The Twins lost Wednesday in Baltimore when in all reality there never should have been a game. Ron Gardenhire's getting off the hook tonight, as this loss can be chalked up to Major League Baseball scheduling rules, and salt in the wounds are courtesy of the umpires in charge of this game.
It was raining all night in Baltimore on Wednesday. All night. But the umpires had to find a way to salvage five innings out of the night due to MLB rules. One rule is that a doubleheader cannot be played on the last day that an opponent is visiting a ballpark. The Twins ran into this same scenario a few weeks ago in Boston, when the first game of a two-game series was rained out and a doubleheader was scheduled on Wednesday (both teams had an off-day Thursday). The first game of the doubleheader was rained on as well and was controversially ended after the seventh inning, and the nightcap was delayed too. The logical thing to do would have been to postpone the first game and schedule a doubleheader on Thursday, but par MLB rules, that couldn't happen.
A similar situation occured in Baltimore but with worse circumstances. Because the series was not bookended by off-days (as was the case in Boston), there was no possibility of a double-header on Thursday because of this rule. The rule has some merit, I suppose, because if that doubleheader is washed out, making up two games later in the year (much less one game) and matching up off-days become a difficult task. So the umpires waited through almost three hours of rain delays to get through five innings, which made the game official. Once the fourth rain delay set in, the assumption was that the game would end then and there.
On a related note, the only worse thing than watching the Twins lose on TV is watching the Fox Sports Net crew sit through a rain delay. I hope it's the last time I have to hear Robby Incmikoski try to explain what hockey is to Dominicans. I didn't think it was possible, but now I hate Luis Ayala even more. The Pittsburgh Pelicans??! LMFAO!!!
It was raining all night in Baltimore on Wednesday. All night. But the umpires had to find a way to salvage five innings out of the night due to MLB rules. One rule is that a doubleheader cannot be played on the last day that an opponent is visiting a ballpark. The Twins ran into this same scenario a few weeks ago in Boston, when the first game of a two-game series was rained out and a doubleheader was scheduled on Wednesday (both teams had an off-day Thursday). The first game of the doubleheader was rained on as well and was controversially ended after the seventh inning, and the nightcap was delayed too. The logical thing to do would have been to postpone the first game and schedule a doubleheader on Thursday, but par MLB rules, that couldn't happen.
A similar situation occured in Baltimore but with worse circumstances. Because the series was not bookended by off-days (as was the case in Boston), there was no possibility of a double-header on Thursday because of this rule. The rule has some merit, I suppose, because if that doubleheader is washed out, making up two games later in the year (much less one game) and matching up off-days become a difficult task. So the umpires waited through almost three hours of rain delays to get through five innings, which made the game official. Once the fourth rain delay set in, the assumption was that the game would end then and there.But then the umpires milked the fourth delay for over an hour before calling it. The players, who had been at the park for near eight hours by that time, were finally allowed to leave, and the few hundred fans that stuck around were also permitted to leave. The umpires were likely stretching out the final rain delay for the Twins' benefit, as they were in the middle of taking their swings in the top of the sixth, but it was a bad decision to even play five full innings. With the field in such a soaked condition, it is lucky that both teams escaped Wednesday without losing any players to injury.
What is the solution to this? Well, the rule that prohibits doubleheaders on the final day in a city is legitimate and in place for a reason, so overturning that would not make sense. The real problem is: why are the Twins playing two games a season in Boston and Baltimore? Looking at it differently, the Twins play more games in St. Louis and Milwaukee and at Wrigley Field against the Cubs -- all National League teams -- than they do at A.L. rivals Boston and Baltimore. Interleague play is a profitable idea but in reality it needs to be seriously shortened. For every Subway Series or White Sox-Cubs series or Bay Bridge series that are very popular and draw tons of fans, there are interleague matchups like the Nationals vs. the Mariners or the Tigers vs. the Rockies. There is no justifiable reason for the Twins to be hosting the Pirates and the Astros this season; there won't be any sizable rise in attendance due to those teams coming to the Dome.
In order to play teams in your own league more than any interleague opponent, shorten interleague play to 3-6 games. That the Twins play more games against the Brewers (6) than the Orioles (5) is cause to change the schedule. Suppose the A.L. Central comes down to the final weekend, with the Indians and the Royals tied for the division lead (a purely hypothetical assumption). The division may come down to the fact that the Royals play the perennially contending Cardinals six times in interleague play and the Tribe play the lowly Reds six times. Interleague play in no way should have a serious affect on division races. Unfortunately, for the Twins, interleague play has, in more than one case, provided the team the boost to compete for the division title. In 2006 the Twins went 16-2 in interleague play, which vaulted the team from seven games under .500 to a division title, and last season the Twins wouldn't have even sniffed at a division title had they not gone 15-3 against the N.L.
The actual game was pitful enough to watch even without four rain delays. Nick Punto provided this Twins pessimist with a classic moment in the top of the fifth. With ex-Twins great Brian Bass on the mound and runners on first and third, Punto gets trapped off of first with the old fake-to-third-throw-to-first pickoff play that has never, ever, EVER worked. In my many years of following baseball, that very well may have been the first time I've ever seen it work. Carlos Gomez was thrown out trying to score on the play, but the error clearly goes to Punto there. Adding salt to the wounds, the play occured in the top of the fifth, which in a game like yesterday that was never going to go nine innings, could just as easily served as the top of the ninth. Terrible.
On a related note, the only worse thing than watching the Twins lose on TV is watching the Fox Sports Net crew sit through a rain delay. I hope it's the last time I have to hear Robby Incmikoski try to explain what hockey is to Dominicans. I didn't think it was possible, but now I hate Luis Ayala even more. The Pittsburgh Pelicans??! LMFAO!!!Glen Perkins tonight against some Baltimore rookie, so expect an Oriole sweep.
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