What to Know
- Tuesday's Game 1 is scheduled for 5:09 p.m.
- The warmest World Series game on record was 94 degrees in October 2001 when Arizona hosted the Yankees
- Tuesday's high is expected to top out at 102 before dropping to a scorching 100 by game-time
The first game of the World Series is expected to bring the heat.
Temperatures will be sizzling around game-time at 5:09 p.m. PT Tuesday at Dodger Stadium, when Los Angeles and the Houston Astros will play Game 1 of the World Series. Tuesday's high is expected to top out at 102, but temperatures will slide back into the 90s by early evening.
The hottest World Series game on record is Game 1 of the 2001 World Series between the Arizona Diamondbacks and New York Yankees in Phoenix on Oct. 27, 2001. The first-pitch temperature for that showdown in the desert was 94 degrees. Major League Baseball ordered the roof at then-Bank One Ballpark to be open.
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The Dodgers are back in the World Series for the first time since winning it all in 1988, when the A's and LA enjoyed relatively mild temperatures. The average high temperature in Los Angeles this time of year is 77.
Both teams scheduled workouts at Dodger Stadium Monday on the eve of Game 1. Excessive heat warnings go into effect to start the week in Los Angeles, where some areas will be under red flag warnings, signaling high fire danger due to heat, dry conditions and strong wind gusts. The warning will be in effect through Wednesday.
U.S. & World
The game-time temperature for Game 2 on Wednesday is expected to be in the high-90s.
"The first couple of (NLCS) games here against the Cubs were really hot," Dodgers utility man Charlie Culberson told MLB.com. "I'm from Georgia, I'm from the South. We're used to it. We've played in it. I don't think it's really going to affect us, it's the World Series, it doesn't matter. We'll be ready."
[la gallery Updated 10/23] Photos: See What Else Was Happening the Last Time the Dodgers Won the World Series
Spending summers in Houston and Los Angeles, the players are used to the heat, but research suggests extreme heat can influence how far a baseball travels off the bat. Dr. Alan Nathan, professor emeritus of physics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, conducted a study that shows a baseball travels 3.3 addition feet for every 10 degrees of added temperatures.
For example, the average high temperature in Los Angeles for late October is about 77 degrees. On a 100-degree day, a ball that would usually be a warning track fly-out might carrying into the outfield stands for a home run.
As for the coldest World Series on record, that distinction goes to the 1997 series when the Florida Marlins visited Cleveland. At first pitch for Game 4, the temperature was 38 degrees. There were snow flurries during the game and ice patches formed on the infield in one of the more bizarre World Series sights.
World Series rosters will be announced Tuesday morning.
Manager Dave Roberts said the Dodgers will keep the same pitching rotation as they did in the NLCS with left-hander Rich Hill starting Game 2 and right-hander Yu Darvish Game 3 following the previously announced Game 1 starter, left-hander Clayton Kershaw.
Left-hander Dallas Keuchel will start Game 1 for Houston and right- hander Justin Verlander Game 2, manager A.J. Hinch said Saturday following the 4-0 victory over the New York Yankees in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series.
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