Roof will be closed for World Series opener
Written by I Dig SportsARLINGTON, Texas -- The Globe Life Field roof will be closed for Game 1 of the World Series between the Texas Rangers and Arizona Diamondbacks.
Major League Baseball announced the decision about 5 hours before the opener Friday night. The forecast called for temperatures in the low 70s with a chance of thunderstorms.
For the neutral-site 2020 World Series between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Tampa Bay Rays, the Globe Life roof was open for Games 1, 2 and 4, and closed for Games 3, 5 and 6.
Arizona's Chase Field in Phoenix also has a retractable roof, leading to the possibility of the first all-indoor World Series.
While the home team controls the roof decision during the regular season, MLB makes the call during the postseason.
Texas played 11 games with the roof open during the 2023 regular season, the last on May 21. The season opener against Philadelphia on March 30 began with the roof open. But rain began during the third inning and the roof was closed during the top of the fourth.
The roof was closed for three of the Rangers' four previous postseason games this year, the exception for a 10-3 loss to Houston in Game 4 of the AL Championship Series.
Globe Life Field opened in 2020. There were six regular-season games with the roof open that season and 13 neutral-site postseason games with the roof open.
There were 11 games with the roof open in 2021 and 16 in 2022.