World Series: Game 5 thoughts, Part I
Greetings from Plymouth Meeting, PA! Turned out that Lennon and I were overly optimistic in checking out of our respective hotels yesterday afternoon, with the intention of driving back to The Big Apple last night. When this happened, we both had to scramble for rooms. So I'm out here, about 20 miles from Citizens Bank Park. I think Dave is staying at the Governor's Mansion in New Jersey.
(BTW, these sort of "media travel details" drive Rieber nuts. I'm just sayin'.)
So, instead of pursuing the producers of this show, and roughing them up, let's dissect what happened at the ballpark.
1. Here is my column. To break it down further:
a. No objections to starting the game. At first pitch, the weather.com forecast indicated that a light rain would persist but get no worse. The conditions were playable at the game's beginning.
b. It started to get really bad in the fifth - horrific timing. If the game had dragged longer early, and they put on the tarp before the contest became official, then they could've banged the game and started from scratch. An unpalatable denouement, no doubt, since the Phillies would've blown a Cole Hamels start, but what are you gonna do?
But once it became clear that the conditions made the game unplayable, the game was already official, with the Phillies up, 2-1. Bud Selig should've just admitted afterward that the score absolutely influenced their decision-making. Once the Rays tied it, they could throw on the tarp knowing that they could pick the game up whenever weather permits.
You know that, when B.J. Upton scored on Carlos Pena's sixth-inning single, beating Pat Burrell's throw home, Selig let out a "Woo hoo!"
How bad would a rain-shortened World Series finale have been? Not real good, obviously, both in terms of fan satisfaction and future marketing - you want to be able to put a photo of the team pile-up on DVDs, etc. But there would've been some integrity to it: "We play our game outdoors in many cities. We're not football. We're not meant to play in any and all conditions. We're sorry the Rays didn't get a full nine innings, but the rules are the rules, whether it's April 27 or October 27."
The alternatives were horrible. To keep playing last night would have been a grand injustice; the Rays probably wouldn't have tied the game in the first place if not for the weather. And for Selig to invoke his "best interests of the game" power to put the game on indefinite delay, that would've been an abuse of his power, IMHO.
So, Selig should personally thank the Rays for tying this up. Because they did, all we're really ripping the commisioner on is theoreticals.
c. "This is the price they pay for starting so late at night." I guess, if you apply that only to last night. I mean, what if first pitch was 7:05, and then the rain turned really bad at 8:30, as opposed to starting at 8:30 and turning really bad at 10?
I used to be all over baseball for the late starting times, thinking that they were inflicting damage on their future audience because kids didn't get to see a full World Series game. But my 5-year-old son has become a passionate baseball fan (I swear, I didn't force it upon him), and he doesn't seem to care that he misses the games. He calls me every morning at 7 and asks me, "Who won?"
d. "This is the price they pay for extending the postseason so late." And it's gonna be even later next year. But again...not sure what can/should be done. How much would they have to move it up to avoid a scenario like last night's? A week? Two weeks? Do you cut down the number of playoff games? They did move back Game 1 four days last year, to avoid starting the Series on the weekend, which I thought was smart.
2. Anyway, about the game itself: Right now, it feels like the Rays won back some momentum. Pena and Evan Longoria are both finally on the board with hits. Grant Balfour came up huge in relief of Scott Kazmir, escaping a first-and-second, none-out situation in the fifth. And now the Phillies have to complete this game without Hamels.
3. It seemed like home-plate ump Jeff Kellogg was all over the map. But no, I'm not going to advocate replay for balls and strikes.
4. If we somehow can finish the game tonight - and right now, it is pouring outside - and the Rays extend this to seven, we'd be looking at playing six straight days, switching sites with no rest for travel. It'll be interesting to see how the players hold up. At least all of the relievers except Balfour got last night off.
5. Here is my World Series Insider, which discusses the Mets' willingness to trade youngsters for a closer. It sounds like Seattle's J.J. Putz, a Richie G. favorite, won't be made available. But you can count on Omar Minaya asking new Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik about that issue at next week's GM meetings. Assuming those GM meetings aren't delayed by an unresolved World Series.
