On Thursday, the sky over Philadelphia hardly resembled that of a typical July day. The deep orange sun was nowhere to be seen, replaced by a thick veil of smoke. That was the backdrop as the New York Mets returned to Citizens Bank Park for their first game of the second half of the season. Clearly, those weren’t ideal playing conditions, and several Mets players reflected on the experience afterward.

“Not gonna lie, towards the end of it, it was a little thick. I felt like I was breathing some metal in there,” Mets starter Christian Scott said, per SNY.

Canada, particularly western Ontario, experienced a major wildfire outbreak on July 13. While smaller, isolated blazes had been popping up since the beginning of the month, at least eight large wildfires spread rapidly across Ontario between July 13 and 14. Some reports indicate that the fires had burned more than 350,000 hectares as of Friday. The total number of active blazes also climbed to 130.

This led to darkened skies across the U.S., from the Great Lakes to parts of the East Coast. Hence, visibility was reduced, prompting air quality warnings across the region. In fact, officials in many cities urged residents to stay indoors and wear masks as air quality reached unhealthy to hazardous levels.

The Philadelphia region also experienced smoky, hazy skies. Poor air quality caused by wildfire smoke forced the Major League Soccer match between the Vancouver Whitecaps and the Chicago Fire at Soldier Field in Chicago, along with a scheduled postgame concert, to be postponed.

Meanwhile, MLB was in its All-Star break, and Thursday marked the Mets’ first game of the second half of the regular season. However, the league was already aware of the deteriorating air quality, which was expected to worsen. That’s why MLB moved the start time of the Mets-Phillies game up by an hour.

“I didn’t think it was bad until the last couple of innings. Eyes itching, burning a little bit,” Brett Baty said in the postgame media appearance. “[Carson] Benge said it felt like you were sitting at a campfire, just close to a campfire, which was pretty good. It’s fun, but it didn’t feel great playing ball with it, though.”

Several players admitted that they were struggling to see. Mets interim manager Andy Green acknowledged that he couldn’t even track some of the pop-ups from the dugout. While some said that the air quality was not too impactful, it was definitely restricting them as players on the field. 

“At the end of the game, it was a little bit more difficult, especially catching,” Francisco Alvarez said via an interpreter. “It became more difficult to see at the end.”

CBS News noted that the air quality reached the red category, meaning it was unhealthy and hazardous for the public. As the cooler night air settled, it trapped the smoke closer to the ground, triggering breathing difficulties.

Concerns remained despite MLB moving the schedule

The original time for the first pitch was 7:10 pm in Philadelphia. The league consulted the forecasts and pushed it to 6:10 pm to avoid the worsening air quality. Both teams reduced their outdoor pregame practices and related work, and the umpires checked with the players on multiple occasions. However, as the game went on and the difficulties increased for the players, questions arose. 

“They don’t really move games too much,” Bryce Harper mentioned. “But not the greatest idea, I guess, to come out here and play in this type of weather, but you know, we’re doing it.”

Even Phillies manager Don Mattingly agreed that visibility was the biggest issue. 

Notably, there was a very similar incident in June 2023. Another wildfire in Canada disrupted sports for multiple days. Philadelphia experienced worse conditions, and the Detroit Tigers game was postponed. MLB did the same thing in New York and Washington. 

However, Thursday’s incident and the schedule change didn’t come after an unprecedented scenario. That’s why some people are questioning whether just shifting the timing was enough. But Andy Green noted that they “have to roll with it.”

Luckily, the New York Mets will enjoy the off day after a 4-1 win, while the Phillies will try to recover before they host the NY side again on Saturday. The forecast also suggests an improvement in the conditions over the weekend.