On April 8 of next year, a total solar eclipse will occur over parts of the United States. Sports Illustrated isn’t usually in the business of covering astronomical phenomena, but there’s a sports connection here!
MLB released its 2024 regular season schedule on Thursday and there will be two games played on the day of the eclipse within the path of totality—the area where the eclipse will be the most spectacular.
While most of North America will be able to see at least a partial eclipse of the sun, only a relatively narrow band of the continent will experience a total eclipse. According to NASA, the path of totality in the United States will stretch from the Texas-Mexico border northeastward up to Vermont. Locations within that path will see the midday sky turn dark as night as the moon passes in front of the sun.
The two largest cities in the path of totality are Dallas and Cleveland—and both cities’ MLB teams will be hosting games on the day of the eclipse. The Rangers will face the Astros, appropriately, and the Guardians will host the White Sox in their home opener. (The Yankees, Cardinals, Pirates, Reds and Blue Jays will also host games in cities where at least a 90% eclipse is expected.)
The partial eclipse will begin in Dallas at 12:23 p.m. local time, with the total eclipse lasting from 1:40 to 1:44. In Cleveland, the partial eclipse will begin at 1:59 p.m. local time and the total eclipse will last from 3:13 to 3:17.
MLB hasn’t announced start times for either game, but the league and the teams have the once-in-a-lifetime chance to do something really cool. They could either encourage fans to view the eclipse at the stadium and wait until the total eclipse is over to start the game, or, as the minor-league Salem-Keizer Volcanoes did in 2017, they could start the game before the eclipse and pause it as totality approached. MLB has placed an emphasis on pace of play in recent years, but a total solar eclipse sounds like something worth delaying the game for.
