So now we know. This whole championship drought in Philadelphia was an act of God. And this World Series proves it. He has thrown everything at Major League Baseball to get them to end this Series before Philadelphia wins it. With the Phillies just 12 outs from the title, the Rays tied the game and prompted the commissioner to suspend play due to rain. And play may not resume until Wednesday. Snow has even been mentioned as a possibility for tonight.I can only imagine what’s going to happen once play does finally resume. I’m starting to wonder how many people will actually be watching the game when the Phillies do, in fact, win it all.
It was funny listening to players talk last night about thinking the Series would be over if the game was called and the Phillies were in the lead. Can you imagine the P.R. nightmare for MLB if they handed the Phillies the title in the sixth inning of a game? As Bud Selig said after the game, that would have never happened; But it’s so curious that many people thought it might.
on Oct 28th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
The reason people thought it might happen is because that’s the rule. If a game is stopped the game after 5 innings the team with the lead gets awarded a rain-shortened win. There is nothing in writing that changes that for the postseason. Selig would have had to override that by using Bowie Kuhn’s old line about “the best interests of baseball” — which is what got Kuhn removed in the first place.
Clearly, there’s no way either team should be given a win without playing the full game. More clearly, from what I’ve read about how the weather forecasts worsened during the day, the game should have never started to begin with.
on Oct 28th, 2008 at 2:29 pm
There is no way for PR and other reasons they would award a WS game unless it had gone the full 9.
on Oct 28th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
The key here is the word “called” and “suspended.” The rules address them two different way. Once the game went into the sixth inning, there was no way MLB would have called the game (the five-inning mark determines whether the game will count). Conversely, if it was suspended at the top of the fifth, they would have never erased the score and started over (which is what you do if the game was “called” and not “suspended”).
Like I said, it was funny to me to hear that they were worried about it. There was never any danger of the commissioner doing that.
on Oct 28th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
Not here to defend Selig at all, but did he really have a choice??
on Oct 28th, 2008 at 5:46 pm
Lol. SNOW in October??? It really is like someone is playing a practical joke on Philadelphia!
on Oct 28th, 2008 at 8:36 pm
There were some big wet snowflakes mixed in with the rain this afternoon. Maybe enough to coat a lawn (which isn’t as warm as streets/sidewalks) if not for so much rain at the same time. A trace of snow was reported at the NE Phila. airport, which is nearest to where I live. Phila. International is where the official readings are taken, and I don’t think they had even that.