All right, I'll post an update as soon as we know something more.
UPDATE, 7:07 P.M. Hey, did you hear they pushed back the World Series? Sorry, I wound up driving back to NYC (so no local exploring, Sandy). Thanks for keeping things running in my absence. I'm writing a column for tomorrow's Newsday, but to give you a sneak preview, the more I think about what transpired, the more I think the Phillies got jobbed. I think, however, they have the perfect manager to forget about what happened and just move forward. Charlie Manuel is not one to sweat the small stuff.
E-mail
Facebook
Digg
Delicious
Comments (27)
Ken, when kids are five, their Daddy's are their hero. Your son knows what you do for a living (unless he thinks your a spy) and that probably has something to do with his love for the game. Though nephew who is 8 loves baseball as well. But its not the kids who are big baseball fans that its affecting, its the kids/teenagers who aren't big fans that it is affecting. Those kids wont become big fans because they dont see the sports signature event.
Do you think Bud will play the last few innings at a neutral site? Maybe Marlins Park??
I dont think you can end the game on a rain delay. I'd want Bud to be strong and say we are finishing this game. How last nights rain was handled by the umps/Bud was great. Obvious but great.
There is a great article in Sundays Post about Upton and his work ethic on the field. A former player said Upton wouldn't have done that twice bc he's too afraid. Obviously there is no veteran prescence on the Rays. Bob I hardly ever ask you a direct question. But I'm asking now. What did you think of Pena and Rocco not hustling, and would this have happened when you were playing?
Selig was in a no-win situation last night. You can hammer Selig and the MLB all you want. But Selig had no other choice. Selig and company caught a break when the Rays tied the game at 2-2 in the 6th. Its a good thing they play Game 3 on Saturday because if they had rain that game out on Saturday, baseball would have been in a dicey situation.
Jeff Kellogg was all over the place with his strike zone last night. You can see Kazmir's frustration with every pitch he threw. All these umpires have their own strike zone. Baseball should get all the umps together and tell them to call the strike zone by the book instead of by their own judgment.
I'm rooting Rays, but something tells me a Phillies win just might be a good thing for Wright/Reyes and the rest of the Mets core.
Horrible non-hustle by Baldelli and Pena. They both lost key bases. Where have you gone Timo Perez! Rather strange for a team so lauded for 'playing the right way' to fail when it matters most. They looked so well run to me this season (but success does that), I wouldn't expect anything like that to happen the rest of this series...or maybe ever with those 2 guys.
Omar is of course doing the right thing talking about trades. The GM job by it's nature involves much cloak and dagger and misdirection. But I think in the end the Mets are better off grabbing Fuentes than overpaying for one controlled year of Putz or a fading Street. Soria is another story, but he'll cost a lot of talent. I'd imagine something like Martinez/Flores, Niese/Parnell plus another piece.
RG - I never saw it happen without some action taking place. In the minors, the player would be yanked - and in the majors, the crowds would boo the player and the manager would go nuts.
1981 - St. Louis: Gary Templeton hit a ground ball to the pitcher to end an inning and didn't take a step towards first. He waited for someone to bring him his glove. Instead, a backup shortstop ran by him. Gary went to the dugout and the Cardinal coaches were physically holding Whitey Herzog back from attacking Templeton.
But money gets in the way - Scott Bradley (Princeton head coach) was a minor league coach for the Rockies in the early 90's and a # 1 draft pick didn't run out a fly ball. Scott ws told to take him out of the game by the manager and talk to him about the right way to play. The player smiled after a few sentences and said "I call my agent - I play tomorrow".
Bob thanks. I hope Madden addresses this issue. Its not a small one. It mattered last night. It may cost his team the World Series. I hope it does.
Ken you couldn't find a room closer to Philly? Did you try Camden and Cherry Hill :) How about Wilmington where the Rays landed that's only 1/2 hour away and you could have managed to go to Sabatino's in Baltimore for lunch today.
