I only want 2 see you laughing in the purple rain
Posted: October 28th, 2008 | Filed under: Baseball | 54 Comments »
Well, I said more or less everything I have to say about the crazy rain suspension in Game 5 of the World series in this Kansas City Star column.*
*And, yes, I did have a typo in there, having the Phillies World Series win in ‘85 rather than ‘80. Under deadline strain, the mind does sometimes confuse long droughts. The author regrets the error.
But I do think, it’s worth saying once more that baseball under Allan Huber “Bud” Selig Jr. never ceases to be an adventure. I believe in my heart that the man loves baseball more than, perhaps, any baseball commissioner in memory.* He certainly seems to care about his game in a way that goes beyond how much Roger Goodell loves football or Gary Bettman loves hockey or whatever. And, it is true, that you should not discount how much baseball has grown under his watchful eye or the good things that have happened. He has been, probably, the most influential commissioner in baseball history.
*Brilliant reader VoiceOfUnreason brings up A. Bartlett Giamatti, which is an excellent point. The man did love the game in an overwhelming Boston, Yale, baseball is rebirth, literary sort of way. I would suggest that Bud — in his sort of Milwaukee, hot dog and beer, Happy Days way — matched his baseball love. But it is hard to measure such things.
But man, the guy’s just a schlemiel, isn’t he? Or is it a schlemazel? You remember schlemiel and schlemazel from the old Laverne and Shirley intro*. Well, those are Yiddish words — schlemiel is defined as sort of a klutz, a bumbler, you know, Mr. Magoo, Gilligan, Sarah Palin, Joe Biden. And a schlemazel is defined as an unlucky person, someone who just has bad things happen all the time even if it isn’t their fault, Charlie Brown, Brodie Croyle, Elisha Gray, the guy who invented the telephone but turned in his patent too late to beat out Alexander Graham Bell.
*Schlemiel, Schlemazel, Hasenfeffer, Incorporated.
We’re going to do it.
Give us any chance, we’ll take it.
Give us any rule, we’ll break it.
We’re going to make our dreams come true.
Doin’ it our way!
The old line is that a schlmeiel is a guy who spills the soup. A schlemazel is the guy who has the soup spilled on him. And in that way, it’s hard to define whether Bud is more schlemiel (the bumbler who let the whole steroid era happen on him) or schlemazel (the poor guy who was told it wouldn’t rain during the World Series and then, of course, it pours). In the end, I suspect, he’s a bit of both. Poor Bud has spilled a lot of soup on himself.
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Joe, typo in your KC star article?
“Not only had the Phillies never won another World Series aside from 1985…”
I think you meant 1980?
Question: if the rain had poured before the Rays tied it, would they have just called it off and declared Philly to be the winner?
What a legacy for Selig.
They would not have called it off. Here’s a quote:
If Pena had not tied it, Selig said he would not have let the Phillies win with a game that was called after six innings.
“It’s not a way to end a World Series,†he said. “I would not have allowed a World Series to end this way.â€
Nate
Game Five was not Bud Selig’s fault. Into life, a little rain must fall.
The strike of 1994-1995, sure.
The All-Star Game of 2002 with the images of him in the stands shrugging his shoulders, absolutely.
It’s time for one more rule change: Every postseason game should be played to it’s completion. Any game, no matter the score or inning, would be suspended if necessary and completed prior to the next game. There is no excuse for the “what ifs†of last night.
As a Red Sox fan, I shudder to think about how the fans/media would have reacted around the country if it had been the Red Sox instead of the Rays. Or, for that matter, if it were the Red Sox instead of the Phillies!
I haven’t seen this mentioned by any of the various people who are slaughtering Selig today, so I’ll throw this out there…. Why not start the game earlier? If the game is set to start at 8:00 PM EST and rain is looking to hit at 10:00 PM EST, the obvious move here is the push the game forward a couple of hours. I don’t want to hear any noise about west coast audiences not having a chance to watch, because hardly anyone outside of Philly and Tampa is watching this series anyway. A 6:00 PM EST start is still after work for most people in the time zone where both teams play, so fans of the participating teams could still watch, and it would have pretty much ensured that the whole game could be played. Screw Fox Sports, and the howls of protest I’m sure they would have raised at that suggestion.
