Games 1 and 2 of the 2017 World Series Could Be the Hottest Ever

Getty Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw.

Things in Major League Baseball are heating up, literally. With the 2017 World Series set to kick off on Tuesday between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Houston Astros, the first two games in Los Angeles look to be the hottest World Series’ games ever played. Meteorologists are calling for temperatures in the 100’s on both Tuesday and Wednesday. Those attending either game are encouraged to stay hydrated as to avoid suffering from dehydration.

Before this week the hottest World Series games was in 2001, when the Arizona Diamondbacks hosted the New York Yankees, in a series eventually won by Arizona. The temperature for the first pitch was in the mid-90s.

The average temperature in Los Angeles this time of year is 78 degrees, although there have been two instances of temperatures soaring past that mark. In 1909 the temperature hit 99 degrees and in 1983 it hit 96 degrees. The spike in hot temperatures in the Los Angeles area are said to be connected to Santa Ana winds, strong, down-slope winds that come from the east that push hot, dry air into southern California.

Of course, according to The Holiday, “legend has it, when Santa Anas blow, all bets are off, anything can happen.” What does that mean exactly? I’m not sure, I was only half-paying attention when my wife was watching it. But I suppose if we wanted too, we could take the heat as a sign that we could be in for an exciting series.

Game 1 of the 2017 World Series will feature Dodgers’ ace Clayton Kershaw going up against Dallas Keuchel of the Astros. Keuchel’s last start was in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series, where he lost to the Yankees, pitching only 4.2 innings. Kershaw won his last start, the deciding game in the Dodgers series versus the Chicago Cubs.