Pete
Television is the reason the game went on as long as it did and stopped when it did. Selig has to consider the TV money before he makes any decision. Every sports leader thinks that way because of the money involved.

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Pete's reply: I'm sure that's true to some extent. I wonder if MLB makes out on the 2 1/2-inning makeup tonight.

Why did they even attempt to play this game? Does MLB not have access to the weather channel?

Since I'm certain that Selig was being consulted every step of the way, I have to disagree. That game should have been stopped two innings sooner at least, if it should have even been started at all. Knowing that the game would be finished regardless makes it even dumber that they let it go on as long as they did.

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Pete's reply: That's why I'm not necessarily buying the notion that it was decided ahead of time. It just doesn't make sense, unless -- as an earlier poster said -- they were stretching to preserve TV revenue.

Since I'm certain that Selig was being consulted every step of the way, I have to disagree. That game should have been stopped two innings sooner at least, if it should have even been started at all. Knowing that the game would be finished regardless makes it even dumber that they let it go on as long as they did.

The game should have been stopped well before it was. Just another instance of Bud the Boob showing what an idiot he is. Thank God no player suffered a career threatening injury playing in conditions that were not suitable for baseball.

Why were baseball fans the last to learn that Bud "was not going to allow that to happen"?

From the looks of the umpiring in this series, particularly the ball and strike calls, there seems to be another thing that Bud is not going to allow to happen.

Here's hoping the Rays will overcome all this nonsense.

If it gets any worse, we'll read about it in future editions of baseball books that examine cheating in the game.

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Pete's reply: I wouldn't go that far, but people forget that Bud wasn't hired to make decisions. He was hired to assemble a consensus of ownership. Making decisions on the fly is not necessarily his greatest strength.

Bud acting in the best interests of the game??? There's a newsflash!

Last night's field conditions looked to be as bad as that O's - White Sox game from April.

How many more silly decisions does Bud need to make before the owners have enough of his incompetence and get a real commissioner in there? I guess the business of baseball is doing well enough (I would bet it could do better without a used car salesman at the helm!) but the on-field blunders that he is part of are ridiculous!

The infield looked like a swamp, unbelievable conditions last night for that game. At least the Rays tied it up.

As usual Bud Selig & MLB is asleep at the wheel. No surprise there. Selig's management of the game is laughable. He screws everything up...baseball needs a new direction.

"Making decisions on the fly is not necessarily his greatest strength."

Well thats a profound statement Pete! Decisions aren't his greatest strength period!

Maybe next year we can have a mascot contest to determine home field advantage for the world series, or maybe we could have the owners arm wrestle to see who gets the first draft pick in June.

I am sure this genius can come up with a new way to make this game more "exciting"

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Pete's reply: Even so, the bottom line is the bottom line. MLB grossed more than $6 billion this year -- three times what it was taking in when Bud became commish.

Pete: I can appreciate the desire to complete the game, but I strongly disagree about Selig making the right call. Rules should never be changed on a whim, not even this one.

I only need one example to prove my case: Mile High Stadium. Suppose a blizzard hits Denver during a Series game and suppose the snow doesn't go away in the ensuing weels, but other storms dump even more. While not likely, this isn't impossible for Colorado in late October, early Novemeber; in fact, one of the worst storms in Denver history began on October 19, 1997.

http://www.cnn.com/US/9710/27/denver.weather/index.html?iref=newssearch

So the game gets suspended due to snow that never really clears up, then what? Resumption on Thanksgiving, Christmas, Super Bowl week, next Spring Training? When?

Extreme example, I know, but it's to make a point.

Getting back to the game at hand, what if this can't be played again tonight? (Oops, they've already moved it to Wednesday.) How long is the Series going to get pushed back? Fortunately, should the Rays win, it will be back to the climate-controlled Trop, but what if was being played in a northern city like Boston or Cleveland, with seriously nasty weather possible?

Sorry, but baseball isn't a winter sport and players shouldn't be subjected to playing in freezing weather simply because Bud wills it. Yet that's where it's heading, I'm afraid, especially with those who want to expand the playoffs.

If a player had been injured last night because of the conditions, I think a lion's share of the blame would go to Selig for making them continue as long as possible. He didn't help the game by doing that; rather he made a mockery of it, with Rollins mising a routine popup because of the wind and rain and Rays players complained they couldn't get decent footing on the mound or at the plate (see linked article below).

