Derek Bodner’s Blog

The missed calls and inconsistent strike zone caused enough controversy in the 2008 World Series. It was bad enough when fans could argue that Jimmy Rollins was, in fact, hit by that pitch. Or that Jamie Moyer’s flip to Ryan Howard did get there in time. Or that Evan Longoria did make contact with Rollins before he got back to 3rd base.

Now we add in the unpredictability of Mother Nature, and the even more unpredictable Bud Selig, and you come up with a grand mess worse than the Citizens Bank Park infield.

Watching the game, it became clear the umpires were not going to call the game with the Phillies up 2-1, as if the game was not able to resume, that could have signaled Mother Nature prematurely ending the World Series in a Phillies win. The umpires waited, the Rays tied the game, and the game was immediately postponed.

Prior to 2007, if the visiting team scores runs in the top of an inning, and the home team does not get to finish out the bottom half of the inning, and the game has met the conditions to become official, the score is reverted back to the end of the last full inning in the event a game is canceled, which would have resulted in a Phillies victory. Now, a tie game, even one mid-inning, can be resumed at a later date.

After the game, Selig stated they would have postponed the game even if the Rays were trailing.

“We’d have sat here,” Selig said. “The game would have been in a rain delay until the weather conditions allowed us to continue. And that could have been 24 hours or 48 hours or whenever.”

Not only is that interesting because it was readily evident the umpires became much more receptive to delaying the game once the score became tied, but also because it is not allowed by Major League Baseball rules (Section 4.12).

“I have to use my judgment here,” Selig said. “This is not a way to end the World Series.”

The game, and thus World Series, absolutely should not have ended prematurely due to weather, that is likely something everyone can agree with Selig on. It’s hard to fathom even title starved Philadelphia fans wanting to win in that manner.

That being said, this is something that needs to be in the rulebooks. We all agree that World Series games should not end due to weather, so why not make it official that all World Series games will play the full nine innings, regardless of whether they are resumed from a tie game or not, half inning or full?

Why try to force a half inning on a field that clearly was not playable, when it became obvious the game was not capable of being finished?

Why does it feel like the commissioner is making up the rules as he goes?

Ultimately, the remainder of game 5 will be played in Philadelphia, some night. We’re just not sure exactly when. Until then, the Rays will have to find new shelter for the night, as the team did not have reservations, and the hotel they were staying at was fully booked.

Hard to imagine things could get any stranger.