Baseball might have solved one problem by the creation of another. Since Philly will again have terrrible weather on Teusday they should finish the game wednesday night. That is the night that the start of the game is being pushed back due to ‘political ads’, but it should leave plenty of time for 3+ innings of baseball.
However, Selig saw that Tuesday was likey worse weatherwise then Monday, and decided to try to play the game. Those are the breaks. Why did the season start late this year?
Correction, I just read Gene Wojciehwoffskdishrfski’s column on ESPN.com and he suggested moving the game forward 60-90 minutes. But I still can’t find any evidence that anyone actually asked Selig that question, or what answer he may have given to it.
With it being a World Series game, especially a potentially series deciding game, I would want my favorite team to complete the game, even if they were up 15-1 with 2 outs in the 9th. This is not some blah game in the middle of June. I would never want the weather to hand my team the victory, even if a comeback by the other team seemed impossible. And since this game was super close, and is currently tied, I don’t see why any Phillies fan has a problem with the suspension. Unless they have no faith that the Phillies can hang on to a 3-1 series lead, and if you don’t have that much faith in them, how can you call yourself a fan.
And this is coming from a fan of a team that has never even been to the World Series. (sigh) I hate being a damn Mariners’ fan.
“I believe in my heart that the man loves baseball more than, perhaps, any baseball commissioner in memory.”
Your heart no longer remembers Giamatti?
Because it wasn’t a question of the timing of the rain, it was a question of severity the expected intensity of the storm didn’t justify moving things up by even a few minutes.
Even if the storm was known to be very severe, Fox, or any traditional broadcast network, doesn’t have the right to pre-empt their affiliate’s programming prior to 8pm ET. Turning that time over to the network can be negotiated in advance or the network can cut in for a breaking news event, but it’s not something that can be done on an hour’s notice in primetime.
In rare instances start times for golf events have been moved up due to weather, but that’s been with overnight notice and the rules for weekend afternoons are just different.
you know when you bet too much in roullete. You want black to happen. Secrectly you prepare for red.
And then the ball lands on GREEN.
That was the “what the crap” feeling about being in Philadelphia last night
What a waste of Cole Hamels. I mean…if the weather was playable in the 6th, would he have given up the game tying 2-out hit to Pena? Sure Pena’s a very good player… but seriously, if they were playing in playable conditions, maybe that hit doesn’t ever happen. But now, the Phillies probably aren’t going to trot Hamels out on the mound Tuesday or Wednesday night. So you’ll be playing about 2-3 innings of baseball starting from a tie… just like any game starts.
Now that we know what Schlemiel and Schlemazel mean, what is a Hassenfeffer? Why are they incorporated? Is that for tax and liability purposes? Thanks Joe.
I think besides the Fox affiliate issue, starting the game 1 or 2 hours early on short notice is *really* unfair to fans expecting the game to start at 8:30 – especially in a metro area like Phila where getting around by car takes advance planning…
Paul, I’m sure you know all the baseball reasons why they wouldn’t have moved it up (ratings, commercials, etc.), but what about logistical? If you move it up on the day of the game, how do you let everyone with tickets know that it’s been moved up? Not everyone with tickets surfs the internet at work during the day.
I’m not disagreeing that it would have been a good option – it just would have sucked for a whole lot of people to have arrived an hour late for their world series game.
Any self-respecting Bugs Bunny fan knows what hasenpfeffer is… from Wikipedia:
Hasenpfeffer (also spelled hasenfeffer) is a traditional German stew made from marinated rabbit or hare. Pfeffer is not only the name of a spice, but also for a dish where the animal’s blood is used as a gelling agent for the sauce. Wine or vinegar is also a prominent ingredient, to lend a sourness to the recipe.
Just got to read Gene Woj’s column. He writes: “If major golf tournaments can adjust their start times based on weather, why can’t the World Series?”
Good question, Gene, maybe you should have ASKED SOMEBODY. There were at least 20 people in the ballpark last night who could have answered that question.
Joe, typo in your blog post title (also)?
“I only want 2 see you laughing in the purple rainâ€
I think you meant u?
vitally important. vitally.
I have a question. Under the actual rules of baseball (and here I mean the official rules, not the Bud Selig double secret rules for postseason close out games) wouldn’t the Phillies have won the game 2-1?
