Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Wet World Series

The weather-hampered World Series may continue tonight in Philadelphia.
Then again, it may snow.
Regardless, it's brought up a chorus of complaints and suggestions that the Series needs to move to a neutral location, much like what the NFL does for the Super Bowl.
It's a senseless knee-jerk reaction to a problem that hasn't happened very often in the history of the Series. No one complained after the earthquake in San Francisco. That was a 10-day delay. No one complained in 1986 when Game 7 of the Series between the Red Sox and the Mets was delayed a day because of rain.
The issue of suspending a game wasn't an issue before last year. If a tie game or a game in which the visiting team led during an incomplete inning, the score would have reverted to the last completed inning. Can you imagine the rumpus if the Series had been called off and Philadelphia declared the winner because of rain?
If there is a problem – playing around rain, snow, cold weather – it's MLB's doing. They want the games in the evening, even though most youngsters can't stay up and watch. Some grown-ups can't either. MLB voted in the extra round of playoffs, which pushed the last games of the Series back to Halloween and even November in 2001.
What do you think?

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