As many of you may already know, Monday will provide millions of Americans with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness a total solar eclipse as the path of totality streaks across several U.S. states. One of those states is New York, and it's already prompted one of the state's professional baseball teams to make some changes to their schedule.
The New York Yankees were originally scheduled to face the Miami Marlins Monday afternoon at 2:05 p.m. local time. But the team announced it has pushed back that start time by four hours because the eclipse is slated to begin just minutes before first pitch.
"After reconsidering the challenges of playing through Monday’s solar eclipse, including potential in-game delays, Major League Baseball and the Yankees have rescheduled the start time of the Yankees-Marlins game on April 8 at Yankee Stadium from 2:05 p.m. to 6:05 p.m.," the team said in a statement Thursday.
A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the sun and Earth, temporarily blocking all or part of the sun's light from reaching Earth and resulting in a shadow that dramatically darkens the sky. Total solar eclipses — when 100% of the sun is blocked — are pretty rare, but deemed a once-in-a-lifetime experience if you happen to find yourself in the path of totality.
In terms of when New Yorkers will be able to experience the eclipse, NASA explains that the event will start at around 2 p.m. and last about 2.5 hours. But the ideal viewing time will be at 2:25 p.m., when the moon will cover about 90% of the sun and be nearest to totality.
Meanwhile, the Yankees said they will still be holding their special promotional event as previously planned, with the first 15,000 fans in the stadium receiving a team-branded Solar Eclipse T-shirt. The MLB also has two other games slated Monday in cities along the path of totality, but neither are expected to be impacted by the eclipse.
