Mood Music - The Rain Song by Led Zeppelin
Rain. Baseball's mortal enemy. Yes, more than Cricket or even Women's College Volleyball. It has the uncanny and annoying ability to delay or prevent our beloved sport from being played. It gets us wet at the stadium where we expect to watch the game dry, possibly drunk, and boo Sergio Mitre. Sergio Mitre deserves to be booed for how expensive beer is at ballgame. Rain postponed the Yankees game against the Blue Jays on Tuesday. The result is today's double header. If the storm wasn't so bad, the Yankees and Blue Jays would have probably waited the storm out.
Meanwhile, that very same night, the Pirates and Cubs were delayed by rain for more than three hours. The reason for the delay was due to the fact that the Pirates and Cubs would not face each other for the rest of the year. The Pirates also have no days off for the remainder of the season. I'm sure I've brought up the fact that due to my job, which I wholeheartedly miss going too, I've come to really hate rain delays. Rain truly is baseball's mortal enemy, not just for the players or fans that want to see the game but also for the people who work for MLB and at the stadium.
The Yankees and Blue Jays could afford to postpone this game because it's the beginning of the series and they have another four game series with them at the end of the month. Yay. What trouble me is when they have the ability to postpone the game and play a double header later on and they don't. This happened a lot last year during the 2011 Deluge. Plenty of games could have been postponed till another day and they do not. I should clarify that I'm not talking about a one hour storm here. My beef is with the three hour delayed games as well as some two hour delayed games in which they play through the bad weather. I don't understand the reasoning for that.
That last statement was a Mtireian lie. I understand the reasoning for it and it's money. The fans that stay spend more on expensive food and beer. I've always been curious what the players prefer. This should be in Michael Kay's Segment 2 before the lineups, first pitch, and BASE. BALL. follow. I think I just lost some brain cells typing that. I'd like to think that players prefer a double header. I have no prove of this and probably never will. I just cannot imagine playing during bad weather or on a wet field is any fun. At least in important games like baseball. It's a lot of fun when playing with friends.
Players could also not like playing two games in a row. The weak and feeble will get a game off. The strong and necessary will not. There is also the risk of the first game going really long. I remember a Yankees game in the 90's when the first game started at 4PM, went nineteen innings or so and they had to come out around midnight or 1AM to play the second game. It was crazy. For all I know that was the catalyst behind less double headers in baseball. I have no proof of this and probably never will.
The main reason I think we do not see more double headers is due to the unbalanced scheduling. The Mets and Rockies had to sit through a monsoon for three to four hours and play during awful conditions because they would not face each other again the rest of the year. It's another mark against unbalanced scheduling. To me, at least. I've always been a fan of double headers. Maybe it's because of the idea of all day baseball. Perhaps it's because I reveled in the youthful, less responsibility, pre StubHub Greg Kirkland of olden time being able to spend the whole day at the stadium at the spur of the moment.
That's me though. What say you, Pinstriped Bible readers? Will you fight for me and regain your honor? Can you tell me which you prefer? WHAT SAY YOU?