The rain is continuing to fall and there are reports of possible snow fall at Citizens Bank Park today, making tomorrow's start time hardly brighter. Whether play resumes Wednesday or not, we will have to wait and see, but Commissioner Bud Selig has said that both teams will remain in the Philadelphia area and this game will be finished, regardless of the ramifications regarding the previously scheduled ball games. The Rays need to win Game 5 in order to take this series back home to Florida. There are plenty of angry people and plenty of happy people alike, and the newest management malfunction has been char-broiled on sports talk radio today.
Bud Selig just simply can't escape controversy, it seems to me. It wasn't his fault that both clubs ran out if pitchers in the 2002 All-Star Game in Milwaukee and an unpopular decision had to be made in order to protect the health of the players and the best interests of the organizations that those players represented. The Mitchell Report and the steroid scandal business was partially his fault as the Commissioner of the league, but it certainly wasn't only his fault. And now when all the man wants is to put on a great World Series, he gets this. Rain, rain, and more rain. There are some things that should have gone differently, but lets not put all of this on Selig.
It is understandable why the Phillies may not like the way the events unfolded last night. The rain was going to come, everybody knew it, and the game was played regardless. It began pouring around the third inning, and yet the game was allowed to go deep into the sixth inning where all Cole Hamels was missing on the mound was some soap, shampoo, and a shower curtain, and he would have been set for his post-game wash down. But lets get something straight. The only hiccup involved in last night's game was the decision of when to delay the game. The other issues were unavoidable.
Selig had convincing weather reports in the hours leading up to the game, reports that suggested there would be only a little rainfall. Certainly not enough downpour to alter the play on the field. It could be argued that the start time of Game 5 should have been moved up to, say, 7 o'clock instead of the regularly-scheduled 8 o'clock start. But was that really a plausible suggestion? If reports are fairly good in the afternoon leading up to the game, how do you change a start time that quickly? A start time would have to be altered at least a day in advance to make the fans and players aware. Some talk about what a mockery this situation has been because it has hurt the "integrity" of the game, but shifting up a start time on short notice when many players rely on entire afternoons to prepare for the ball game and conduct their pre-game routines would have been much worse.
And I simply can't buy the argument that Selig should have called off the game before it even started. The city of Philadelphia and Phillies fans have been waiting quite a while for this one night, this opportunity to watch their beloved ball club close out a World Series. Do you think thousands of fans would have understood why Game 5 of the World Series is being postponed before rain even began falling from the sky? I wouldn't want to be the one making that decision. So, as good as it sounds today to have not even started the game, I don't think that was possible. Because after all, these decisions were being based off of weather reports that stated the game would be able to be played and completed. Sometimes you just can't fight Mother Nature.
With that being said, the place where Selig displayed poor judgement was when the game was actually delayed. Play should have been stopped long before it was. In reality, the clubs probably shouldn't have finished four innings, let alone slush through the sixth. It was an impossible situation for Hamels on the mound with hardly any grip of the ball, BJ Upton came around to score the tying run after spending an inning of Basepath River Rafting, and then play was halted with the score tied 2-2. The Rays never should have had the opportunity to tie the score until another day when we would no longer be watching slosh ball. Chase Utley couldn't even stand on the dirt at second base because his position looked like Like Michigan, and Jimmy Rollins was playing shortstop on roller blades.
But, make no mistake about it, these decisions have as much to do with FOX as they do with Commissioner Selig and Major League Baseball. FOX wants the games to be played at times when they will have the highest viewer rating, not at a time that is most conducive for competitive baseball. If the standards of the game were really at the forefront, Game 3 would not have started at 10:07 PM, and Game 5 would not have been played into the teeth of a storm. FOX wants appealing baseball, but "appealing baseball" apparently can't be played in the afternoon time. The critics of the World Series complain that "baseball isn't made for late October", but the authorities aren't even doing what they can to make the best out of how the schedule is set up. Instead, the remotes make the decisions and therefore the games are played at the coldest possible time of the day -- late evening.
Look, in a perfect world, the games would start on time at 8 o'clock, good weather would accompany great baseball, and everyone would go to bed happy by 10:30. But that simply isn't going to happen, and now it becomes a question of what is more important: FOX television ratings or giving the Phillies and Rays the best chance to win a championship? One is about money, the other is about integrity. Money will prevail whether we like it or not. If this was about the game, why not have 5 PM start times on the East Coast?
That would give the game a chance to be played in the fairest conditions possible. But too many people are at work at that time and not enough television sets would be tuned in. That is unfortunate because I would be willing to bet that the people who were planning on attending those games, and the great baseball fans who were planning on watching those games, would still find a way to get their World Series fix. They may have to call in sick or use a vacation day, but that would be worth it for a Philadelphian to witness his or her team win a championship. The folks that can't get out of the office may have to stay off the internet until they could get home to watch on Tivo or tape, but they would still find a way to do it. No, it's not ideal and it is not the best-case scenario, but it's not about those things at this point. It is about cutting viewing losses and keeping the game and its history in tact. Every World Series becomes a part of baseball's history and the games should be treated as such. You do the best you can, and you make no apologies for it.
Where Bud Selig is right is doing anything and everything to play the entirety of this baseball game, whether that is Wednesday or Saturday or whenever. Selig bucked the rule book and basically said there is no way that he would allow a World Series game, especially a clinching game, to be shortened by rain. That is absolutely the right call. In fact, why doesn't the rule book state that? It should be written in bold print that no playoff game -- any round -- can be shortened by any factor. All twenty seven outs must be recorded or else the game cannot be deemed complete. The Phillies certainly don't want to be remembered as the team who won a championship but "oh yeah, the clinching Game 5 was only six innings." Talk about a blotch of pine tar on a team's history books.
On the baseball side of things, this has to be seen as an advantage for the Rays. It is unfortunate for the Phillies, but they were going to be at a disadvantage regardless of when the game was delayed. If the game was delayed around the fourth inning, Hamels would have already been spent for the evening and for the next couple of days. So the fact that the umpiring crew let the game go to the sixth didn't really affect the Phillies any more than necessary. In fact, they got two more innings out of Hamels than they would have. But with Hamels a non-factor after only 75 pitches, this comes down to a three and a half inning tug-of-war between the bullpens. The Rays caught a break because Grant Balfour is still technically in the game, and he will be back on the mound when play is resumed. This extra day of "rest" wouldn't have mattered as Balfour is a reliever and can work on consecutive days.
After Balfour, Joe Maddon can turn to David Price or JP Howell or Edwin Jackson or Dan Wheeler. He has many options. The Phillies aren't as deep. Charlie Manuel will probably send Ryan Madson out to the mound to begin the seventh, but then have to rely on JC Romero as their last impact arm before Brad Lidge. After the mess that has been made and the sidestepping around the puddles, Game 5 will be completed sometime and there is still a few intriguing innings left to be had. The shelter of Tropicana Field looks gorgeous now, but this is the situation that we have been dealt and it's not all on FOX or Bud Selig or MLB. Chase Utley was asked about the predicament and he responded, "We have been playing for seven months, so it's not like another day or two is going to hurt us." It's not surprising that one of the toughest and most respected men in the business would provide the most sensible and responsible answer. Many folks share the blame of this, but nature is what it is, and it's time to simply make the best of it with baseball's well-being in mind.
No comments:
Post a Comment