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/baseball/bal-othervoices1028,0,3323021.story

What a travesty.

Pete

You are probably right. I am just a dinosaur who longs for the old days with no wild card, no interleague play and the Orioles winning around 109 games, oh say around 1970!

If I'm the Phillies, I hope that the 5th game doesn't get played until Wednesday. Then, if they lose, they travel to Tampa on Thursday, and play games 6 and 7 (if necessary) on Friday and Saturday. If there is a game 7 on Saturday, don't you think that Cole Hamels will be pitching again? Heck, he could pitch on Friday, since he only threw 75 pitches last night. Just a thought.....

If memory serves this is actually what became known as the "Weaver Rule". Sometime in the mid-70s the O's were leading the Yanks by a run going into the top of the ninth in really bad weather. The Yanks scored a bunch of runs to take a big lead, whereupon Earl started using every stall move he knew, from pitching changes every batter to extra mound conferences to pinch hitters to coaching conferences until the rain got so bad the umps had to call it. The score reverted to the 8th, with an O's win. The rule was changed in the off season.

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Pete's reply: Your memory serves just fine.

While no one, other than die-hard Phillies fans wanted to see the deciding game ended before 9 innings, there's nothing in the rule book right now. Therefore, if Philly was leading 2-1 when the game was called, then the Series would have ended. How can the commissioner just make up rules now?
My other comment is about umpiring in general. The strike zone is deifinitely influenced by who is pitching or batting. Because the O's hurlers were so wild in '08 they seldom got a close pitch yet control artists often get the wider strike zone. To level the playing field, it seems like it should be the other way around! Likewise, hitters like Big Papi/Ichiro/Jeter/Arod often get 4 strikes per AB as if they don't swing, it's not a atrike.
We need to see more consistent umpiring all year around; the unfairness becomes more magnified at the World Series.

So if the Phils hadn't let the 2nd run score and the game didn't resume, the used car salesmen Bud would have declared that we play the rest of the game whenever, to completion. The current rules say Phil, wins it 2-1, and are World Champs. Do you think the Phils would have felt hosed if the Rays came back and won the whole thing? My take: That's right up there with hanging chads. If we don't need a rule book and Bud can wing it by using,
"Selig doesn't really need an official rule change. He has the power to act in the best interests of the game, which probably is enough to allow him to override the rules that currently govern weather delays"
why doesn't he get behind the tv monitor too and reverse several bad calls the umps have made against T-Bay? I say either use the entire book or rip it up and throw it on the rain soaked mound, like our old pal Earl would.

Not here to defend Selig at all, but did he really have a choice??

Bud Selig says that a discussion took place before the game involving officials of Philadelphia, Tampa Bay, and Major League Baseball and that an agreement was reached that the game would not be declared official because of weather.

The fans, reporters, no one else knew about this until Selig spoke after the game.

How can you play a World Series game and change the rules of baseball without telling all who are watching, all who care?

If Pena had not driven in the run and I were a Phillies fan and heard this I would be hard pressed to say Bud got it right.

What's next? Bud tells us after game 5 that the team with the fewest runs wins? The team with the most combined weight wins on a Wednesday, loses on a Saturday?

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Pete's reply: Fair points all.

The major problem I have is...why the heck didn't the game get delayed in the first place - before it started! If it was not a post-season/world series game, they would have put a delay on it, then ultimately played the game the following 'good-weather' day. I think it is nuts that this guy is allowed to decide such things. Any schmuck could have looked at the radar and saw it was not going to let up! Now we have a lame ending to a series game that probably would have ended in Philly's favor - if it had not been raining. Also, if you are gonna call a game, call it in the 4th...so we can see how a game can be won in 9 innings at once, the way 'I' think a World Series game should be played.

I was relieved to read in your blog that the game would be completed regardless of score or rulebook. That is only common sense, what America wants, and shows that rules are meant to be broken. Consider this scenario: Tampa had scored not one, but two runs in the top of the sixth to take a 3-2 lead, and then the game was halted. According to the rules, the game would not have been resumed because games are only resumed in the case of a tie. Certainly Tampa would not have been the winner because Philly did not get their fair ups in the bottom of the sixth. So the score would have reverted back to the end of the fifth, the last fully completed inning. Philly would have been declared the winner 2-1. So if Tampa had scored another run, then the World Series would be over now, according to the rule book.