Heatcheck: The final results

It was one of the biggest complaints about the Tampa Bay Rays' original $450-million waterfront ballpark proposal: How could you build an open-air stadium in Florida? Well, we started this April trying to figure out just how bad things might be.

Our findings?

Not nearly as bad as people think. We studied the weather conditions around Tropicana Field and downtown for each of the Rays' 81 home games this year. We considered the temperature at the time of the game, and the conditions present during the game.

Our review, admittedly, was subjective. One person's definition of "hot" might be different than another person's. And weather patterns and game schedules vary from year to year. But based on 2008, heat and rain were hardly an issue for the Rays.

Of the team's 81 games, only 16 presented a particular challenge regarding heat. That did not factor in the Rays' plans for a sail over the new ballpark, which would have provided shade. Or the Rays' proposal to move Sunday day games to later in the afternoon.

Rain, it turns out, was even less of a factor. Of 81 games, there possibly would have been only one rainout. In fact, there would not have been that many rain delays. Now that isn't to say the threat of rain might have kept fans away, but when it came to actual downpours, St. Petersburg was pretty dry in 2008. 

So here are our final standings.

How you feeling? Hot. Hot. Hot. ---- 16

Hot, but nothing a cold beverage couldn't cure. ---- 17

Take me out the ball game. ---- 48

Rain delay (rain as a minor factor) ---- 4

Rainout (rain as a major factor) ---- 1

What do you think? Is 2008 an anomaly? Am I out of my mind?

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Heatcheck: Week 16

Week 16 of Heatcheck Wednesday, (sorry, we're a week behind) a permanent feature here at Ballpark Frankness. The idea behind this post is to track the past week's Rays home games and wonder how tolerable they would have been, had they been played outdoors.

Seven home games since we last checked in. All real hot days.

Here are our up to date standings after 72 homes games, 89 percent of the home schedule:

How you feeling? Hot. Hot. Hot. ---- 12

Hot, but nothing a cold beverage couldn't cure. ---- 13

Take me out the ball game. ---- 47

Rain delay (Rain plays a minor factor) ---- 3

Rain out (Rain plays a major factor) ---- 1

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Heatcheck: Week 15

Week 15 of Heatcheck Wednesday, a permanent feature here at Ballpark Frankness (that everyone likes to criticize). The idea behind this post is to track the past week's Rays home games and wonder how tolerable they would have been, had they been played outdoors.

Three home games since last Wednesday. Fay kept it cool. And Fay didn't bring us any rain.

Here are our up to date standings after 65 homes games, 80 percent of the home schedule:

How you feeling? Hot. Hot. Hot. ---- 5

Hot, but nothing a cold beverage couldn't cure. ---- 13

Take me out the ball game. ---- 47

Rain delay (Rain plays a minor factor) ---- 3

Rain out (Rain plays a major factor) ---- 1

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Heathcheck Wednesday: Week 14

Week 14 of Heatcheck Wednesday, a permanent feature here at Ballpark Frankness (that everyone likes to criticize). The idea behind this post is to track the past week's Rays home games and wonder how tolerable they would have been, had they been played outdoors.

Six home games since last Wednesday (I'm counting today's ongoing matinee as well). Some pretty hot days this week.

Here are our up to date standings after 62 homes games, 76 percent of the home schedule:

How you feeling? Hot. Hot. Hot. ---- 5

Hot, but nothing a cold beverage couldn't cure. ---- 13

Take me out the ball game. ---- 44

Rain delay (Rain plays a minor factor) ---- 2

Rain out (Rain plays a major factor) ---- 1

Week 13: Heatcheck Wednesday

Week 13 of Heatcheck Wednesday, a permanent feature here at Ballpark Frankness (that everyone likes to criticize). The idea behind this post is to track the past week's Rays home games and wonder how tolerable they would have been, had they been played outdoors.

Just one home game since last Wednesday.

So after 56 homes games, 69 percent of the home schedule, here are our up-to-date standings:

How you feeling? Hot. Hot. Hot. ---- 3

Hot, but nothing a cold beverage couldn't cure. ---- 9

Take me out the ball game. ---- 44

Rain delay (Rain plays a minor factor) ---- 2

Rain out (Rain plays a major factor) ---- 1

Heatcheck: Week 12

Week 12 of Heatcheck Wednesday, a permanent feature here at Ballpark Frankness. The idea behind this post is to track the past week's Rays home games and wonder how tolerable they would have been, had they been played outdoors.

