I was watching the Phillies-Rays last night in that debacle that lacked only an ark to save the living beings who were forced to be in it (not the fans who could have left at anytime).
MLB, not known for being the brightest organization on the planet, almost had a royal fiasco ... worse than it already is.
Playing in a wretched, miserable, cold downpour, the umpires incredibly allowed the game to continue past the middle of the fifth inning at which time the game becomes an official game.
Yes, that's right, sports fans. The World Series deciding game could have ended on a rain delay in the middle of the night.
As I watched the last of the fourth and the top of the fifth, I kept saying to myself and to all who would listen (happened to be my tolerant wife who doesn't understand why I watch games when I don't care who wins) that the umpires have to call this before the middle of the fifth.
Alas, no one was listening (except my tolerant wife who has no authority to call a rain delay).
Rumor has it that Selig wasn't going to let the World Series be decided on a rain delay, but one wonders what rule in the rulebook he was going to appeal to for that. Last I checked, you don't just get to make them up as you go along (unless it is the All-Star game and it is tied). Apparently, an "indefinite rain delay" was going to be the explanation.
The simple solution was to call the game before that became a possibility. Or to never have let it start to begin with.
MLB isn't known for simplicity. Or smarts.
And by the way, B. J. Upton's steal in the top of the sixth was amazing. The last time I saw a jump that big, Bush 41 was celebrating a birthday. If Upton hadn't been slowed down by the mud, he may have made it to third with that jump.
2 comments:
Not defending Selig at all - but did he really have a choice Monday??
Feel free to defend Selig. He'll have at least one defender that way.
But on to the point, I don't know why they tried to play it to begin with. The radar at game time showed this weather all night long. He could have postponed it right off the bat (no pun intended). I think the commissioner as the authority to step in in those situations.
But as I understand Buck and McCarver, they were saying that MLB and the umpires were both in on the decision.
But the umpires certainly had the opportunity and, IMO, should have had the common sense to delay the game.
Fortunately, the Rays scored to tie it.
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