I was at Game 5 of the World Series, the first ever World Series game to be suspended. It was wet and cold and yet extremely exciting. I'm really tired right now, but I do have one question - why did Major League Baseball allow the top of the 6th inning to be played in sloppy conditions, without also playing the bottom of that inning?
This is potentially important. Sloppy conditions tend to favor the offense, as fielding and throwing a wet ball in a driving rain is quite difficult. BJ Upton's 6th inning steal was aided, in part, by the weather's impact on the Phillies' infielders. Upton later came around to score. The runner clearly has an advantage in bad weather.
Since the conditions didn't appreciably worsen during the middle of the 6th inning, why then - after the Rays had six at-bats and the Phillies only five - cancel the game? The conditions were already pretty bad for about an inning or two. The precipitation didn't worsen immediately prior to the Rain Delay, though the field was getting soppier and soppier, for sure.
I would had preferred that they called the Rain Delay (and then suspension) after five or six full innings. With their ability to track weather patterns via satellite, and their knowledge about how Citizens Bank Park's field deteriorates during nasty weather, surely they could have managed the delay in such a way as to call the Rain Delay after a full inning, rather than in the middle of an inning.
Oh well. Perhaps it'll all be moot when the Phillies rally and win Game 5 whenever it resumes. But the way this game ended - or, rather, the way it was suspended - just seemed less than fair.
Nonetheless, it was a great night out with my dad. We had a great time and I was thrilled to go to my first ever World Series game. I won't be able to return for the final few innings of this game - I can't keep driving to Philadelphia from Virginia, unfortunately. Thanks, Dad, for a memorable - and historic! - night!
