In what can only be described as an extremely overhanded metaphor, baseball will still be played despite signs of an ongoing catastrophe happening outside of the ballpark. The San Francisco Giants confirmed Wednesday that their game against the Mariners would go on even with an ominous orange sky, caused by the smoke from the California wildfires blocking sunlight, looming over Oracle Park.
"I think we're always monitoring air quality. Certainly, it was a strange look when we all woke up this morning and found the orange-ish/red hue to the sky. Walking onto the field today was certainly different, in the middle of the afternoon and having the sky look a little bit dark," manager Gabe Kapler said, per NBC Sports Bay Area. "But my understanding is that the air quality is okay. Of course, we'll keep tabs on it, and if anything changes we'll make the best decisions for the health and well-being of our players."
Just wow.#SFGiants @OracleParkSF pic.twitter.com/y2bSzgjVI1
— Darren Chan (@415dc) September 9, 2020
A look outside the San Francisco Giants' stadium today. pic.twitter.com/2pzWVhgqZE
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) September 9, 2020
Other Californian ballparks had shades of orange overtaking the sky on Wednesday, but none were at the degree with which San Francisco was particularly affected.
A live high home camera shot from Oakland. Dusty Baker said he played The Sky is Crying by Jimi Hendrix today because that’s what the sky is doing there in the Bay Area. pic.twitter.com/uLdi2hzPm9
— Julia Morales (@JuliaMorales) September 9, 2020
As of Wednesday, wildfires had scorched over 2.2 million acres of land, according to CBS News. Two of the three largest fires in California's history are currently burning in the San Francisco Bay Area.