and the Detroit Tigers has been rescheduled due to the air quality in the Philadelphia area. The game will be made up on Thursday, June 8, at 6:05 p.m. pic.twitter.com/VIBDrYcBHD
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) June 7, 2023
It was seemingly the right decision by both teams given the circumstances. However, many around the MLB world are curious about just how long this issue will go on.
MLB postpones games at Yankee Stadium and Citizens Bank Park tonight due to hazardous air quality conditions. https://t.co/SbiCpqaDua
— B/R Walk-Off (@BRWalkoff) June 7, 2023
Multiple East Coast games have been postponed due to hazardous air quality.
MLB ⚾️
▪️ White Sox-Yankees
▪️ Tigers-PhilliesWNBA 🏀
▪️ Lynx-LibertyNWSL ⚽️
▪️ Orlando Pride-Gotham FC https://t.co/mCte4mQs2G— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) June 7, 2023
Has an @MLB game ever been postponed specifically due to “poor air quality” in the past? I mean, they used to play in Pittsburgh back in the day, right? pic.twitter.com/Be84Y015u0
— PHILLIES BELL (@PhilliesBell) June 7, 2023
It's actually infuriating that the @MLB and @Phillies haven't made a call on this game tonight. Some of us will sit in traffic for over an hour to be told that the game is postponed.
— Gene Volpe (@genevolpe) June 7, 2023
The wildfires in Canada have turned Yankee Stadium into a sepia Instagram filter 😬
Due to the horrendous air quality in the northeastern US, both the Yankees and Phillies home games have been postponed until tomorrow#GamblingTwitter #MLBpic.twitter.com/b0sY3JbgXV
— BestOdds.com (@BestOddsBets) June 7, 2023
https://twitter.com/SteveKopack/status/1666543291200950274
It may be a little ambitious for the Yankees and Phillies to be trying to make these games up on Thursday given the circumstances. Hopefully, things clear up shortly so these games can be played, but it seems like for the time being this may be an issue that plagues all sports played on the east coast for the foreseeable future.
[New York Yankees on Twitter, Philadelphia Phillies on Twitter]
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.