By Ken Bradford

Because of the air-quality advisories, we didn’t play Tuesday night’s games. One of the deciding factors was that many of our players were scheduled for two or three games, which adds to the health risks.

The air quality is improving, and we’re hoping to play Thursday’s games as scheduled.

This was a decision I made after consulting with the other commissioners and the senior division managers. I had worked outdoors that morning as a volunteer at Unity Gardens, and I had noticed that it was becoming difficult for me and others to breathe normally. The health risk was real.

The advisories discouraged prolonged outdoor activities. Our league is comprised entirely of people ages 52 and older, with several close to the age of 80. Even if we feel we were healthy enough to play, many of our friends and teammates may not have been.

An air quality alert is different from a high heat alert. If we have hot temperatures with high humidity, we are likely to play games on those nights. We can shorten those games to five innings and take 10-minute cooling-off breaks to lessen the health risks.

That strategy won’t work with air issues. Sitting in your car with an air conditioner on will not remove particulates from your lungs.

That is how the decision was made. Ideally, this is just a one-time thing that we will not face again this summer. An AQI reading above 200 is considered dangerous. Ours was at 259 at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday and is down to 195 at 10:30 a.m. today (Wednesday). The air quality warning is due to expire at midnight.

Thursday is our Pizza Night before we take a one-week break for Independence Day. I hope to see all of you there.