Sunday, August 23, 2009

I kick you, you kick me.

Two games done in this weekend's Fenway Park face-off between my beloved Yankees and the evil Boston Red Sox. On Friday night, the Yankees pounded the Sox and recorded a 20-11 victory. On Saturday afternoon, the Sox returned the favor with a 14-1 embarrassment of the Bronx Bombers. Sunday night sees the rubber game. If the Yankees win, they leave Boston with a 7 1/2 game lead. If Boston wins, the lead is cut to 5 1/2 games.

It must have been tough for both teams to play these first two games in such humid weather conditions. Both games featured lots of home runs, which is to be expected when the humidity level is high. Contrary to popular baseball mythology, humid air is not "heavy," and does not weigh the baseball down. In fact, because water molecules are lighter than air molecules, the overall density of humid air is actually less than that of dry air at the same temperature. So it's logical to expect fly balls to carry further on humid days, and that seems to be the case for the first two games.

Temperatures are expected to cool down this week as a Canadian air mass moves into the region. This should make for some nice baseball weather as the Yankees return home from their ten-game road trip after finishing up at Fenway Park. Anyone at Yankee Stadium next Saturday--come by Section 305 and say hello.