Pirates players unhappy with decision to play through air quality issues
The Pittsburgh Pirates hosted the San Diego Padres at PNC Park on Thursday in a game that at least some of their players seemed to feel should not have been played.
Smoke from wildfires in Canada once again drifted over much of the Midwest this week, with Pittsburgh no exception. The Pirates actually delayed Thursday’s game by 45 minutes before deciding to play, saying in a statement that the decision to move forward with the game was made in consultation with both the league and the MLBPA.
After discussions with MLB, MLBPA, we have made the decision to move forward with our game today.
Today’s game will begin at 1:20PM.
We will continue to closely monitor the air quality index levels around the ballpark and respond accordingly.
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) June 29, 2023
Prior to the delay, however, Pirates catcher Austin Hedges had questioned why the teams were playing at all.
“I don’t really know why we are playing. It seems like everyone is kind of uneducated on this subject, which is too bad,” Hedges said Thursday morning, via Wes Crosby of the Associated Press. “It’s clear as day when you look at your phone and you check the numbers. Like, it’s told you don’t go outside. They’re not telling you don’t go outside and they’re not saying that for no reason. We’re not any different than any other humans.”
Andrew McCutchen seemingly made his own statement about playing, as he wore a mask after reaching base in the first inning.
The Pirates were vocal about not wanting to play today in the smoke. Andrew McCutchen is wearing a mask to run the bases pic.twitter.com/TlgrW914pa
— Kenny Ducey (@KennyDucey) June 29, 2023
Smoke and air quality were major issues earlier in the month, and prompted a few postponements at that point. Nothing of the sort has happened to this point with the latest wave of smoke, but perhaps it should have.