Because, I thought the official rules state that if the game goes 5 innings and then it rains, the game reverts to the last complete inning, which here would be the 5th.
Baseball is a pretty simple game:
You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball.
Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.
Sometimes…it rains.
A rain delay, exciting only in the series? At least the tarp didn’t injure anyone.
Unfortunately, it (the rain) covered up some absolutely horrible ball/strike calls in my opinion. Anyone else noticed some very inconsistent strike zones this series? Worst I’ve ever seen in a series.
Brent –
I believe the rule you cite was changed in 2007 to account for situations like that which occured last night. Under the old rules, yes the top of the six – since it was an uncompleted inning would be “rolled back” and the Phils win 2-1. Under the new rule the half inning counts and the game is suspended after 5 1/2 innings.
If they do not play tonight and have to complete game 5 in Philly on Wednesday, there is a good chance we will see Cole Hammels again for the last 2 or even 3 innings. If I am not mistaken, the second day after a starting pitchers last start is considered their “throwing day”.
Mike
Brent:
“I have a question. Under the actual rules of baseball (and here I mean the official rules, not the Bud Selig double secret rules for postseason close out games) wouldn’t the Phillies have won the game 2-1?
Because, I thought the official rules state that if the game goes 5 innings and then it rains, the game reverts to the last complete inning, which here would be the 5th.”
In 2007, the rules were changed to allow for suspended games in this situation.
Thank you Mike.
Another question, I seem to remember that a WS in the 1960s ended up with a bunch of rain outs. I want to say the 1962 series between the Yankees and Giants. Anyway, does anyone know whether any of those games actually started but didn’t get in 5 innings or whether they simply didn’t start any of the games?
And double checking baseballreference.com, Game 5 in 1962 took place on 10/10 and Game 6 on 10/15, which sound like 3 days of rain in SF (figure 10/11 was a travel day from NY to SF and then rain outs on 10/12, 10/13 and 10/14)
Coming from a Brewer fan, I certainly have a unique perspective on the commish. I owe Bud for bringing baseball back to Milwaukee, but also know the team is better off since leaving his control.
As for the game of baseball, I must say I think Bud’s hitting .500, which is darn good in this game. Yeah, the 2002 All Star game and the steroids are huge flaws in his tenure, but the wild card has been an awesome addition to the sport, and the way his efforts in regards to revenue have (pun intended) paid off are two big benefits he’s brought to the game. Myself as a Brewers fan, the Tampa fans, Minnesota, and maybe someday KC, have to be thankful those teams can even make a run at the postseason now with some subsidies from the free spending New York teams, BoSox, etc.
Daniel – Sure, it’s a concern in letting everyone know about the time change, but I have to believe most people with tickets were monitoring the situation in some way given the weather concerns. Even if they can’t check the internet every few minutes, they can have someone call them if they hear of a change, or have a radio on in the backgound. Plus, MLB could have avoided that scenario completely by simply announcing in advance of the series, “Game times may change due to weather conditions.” Then everyone is on notice. But since none of that happened, those same fans are now faced with returning to the ballpark for a second straight week night, and dealing with the added expense that will entail, particularly for the out-of-towners.
Regardless, it sounds from Mikey’s excellent point that it’s an academic discussion anyway. If the network can’t force the affiliates to change their earlier programming before a certain hour, then I can see the problem. It’s a bit sad that MLB (and other sports) have tied themselves so heavily to the networks that they now have little or no flexibility on situations like this, but I suppose that the price we pay for getting to watch.
Judge Landis can’t be left out of any discussion of greatest commissioner. Or maybe he has to be left out in order for there to be a discussion.
I fully support the “any postseason game must be played to its natural conclusion” rule.
I agree that pushing the start of the game up would be problematic, not so much for the networks but for the actual fans attending the game. That would be my bigger concern.
As for the lede to this blog entry, I don’t think you can evoke Bettman as someone who “loves” the sport over which he presides. He was parachuted in as an ex-basketball commish and was hired on more for his business acumen than for anything to do with a love of (or knowledge or understanding of) the game.
