Saturday, April 14, 2007

A Question for the Powers that Be in the MLB

Pardon me as I take a sidestep from the world of dissecting the peculiarities that define Philly sports. Instead, I'd like to raise an issue that I have with Major League Baseball's officials.

So far this year, weather has wreaked havoc on trying to get some baseball games in. Snow-outs in Cleveland. Thirty degree temps in Flushing Meadows. Generally cold, nasty stuff to contend with in many cities east of the Mississippi. This type of weather is not conducive to baseball.

So why, then, are any games even scheduled to be played in cold weather cities in the first couple of weeks in April? There are quite a few warm weather cities (Miami, Tampa, Phoenix, LA, etc.) and domed stadiums (Toronto, Minneapolis, etc) where games could easily and sensibly be scheduled to start the season until weather hopefully clears up in the middle of the month.

On a related note, the Phils are playing the Astros this weekend in Philly. It's the middle of April and ordinarily the weather is warming up by now, but by freak of nature (no pun intended), we're going to get hit by a nasty Nor'easter storm with buckets of rain, howling wind, and possibly even snow tomorrow. So it looks like there's a 99% chance Sunday's game will be cancelled-- and if not, it will be a soggy mess with minimial attendance and probably multiple delays. Yet today was a gorgeous day-- 55 degrees or so, mostly sunny. Why not hedge your bets and play a double header today, instead of cancelling tomorrow's game and trying to squeeze it in at the end of the season? It may be short notice for fans, but offer rainchecks to those who can't make it, cut prices to encourage people to come out to the park, and voila!-- you've got yourself a game completed, some happy fans, and potential scheduling nightmares to avoid.

I'd say that argument holds water, wouldn't you?

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