Five home games since last Wednesday. And it was hot. We rated Sunday and Monday's games "Hot. Hot. Hot." The rest of the week came in "Nothing a cold beverage couldn't cure."

So after 55 homes games, 68 percent of the home schedule, here are our up-to-date standings:

How you feeling? Hot. Hot. Hot. ---- 3

Hot, but nothing a cold beverage couldn't cure. ---- 8

Take me out the ball game. ---- 44

Rain delay (Rain plays a minor factor) ---- 2

Rain out (Rain plays a major factor) ---- 1

Heatcheck: Week 11

Week 11 of Heatcheck Wednesday, a permanent feature here at Ballpark Frankness. The idea behind this post is to track the past week's Rays home games and wonder how tolerable they would have been, had they been played outdoors.

Five home games since last Wednesday. Temperature was never really a problem, but that's because of a constant round of short rainstorms in the area for most of the week. Still, I don't think the rain was bad enough to delay an outdoor game. This is Florida, people. The rain usually passes after 10 minutes. So after 50 homes games, here are our up-to-date standings:

How you feeling? Hot. Hot. Hot. ---- 1

Hot, but nothing a cold beverage couldn't cure. ---- 5

Take me out the ball game. ---- 44

Rain delay (Rain plays a minor factor) ---- 2

Rain out (Rain plays a major factor) ---- 1

Heatcheck: Week 10

Week 10 of Heatcheck Wednesday, a permanent feature here at Ballpark Frankness. The idea behind this post is to track the past week's Rays home games and wonder how tolerable they would have been, had they been played outdoors.

Two home games since last Wednesday. Temperature was never really a problem, but there were a few scattered showers Monday and Tuesday night. So after 45 homes games, here are our up-to-date standings:

How you feeling? Hot. Hot. Hot. ---- 1

Hot, but nothing a cold beverage couldn't cure. ---- 5

Take me out the ball game. ---- 39

Rain delay (Rain plays a minor factor) ---- 2

Rain out (Rain plays a major factor) ---- 1

Week 10 of Heatcheck Wednesday, a permanent feature here at Ballpark Frankness. The idea behind this post is to track the past week's Rays home games and wonder how tolerable they would have been, had they been played outdoors.

Two home games since last Wednesday. Temperature was never really a problem, but there were a few scattered showers Monday and Tuesday night. So after 45 homes games, here are our up-to-date standings:

How you feeling? Hot. Hot. Hot. ---- 1

Hot, but nothing a cold beverage couldn't cure. ---- 5

Take me out the ball game. ---- 39

Rain delay (Rain plays a minor factor) ---- 2

Rain out (Rain plays a major factor) ---- 1

Heatcheck: Week 9

I've decided, for now, to keep Heatcheck Wednesday alive (though this week's installment comes a day late).

Week 9 of Heatcheck Wednesday, a permanent feature here at Ballpark Frankness. The idea behind this post is to track the past week's Rays home games and wonder how tolerable they would have been, had they been played outdoors.

Five home games since last Wednesday. Temperature was never really a problem. But rain was. We had heavy rains most all day Saturday (though actually the rain stopped around game time) and Sunday as well.

So after 43 homes games, 53 percent of the home schedule, here are our up-to-date standings:

How you feeling? Hot. Hot. Hot. ---- 1

Hot, but nothing a cold beverage couldn't cure. ---- 5

Take me out the ball game. ---- 37

Rain delay (Rain plays a minor factor) ---- 2

Rain out (Rain plays a major factor) ---- 1

Heatcheck: Week 8

Week 8 of Heatcheck Wednesday, a permanent feature here at Ballpark Frankness. The idea behind this post is to track the past week's Rays home games and wonder how tolerable they would have been, had they been played outdoors.

Four home games since last Wednesday. We had nice temperature days for Friday, Sunday and Tuesday's games. We rated Saturday "Hot, but nothing a cold beverage couldn't cure."

However, we got our first serious rain on Friday. We had pretty heavy downpours from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., followed by a light rain that lasted until about 8 p.m. The game would have been played, even if there was no sail at a downtown ballpark, but not without a likely delay. So we'll add two new categories to our contest: Rain delay, and rain out. Friday ranked a "rain delay"

So after 38 homes games, 47 percent of the home schedule, here are our up-to-date standings:

How you feeling? Hot. Hot. Hot. ---- 1

Hot, but nothing a cold beverage couldn't cure. ---- 4

Take me out the ball game. ---- 33

Rain delay ---- 1

Rain out ----