Summer sizzler

Earlier this year, as I was planning our 2010 Summer of Baseball, taking in a matinee game wasn't high on the list of priorities. It's usually Summer Camp Day, meaning there's a couple hundred kids, and what all that means, in attendance. And, living down here in Florida, it gets awfully hot during summer afternoons.

As our plans took shape, though, Colin's goal of snagging signed team balls from all 12 Florida State League teams meant attending a matinee game would be necessary. And, wouldn't you know, none of our local FSL clubs play in a domed stadium.

Last Wednesday's game between the St. Lucie Mets and Clearwater Threshers at Bright House Field in Clearwater certainly didn't disappoint. Yes, there were hundreds of kids. Save for a handful, most were well-behaved and respectful.

And, yes, it was hot. Very hot. Three-bottles-each-of-Powerade hot. Running-out-of-Italian-ice-in-the-fifth-inning hot. It's amazing, I say, we saw no eggs frying on the concourse.

Though the center field scoreboard showed temperatures in the mid 90s, our readings, taken by a digital thermometer placed along the right field wall, didn't fall below 109 degrees from the time we started hounding (about 11:15 a.m. for a noon start) until the final out (about 2:45 p.m.). We hit the hot spot in the middle of the eighth, when it reached 113.4 degrees, nearly 3 degrees warmer than last summer's game.

If it was that hot near the field, I can only imagine how hot it got standing at shortstop or out in center field.

Because this wasn't our first "How Hot Does it Get" rodeo, which, amusingly, involved the same two teams as the inaugural effort, we were prepared. Besides staying hydrated, we wore hats, used 85 SPF sunscreen and, for the most part, didn't stay in the sun for extended periods of time.

Here's a breakdown from the brutally hot afternoon:

Pregame hounding: 112.2 degrees
First pitch: 110.6 degrees
Middle of first inning: 110.6 degrees
Middle of second inning: 109.4 degrees
Middle of third inning: 110.4 degrees
Middle of fourth inning: 111.4 degrees
Middle of fifth inning: 111.6 degrees
Middle of sixth inning: 112.6 degrees
Middle of seventh inning: 112.2 degrees
Middle of eighth inning: 113.4 degrees
Middle of ninth inning: 112.2 degrees

Average temperature per inning: 111.5 degrees

In the name of science

In what's becoming a tradition during our Summers of Baseball, we'll conduct our second annual "How Hot Does it Get" matinee experiment this Wednesday. And, again, it'll involve the St. Lucie Mets and Clearwater Threshers.

Last year, the first time for this experiment, the hottest temperature we recorded in the stands was 110.6 degrees Fahrenheit. Thankfully, we were sitting in the shade during the Florida State League game. Still, though, it was a real broiler.

We'll take it a step further this year. Instead of placing our digital thermometer on a seat a few rows in front of us, we'll set it as close to the field as we can get. Readings will be taken every innings, when the teams switch positions.

Of course, we'll brave the likely heat and sun -- with shady hats, sunglasses, SPF 50 spray-on sunscreen and ice-cold Powerades -- to work a team ball for the Mets before the game. Conditions, hopefully, will be better Thursday night, when Colin will try to complete his Charlotte Stone Crabs team ball before a game against the Threshers.

Even better, from our point of view, is that Tampa Bay Ray Rocco Baldelli is attempting a comeback and is on the Stone Crabs roster. I think we might have a few items for him.

Man, was it hot

Knowing well enough to slather on sunscreen and keep ourselves well-hydrated, our initial inklings that summertime matinees in Florida can be played in brutally hot temperatures were proven true last Wednesday during a game between the St. Lucie Mets and Clearwater Threshers at Bright House Field in Clearwater.

After snagging a handful of autographs, including a couple from Dominic Brown, a top-rated prospect within the Philadelphia Phillies organization, we settled down -- in the shade -- to record just how hot it gets in Florida during the summer months.

No, we're not gluttons for punishment. If we had our druthers, we'd watch every baseball game from the cool comfort of air conditioning. In this case, though, we wanted to show how foolish it was for the Tampa Bay Rays, in search of a new stadium, to even consider an open-air setting, albeit one that proposed a sail-like covering that was supposed to protect players and fans from the elements.

So, armed with a digital thermometer, we joined a couple hundred kids from summer camps last Wednesday in experiencing what was, honestly, a physically demanding day of watching baseball.

Here, listed in inning-by-inning fashion, are our findings, taken every inning as the teams switched positions, of just how hot it can get during a matinee game:

First inning: 99.8 degrees, 12:04 p.m.
Second inning: 100 degrees, 12:13 p.m.
Third inning: 100.8 degrees, 12:26 p.m.
Fourth inning: 104.6 degrees, 12:47 p.m.
Fifth inning: 109.2 degrees, 1 p.m.
Sixth inning: 108.2 degrees, 1:14 p.m.
Seventh inning: 99 degrees (a huge cloud blocked out the sun), 1:35 p.m.
Eighth inning: 104.8 degrees, 1:51 p.m.
Ninth inning: 102.6 degrees, 2:11 p.m.

The highest reading of the day? How about 110.6 degrees, as the Mets batted in the top of the fifth?

Thankfully, the Rays have abandoned the silly notion of an open-air stadium, instead talking about one with a retractable roof. Until then, though, we'll be content to sit in the air-conditioned comfort of Tropicana Field, the Rays' home dome.

And, really, do you blame us?