MLB All-Star Game 2018 weather: Will it rain for All-Star Game on Tuesday? Washington, DC forecast

by Felix Pantaleon

The 89th MLB All-Star Game is Tuesday, July 17, 2018 (7/17/18). There is a significant chance of rain at Nationals Park in Washington, DC. The Yankees will be represented at the All-Star Game by pitchers Luis Severino and Aroldis Chapman, right fielder Aaron Judge and rookie second baseman Gleyber Torres.

Will Mother Nature rain on the Midsummer Classic?

That’s what organizers of the 2018 MLB All-Star Game at Nationals Park in Washington, DC are wondering.

The forecast for the Home Run Derby on Monday looks fine.

But things get dicey for the All-Star Game on Tuesday.

Here’s the forecast from the National Weather Service:

Tuesday: A chance of showers, then showers and thunderstorms likely after 1pm. Increasing clouds, with a high near 88. Southwest wind around 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible.

Tuesday night: Showers and thunderstorms likely before 3am, then a slight chance of showers. Cloudy, then gradually becoming partly cloudy, with a low around 70. Northwest wind around 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Yanks target Cole Hamels or Carlos Martinez?

According to the Washington Post, MLB is working on a contingency plan to account for the rain:

“It would be dependent on a lot of factors — the forecast being the main one,” Pat Courtney, baseball’s chief communications officer, said Sunday. He said the league would be in close contact with both Fox Sports, its broadcast partner, and the MLB Players Association over any weather-related decisions.

…

The first priority would be to start on time Tuesday night, even if rain later in the evening forced a shortened game — as occurred in 1952 in Philadelphia. In 1961, the second of two All-Star Games held that summer ended in a 1-1 tie when the game was called for rain after the ninth inning. They remain the only rain-shortened All-Star Games.

Although MLB controls the decision whether and when to start the game Tuesday night, a move to Wednesday would require coordination with the players’ union, owing to the travel plans of the players. The season’s second half used to start on the Thursday after the All-Star Game but now begins on the Friday after the game.

If rain delays the start of Tuesday night’s game, every effort would still be made to get the game in, but there would be a point, probably sometime before 11 p.m., when the league would no longer want to start it. At that point, the focus could shift to Wednesday.

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