Knowing that Selig is a used car salesman thus a practiced liar, I find it strange that nobody knew he would suspend last night's game until eternity's end last night if he had to. I think the time he had to think between the game's stoppage and his press conference was when he came up with that . Therefore it was extremely interesting to watch as the field became a total mess and the Rays were desperate to score a run, even stealing a base after Mr. Know-It-All in the booth said nobody would even dare slide into the quagmire at second base. Nobody told TV, and I find that strange since they pay the bills, and the umpires didn't know they could stop the game at anytime either. Not that they haven't shown they are completely clueless anyway.
This World Series has been an absolute disgrace and baseball should be embarrassed by what has been produced. The low ratings are completely justified. Baseball is to interested in promoting 4 or 5 teams on TV, just like the NBA, and gets royally screwed when those teams aren't playing at the end. There was no excuse for the lack of national exposure for the Phillies all season, because they were still supposed to be contenders, and they could have done a better job with the best story in baseball all season with the rays, to at least provide some interest in them, after it became apparent they wern't going away this season. Oh well, there's always next year. i wonder if the Phillies or Rays will be the Sunday night season opener with ESPN's new broadcast team next year? I doubt it. I suspect Red Sox.
Since tonight is already cancelled, Ken has a whole day off to explore the area and everyone gets to watch NBA Opening Night. YAY!
Major League Baseball will not bother playing the conclusion of Game 5 of the World Series tonight because of the weather and will try to play tomorrow. I check the weather at weather.com and base on what I saw, they may not play until Thursday. The weather in Philadelphia for today is rain and windy. And tomorrow its going to be rainy and snow, but it might clear by night time. Now let's say they are able to play tomorrow. The Rays win Game 5 and Game 6 on Thursday. Then you have Game 7 on Friday on Halloween night. Now that the World Series won't resume until tomorrow, the Phillies could pitch Cole Hamels on 3 days rest in Game 7 on Friday. Hamels threw 75 pitches last night. So by not playing tonight, the Phillies catch a break in that Hamels could pitch in Game 7 on 3 days rest.
Sandy I was laughing very hard that they actually thought Upton couldn't steal 2nd because of the conditions. Ridiculous.
Well, this is a total fiasco.
It just feels like the Phillies got screwed. Not only was it a semi-wasted Hamels start, but they let him pitch in terrible weather just long enough to allow the game to be tied. As Ken said, they probably wouldn't have tied the game without the conditions, so how is that remotely fair?
The actual play of this WS is going to be instantly forgettable. All anyone will remember is one game ending at 2 in the morning and another game being stopped and then completed days later. The WS no one cared about just became even more irrelevant.
Baseball has proposed another off day in case Tampa wins this game because the teams need to arrange travel and rooms in Tampa. So, if they do play tomorrow, they might have off Thursday to travel and Friday and Saturday night will be games 6 and 7 and Hamels can pitch again Saturday night. Then again with today being off, there is no reason why the traveling secretary can't get the arrangements done today and they play Thursday and Friday because Fox wants this over with.
It would be fitting to have Game 7 on Halloween night since Fox's ratings for the WS has been pretty scary anyway.
I think we're one step away from the clinching game of the World Series being aired on FX.
Not here to defend Selig at all, but did he really have a choice??
Unlike football, MLB actually lets the home fans of the winning team host a World series game. They don't wimp out like the NFL and move the game to a site where the canapes stay fresh in the balmy climate that allows outdoor pool parties, corporate posses and the like. Frankly, it's more macho to sit through a WS game in Philly than attend a Super Bowl in Glendale or Miami.
So lay off Bud - there's nothing he could have done short of sterring storms a la Pat Robertson.
A thought - why don't they play the regularly scheduled games in Tampa as Game 5a and Game 6? If the Rays win two, then it's back tp Philly for the abridged version of Game 5 (which becomes Game 7). If they ever made it to the new Game 7 - the ratings would be fantastic!!!
--
As for ratings...NEW YORK (AP) -- Game 4 drew the highest television ratings so far of the World Series. The Philadelphia Phillies' 10-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday night earned a 9.3 rating and 15 share on Fox, the network said Monday.
That's down 11 percent from the last Game 4 in which a team didn't have a chance of clinching. Cardinals-Tigers in 2006 drew a 10.4/18.
