The Jays faced the Rangers in the hottest game in MLB history — reached 42.7° C

This Day In Weather History is a daily podcast by Chris Mei from The Weather Network, featuring stories about people, communities and events and how weather impacted them.

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On Friday, August 26, 1988, the Texas Rangers hosted the Toronto Blue Jays in what turned out to be the hottest game in Major League Baseball (MLB) history. The game took place at Arlington Stadium, located between Dallas and Fort Worth, and was home for the Texas Rangers from 1972 until 1993.

The game started at 7:39 p.m. with the temperature reaching as high as 42.7° C. Luckily, there weren't any major issues throughout the game, but the Jays did lose to the Rangers 5-1.

Arlington Stadium. "Taken on June 24, 1988, before the Chicago White Sox played the Texas Rangers." Courtesy of Jerry Reuss/Wikipedia/CC BY-SA 2.0

Two other games came close to this record, one on August 8, 1988, and the other on June 28, 1980. Both games reached temperatures up to 42.2° C...so two really close seconds.

In 1918, a game in New York claimed that a game was played in 43.3° C. This record has been challenged as the overall record high in New York at the time was only 41.1° C.

At the time, the Blue Jays were facing their own hometown weather issues. From 1977–1989, the Jays called the Exhibition Stadium home. The Ex stadium was located in Toronto, Ont., and dubbed "mistake by the lake." The stadium was located right next to Lake Ontario, often impacted by heavy and thick fog.

To learn more about the hottest game in MLB history, listen to today's episode of "This Day In Weather History."

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