The flip side
My previous post notwithstanding, you could make the case that Major League Baseball bent over backwards to make sure tonight's game was not put into delay while the Rays were trailing by a run and the game was long enough to be official.
In fact, it had almost reached the point of being an embarrassing display of indecision on the part of MLB officials. The field was so sloppy that any regular season game would have long since been suspended, but it went on and on until Carlos Pena singled home B.J. Upton with the tying run in the sixth. It wasn't a coincidence that the game was called as soon as the top of the inning ended.
Now, instead of the umpires and MLB people sitting around fretting all night about declaring the game official, which would have been a disaster, they simply will call it a suspended game and pick it back up tomorrow if the weather permits. No harm. No foul.
Fox broadcaster Joe Buck did a good job of explaining that baseball rules were changed years ago to make this non-outcome possible. There was a time when the entire inning had to be complete with the score tied to declare a suspended game. In a case like tonight, the game would have reverted to the last complete inning and the Rays might have lost the World Series while they were sitting in their clubhouse.
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Comments
Pete:
Ever since the Tommy John game in the '77 NLCS I've thought all post season games should be treated as suspended games in case of lousy weather. It would take the pressure off of the umpires and MLB to try and force a championship game to be played under less than championship conditions.
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Pete's reply: I agree with you on that.
Posted by: mapitall | October 27, 2008 11:02 PM
The conditions reminded me exactly of that game the Orioles played vs the White Sox in late April. There were huge puddles and 30 degree weather and the grounds crew used an insane amount of that diamond dust but they pressed on because the Orioles were not returning to Chicago again and once the game was tied they did the same thing and called a halt to a game that should never have been played. I am becoming weary of their greed.
Posted by: Joe in Va | October 27, 2008 11:46 PM
at the risk of putting a football comment on a baseball post.... TITANS!!! 7-0!!
Posted by: releaseburres | October 28, 2008 12:08 AM
Interesting title for this post: "The Flip Side."
Looks like the title of another column that runs periodically: 'The Flip Side."
Could it be that Peter Schmuck and Mr. Flip are the same person?? Inquiring minds want to know....
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Pete's reply: No, that was not a Freudian flip....er, slip. I'm not Mr. Flip. I think if you read carefully, you'll see I have a much better sense of humor.
Posted by: Kevin | October 28, 2008 5:44 AM
First time in my life I've ever seen "Joe Buck did a good job."
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Pete's reply: I can't be the only person who likes Joe Buck, or he wouldn't be on all the time.
Posted by: Burgess | October 28, 2008 10:36 AM
You're right--I don't think you are the only one. Joe Buck sure likes Joe Buck.
Posted by: Burgess | October 28, 2008 1:04 PM