The first four games are averaging an 8.0/14, a 25-percent decrease from the 10.6/18 for the Boston Red Sox's sweep of the Colorado Rockies last year.
I missed these pearls of wisdom directed at this Bud's For You from some of the Phillie players....
http://blogs.courierpostonline.com/phillies/2008/10/28/the-angriest-place-on-earth/?fark
“That (expletive deleted) guy,” one pitcher said as he saw commissioner Bud Selig before walking out the back door of the clubhouse. “I wouldn’t let him supervise one of my (bowel movements). He has no clue. Not one (expletive deleted) clue.”
“(Expletive deleted),” one position player said in the direction of one television pausing only for a moment before leaving. “He’s a moron. How stupid can one person be?”
I think if I'm Madden, I send out Price to start the bottom of the sixth inning tomorrow night and let him go as long as he can. And if he is able to win, worry about a closer when the time comes. If I'm Manuel, I think I use Blanton. If I'm Manuel I pitch Hamels Friday whether its game 6 or game 7.
Maddon should used Price to start the bottom of the 6th whenever they restart yesterday's game. Price is Maddon's best option out of the pen who can shutdown the Phillies offense and can give you more than 2 innings. If they can't play tomorrow and have to play on Thursday, it would not surprise me if Manuel sends out Hamels to pitch in the 7th inning. Hamels is already in the game althought he would lead -off the bottom of the 6th. He only threw 75 pitches and he would have 2 days of rest since Monday.
I'm not buying some of the "love" directed toward Selig. Bud couldn't pick a winner in a one-horse race. He's a lousy "amateur meteorologist and his pro "friend" stinks, too. Count me among those that think the Phillies were "jobbed," to use Ken's term.
Whatever decisions that Bud Selig has made as the comissioner of baseball, he always gets pounded. Even the postive moves that Selig has made, he gets pounded. I never seem a commissioner in any sports league get so much negative press than Selig. The guy seems to have a dark cloud over him wherever he goes. As I said before, Seilg is the most hated and malign commissioner in the history of pro sports. The day Selig leaves the commissioner's office, the fans will be doing hand stands and won't feel sorrry to see Selig leave.
RG - I forgot to say I loved your idea that Game 5 finish at the Marlins stadium. Football will probably not allow that, so I suggest that Bud play the last 3 1/2 innings at Miller Field, continuing the precedent set after Hurricane Ike.
--
The owners want the commissioner to be a joke and that's exactly why they chose one of their own, hapless Bud Selig. He has always come across as a complete phony to me. I don't trust him and have never believed a single thing he has said. Bud ardently believes in socialism (spread the wealth/high taxes). He is pathetic. If he got the credit for "creating" record revenues during a booming economy (and after shaking down numerous cities for new parks) then he should get equal blame when revenues shrink during the coming recession. Bud is a laughingstock and always will be.
JMH, if the commissioner of baseball was appointed by the Players Union, you wouldn't say a thing. Say Marvin Miller or Don Fehr was the commissioner and he did the same things that Selig has done, you porbably won't knock either just like you have with Selig.
Dennis - if one the union leaders was actually the commissioner, the game would have never been played or stopped after 4 innings due to safety concerns.
One thing that is never mentioned is that there was a higher risk of injury playing in that slop on Monday. A slip and fall during a pitch could have ended the career of Hames or Kazmir. (Yes, the umps claim it was not muddy, but did you see kazmir's cleats during one of the visits to the mound?)
I will depart for bed before RG hears the mere mention of MM or DF and believes that the workers have risen and now control the means of production.
And to quote most reporters that I know, they like and trust Fehr and Miller over MLB commissioners, as Don and Marvin have never lied to their faces.
Dennis, you just love Bud Selig and hate the union. Admit it. You're a management guy. You insult my intelligence with your statement. I admire what the union has done for its members. But, if and when the union makes a mistake, I will call them on it.
JMH, I have a very objective opinion on everything. I try to point things that need to be address. You may not like opinions, but that's what I am.
Dennis, you mischaracterize my statements time after time. They are what they are. They don't need interpretation.
Objective opinion? On Hughes? On Girardi? On Torre? On Marvin Miller? On Don Fehrs?