As a long-standing hockey fan, I haven’t seen any evidence that Bettman even likes hockey, much less loves it. He’s made plenty of missteps along the way, as well. Expanding into the southern U.S.? Really? I wonder why there are so many half-empty arenas out there…
Phillies fans are not upset that we weren’t allowed to win on a technicality. We’re upset that they didn’t call the game after the fifth (if not earlier). I would never want to win the World Series on a rain-shortened game, but it’s also not fair to play through a monsoon just so Tampa can tie the game and avoid the confusion that suspending it at 2-1 would have caused.
Brent –
You have the correct series – in ‘62 there was a three day rain delay. However no World Series game has ever been cancelled due to weather.
Mike
Edit: Meant to say no World Series game has been shortened due to weather.
Mike
I felt really bad for the Philly fans at the game last night. It is pretty well documented that they are the most tormented fans in sports, and in baseball in particular (the losingest franchise in history, one WS in 100+ years of WS play, 6 pennants ever), then in what should be their night of triumph, Mother Nature dumps cold, wet rain on the fans. Even had they been able to finish the game (and presuming the Phillies won), it would have put a damper on the celebration.
Maybe the coming great depression will have a silver lining.
If it knocks some of the materialism and greed out of our way of life, we could go back to shorter seasons so the fall classic would be played in baseball weather and in the daytime. Will the new Yankee Stadium be configured so Norm Sieburn won’t be able to see fly balls on late October afternoons?
Yeah, I know, unlikely.
You brought up Gary Bettman as someone who loves hockey?
I’m going to go ahead and assume you meant that facetiously because, quite honestly, after watching that guy completely destroy the NHL over the past ten years, I’m convinced the man doesn’t even LIKE hockey.
But I see Justin has beaten me to the punch, as it were. I’ll take that as confirmation that my initial assumption was correct and that my favorite sportswriter in the whole world was just making a little funny.
The alternative is, of course, inconceivable.
Mike:
Thanks again. I just read a little about the 1962 Series. Since it was a typhoon that hit SF, it was pretty obvious that they couldn’t start the games. They lost 3 days in Boston in 1975 too (I was 6, I didn’t remember this). I guess it was apparant that the games shouldn’t be started then either.
Of course, back in the DAY, there are a few suspended WS games because of darkness that just ended in a tie (1907, 1912, 1922)
Yes, 1975’s Game Six was postponed THREE TIMES. Who won that game when they finally played it? (Read Joe’s upcoming book for the answer.)
I think it rained so much Friday or Saturday -when it was originally supposed to be a day game – that the field was unplayable for several days.
Joe – I understand you having to apologize for the error in your column, but does anyone read your column before it is printed in the KC Star? I can’t believe that a sports editor in KC can’t remember what happened in the 85 Series.
I have another S word for Bud Selig which I believe is more accurate, although less kind, than schlemiel.
That word is “schmuck”.
At least that’s what we call him in Brooklyn.
sigh, if only Bush had been able to become commisioner of baseball back in 1994 instead of Selig…
Are you crazy, manyfaces? If Bush had become the commish of Baseball there would, somehow, someway, be no baseball left. I shudder at the thought.
The “typo” is regrettable, but there’s no reason it needs to persist on the Star’s website…
Maybe I’m missing something, but since when is loving the sport you oversee a necessary, or even a desirable trait in a commissioner? Did Landis love baseball? Did Rozelle or Tagliabue love football? Does David Stern really love basketball? I don;t know, but other than Giamatti, I sure don’t recall reading about any commissioner’s greaqt lover for the sport. I actually wonder if it might get in the way of objective decision making. Like the sport, and understand it, sure, but I’m not sure how much a commissioner loves a sport is really relevant to anything.
On a separate note, while there are definitely some issues with the NHL, there are NOT a lot of empty seats, at least when compared with other sports. Sure, hockey isn’t as popular in warmer weather areas as in Boston, NY or Detroit, but Bettman has simply followed the population. The WORST attendance teams in the NHL run at over 80% of capacity, with over half the league at better than 90% last year. The NBA, by comparison, had 2 teams below 70%, and at least 5 more below 80%. 4 NHL teams average less than 15,000/game, 3 of them just under. Despite larger arenas, 8 NBA teams were below 15K, 2 below 13K. Baseball is a bad comparison because it has twice the number of games, and 2-3x the number of seats, so a bad comp, but the NBA is a perfect comparison for attendance — same games, slightly more seats (ice takes more space than floor).
