Today in Baseball: Game Cancelled Due To Ash

On this day in 1980, a game of the Spokane Indians was cancelled because the ballpark was covered with a layer of Ash.

This was the day that Mount St. Helens erupted and destroyed a big part of the surrounding area. The eruption was predicted by geologists who had registered several tremors on their seismographs in the previous weeks.

With the eruption, the explosion did not go up, like it normally happens, but it went sideward, so the Northern slope was blown away. The eruption took place at 8.32 AM (Pacific Time Zone). Within four hours, ash began to rain down on Spokane, in the Eastern part of the State of Washington. Spokane is located about 290 miles Northwest of Mount St. Helens.

As all of Spokane was covered with a blanket of ash, so was Avista Stadium, home of the Spokane Indians. It was the first time a baseball game was cancelled due to hindrance of volcanic ashes. Back then, the Spokane Indians were a AAA franchise of the Seattle Mariners. Unfortunately, no photo can be found of Avista Stadium covered with a layer of volcanic ashes.