Chicago Cubs: All stadiums should have retractable roofs

The Chicago Cubs – and the rest of the sport – need to embrace retractable roofs.

Out of the four major sports in America, baseball, basketball, football, and hockey, one sport receives postponements and cancellations due to the weather more than any other. Baseball loses numerous games throughout the year, causing teams to make up games down the stretch during the playoff run. There is a simple fix for all of this.

Every stadium should have a retractable roof attached, that way all 30 teams can play the 162 games without any problems.

The Chicago Cubs are a prime example of what can happen. In 2018, the Cubs had to play four doubleheaders throughout the season, and ended the year by playing 41 games in 42 days, including one-game trips to Atlanta and DC to make up games there, as well as a tie-breaker game at Wrigley Field to determine the division champion. Not to mention, those trips were right in the middle of road trips and the extra trip added had to add some fatigue to the team. They ended up losing that tie-breaking game at home to the Milwaukee Brewers.

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Currently, there are eight stadiums in Major League Baseball that have retractable or fixed roofs. Minute Maid Park, Tropicana Field, Marlins Park, T-Mobile Park in Seattle, Rogers Centre, Miller Park and the new Globe Life Park in Arlington which we have yet to see given there is no 2020 season yet, and the debut of Globe Life may have to wait until 2021.

Football is played in all types of weather, remember the Ice Bowl, anyone? Perhaps, the most famous game was the tuck rule game, which was also played in snow. Of course, it doesn’t mean that baseball hasn’t been played in the snow or rain.

One of the most memorable Cubs games in recent history was played through a steady stream of rain and cold, against the Braves in the early stages of the 2018 season. The Cubs scored nine runs in the eighth inning to win that one.

Soccer, the most popular sport in the world, also tries to play in mostly any weather condition. It’s not exactly “safe” to play in bad weather, no pun intended, but other sports don’t postpone games unless absolutely necessary, like if there was a tornado or lightning delay. Hockey and basketball are played indoors so they don’t need to worry about it, given the exception of the Winter Classic games or other special events.

I’m not advocating for baseball to play in bad conditions, given all the running players do and all the gripping/foot planting that pitchers have to do, it’s a hotbed for injuries. Retractable roofs on every stadium would avoid the ravaging of team’s seasons and not have to schedule multiple doubleheaders or travel more. Every team would have the same travel schedule, same amount of off days, etc. and it could create more competitive balance across the league.