Hot in Kansas City
First Pitch: 1:10 PM CT
TV: Bally Sports North
Radio: TIBN
Know Thine Enemy: Royals Review
This past week Twins Territory perspired through a heat wave, with the mercury routinely registering 95+ degrees. This reminded me of the hottest Twins game I ever attended—which just happened to be at Kauffman Stadium.
The date was August 5, 2006 and the Twins were in the midst of clamoring back into the AL Central race. That Saturday night in Kansas City, the first pitch temp was 99 degrees with nary a breeze to be noticed. For my aunt and I, the experience was akin to a three-hour residency at the local YMCA sauna.
Photo by John Sleezer/Kansas City Star/Tribune News Service via Getty Images
This being the Twins and Royals of the mid-2000s, the visitors won in handy 14-3 fashion. But to this day it remains the only blowout Twins victory where I actually was hoping for outs by the end. After three hours of sloshing around in our own juices, the Twins had rapped out 12 hits and drawn a mind-boggling 14 walks. In the bottom of the eighth inning, I distinctly remember cheering a Michael Cuddyer ground-out double play simply because it moved us a few steps closer to the hotel’s AC unit.
It looks like a similar sort of heat could engulf Kauffman this afternoon—but here’s hoping the Minnesota Twins can close out their 2023 season series with the Kansas City Royals in similarly steamy fashion.