SACRAMENTO, Calif —
Representatives with the A's announced Thursday the team will be playing in West Sacramento for the next three MLB seasons starting in 2025 as the lease at the Oakland Coliseum expires after the 2024 season. There's also an option for a fourth season.
The city has an extensive baseball history and has hosted the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats since 2000, but many are wondering if it's too hot to host a major league franchise.
Sacramento is known for its hot, dry summers and is the sunniest city in the world from June through September, so don’t expect too many rainouts even though light rain was falling at the introductory press conference Thursday.
First pitch for River Cats day games happens at either 12:05 p.m. or 1:05 p.m. and night games at 6:45 p.m., so expect A’s games to start around the same time.
Day games will likely be quite toasty, and temperatures routinely reach the triple digits. Shade is often limited to the upper rows of the park on the first base side and under the trees in the right field grass seating.
In the summer, the hottest time of day is around 5 p.m. but temperatures typically cool off quickly in the evening thanks to the delta breeze, the Sacramento area’s natural air conditioning.
“Summer nights in the Southern Sacramento Valley are usually pleasant. This is primarily the result of the refreshing breezes blowing up from the San Francisco Bay through the Delta. The exception is when the north or northeasterly wind develops during heat waves,” explained NWS Sacramento in their climate book describing Sacramento summers.
The stadium’s proximity to the Sacramento River also helps funnel some of the cool, marine air transported by the delta breeze and by the later innings it can be downright chilly, even during the summer.
The orientation of Sutter Health Park means the third base side of the park will be shaded before the rest of the stadium is for night games.
Here’s a look at some climate data for Sacramento during baseball season:
March
- Average high: 68 degrees
- Record high: 90 degrees
April
- Average high: 74 degrees
- Record high: 98 degrees
May
- Average high: 81 degrees
- Record high: 107 degrees
June
- Average high: 89 degrees
- Record high: 112 degrees
July
- Average high: 95 degrees
- Record high: 114 degrees
August
- Average high: 94 degrees
- Record high: 112 degrees
September
- Average high: 89 degrees
- Record high: 116 degrees (all-time record high in Sacramento set in September 2022 – the River Cats still played that day)
October
- Average high: 79 degrees
- Record high: 102 degrees
