Cal Ripken said it first, but it bears repeating: It's not fair to force one team to bat in a downpour, then pull the tarp over the field and wait for weather to clear before the other side gets its licks. (If you -- incredibly -- ascribe to David Wells' conviction that the disadvantage belongs to the fielders, the inequity is the same, just in reverse.)
In Game One of their series, the Tigers were forced to attempt to solve CC Sabathia -- difficult enough under ordinary circumstances -- in conditions no one would attempt to land a plane in. The last two batters in the inning were clearly unable to pick up the ball and went down meekly on strikes. The umps -- obviously under league orders to ignore the elements as long as they could -- finally shut it down during the mid-frame break, never to resume.
The Yankees batted the next day in playable weather, with Justin Verlander already removed. That NY won in a laugher doesn't alter the point: Games should be stopped when the weather sucks.
The problem, of course, is the calendar, not the heavens. There isn't enough room in the first place for a 162-game season without double-headers, a free day for play-in games, two rounds of playoffs and the World Series between April Fools' Day and Halloween. Adding a few days of postponement for the inevitable freezing rain events during the October post-season mucks up the schedule (and the rotations) worse than the pitching mound.
So which of these luxuries does MLB elminate:
- The April start to the season?
- The October end?
- The lack of doubleheaders?
- The 162-game season?
- The endless rounds of playoffs?
- Playoffs at home parks (rather than neutral sites)?
- Waiting out bad weather during the most important games?
Answer: The worst possible solution. Rather than add some doubleheaders and/or trim the playoffs back, Czar Bud and his minions have chosen to make a mockery of the championship march. So Alex Avila paid the price, attempting to hit a sinking 95 mph fastball between raindrops.
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