This day in baseball: Rain, rain, go away

Exposition Park in Pittsburgh (Source: thedeadballera.com)

The season has started out to be a very wet one for baseball. Rain-outs, even snow-outs, have already caused many games to be postponed over the course of the last month. And with the onslaught of all that precipitation, tarp-covered fields have been a common sight this year.

Of course, the practice of protecting the field from the elements had to start somewhere.  This brings us back to this day in 1906 at Exposition Park in Pittsburgh, where the Pirates became the first team to cover the grass against a rain storm.  The infield was covered by a canvas tarp, thus allowing the following day’s game against the Cubs to be played.