The NHL has struggled because as much as Bettman, and others, have tried, the game just does not translate to TV. Maybe HD will be the silver bullet, maybe not. Live hockey, however, is so compelling that it draws everywhere. Bettman has made a whole slew of mistakes. Putting teams in the markets where there are actually, you know, lots of people, sure doesn’t seem like a mistake from where I sit.
The rule about reverting to the previous inning’s score was removed a long time ago. What was changed in 2007 was that a tie game is resumed, instead of being called “No game” and having to be replayed again from the beginning.
Minor correction: tie games after five innings were called as “Tie games” and had to be replayed, prior to 2007.
Loved the idea about moving up the start time to 5:00 or 6:00 for Monday’s craptacular weatherfest. Problem is the more fans like an idea (like having a weekend afternoon game) the more the bigwigs at Fox and TBS loathe it.
BTW kudos to Joe & Tim in the Fox booth for quickly noticing the ump didn’t call the infield fly rule in the sixth inning. If No Chip off the Block Caray and TheBullS**t crew were working Game 5, I think they probably would have picked up on that sometime during Game 8.
And it’s great working classic 70’s references like Schlemiel and Schlemazel into a blog post. I’d like to add another (and another that starts with the letters SCH) that reminds me most of Commissioner Selig–how about Schleprock from the not-so-memorable Flinstones spinoff ‘Pebbles and Bam-Bam’?
If there was anything memorable about P&BB, it was the little guy with the big hat who talked in a funny voice and always had a gray rain cloud looming over his head. Everytime I see Selig during one of his confused moments on camera I think of Schleprock, for whom bad luck never trailed far behind.
@Paul White
>>>I don’t want to hear any noise about west coast audiences not having a chance to watch, because hardly anyone outside of Philly and Tampa is watching this series anyway.>>>
Paul, this is an inaccurate claim. According to AP, the *highest* television audiences outside of Philly and Tampa are coming from … the West Coast, at least for Game 3.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3665791
Those of us on this side of the country don’t need any more of that so-called East Coast Bias in TV programming, thankyoumuch.
Bush loves the game of baseball. And he would not have had so many imbecilic spawns of Satan around him to cloud his judgment while commish. I am not saying Bush would have been a good commish, but he more than likely would not have been horrible and probably would have been only slightly less capable than what Selig has given us (potentially his equal and with a bit of luck maybe better). The greater good would have been that someone else would have been President who would not have screwed over the world to the extent that W has.
There’s nothing wrong with a commissioner trying to grow the game of hockey, but in Bettman’s case, he tried to grow it in non-traditional markets and has since made changes to the game to try to sell the game in those markets.
The shootout’s all fine and good for non-hockey fans, but could you imagine the uproar if Selig said that if baseball games were tied after nine, they’d play the tenth and if the games weren’t settled, they’d go to a home run derby format to determine the winner? It would probably appeal to more casual fans/non-fans – just look at how well the derby does during the all-star break – but it wouldn’t be baseball.
Zero chance Hamels pitches tonight. ZERO! The Phillies will either go to the their well rested bullpen or bring back Blanton or Moyers, probably Blanton IMO. Remember, the Rays need four innings, the Phillies only three; that’s a fairly big difference for almost every bullpen. Myers will start game six and Hamels game seven, if needed. Given game five finishes Wednesday, and assuming that there is an off day to travel tomorrow, then game six on Friday and game seven on Saturday gives Myers a start with some extra rest and probably Moyers available for early relief and major pitch type contrast between the two (i.e. going from a hard throwing righty to Moyers will be the biggest change, benefiting Moyers) and then Hamels will start Saturday on normal rest. So in one real sense, the rainout benefits the Phillies: it means the best starting pitcher in the World Series will get three starts on normal rest. I could see Hamels relieving if and only if the Phillies get a decent lead into the ninth, Lidge gives up some or most of it, and only one or two outs will be needed. Why risk Hamels breaking his routine in a tie game? Why risk pitching Hamels (a young likely overworked pitcher) on short rest at all if they can win the series without it?
The real disaster will be if there is rain in Tampa Bay Friday or Saturday. No way Fox would give up an NFL game for the World Series, so that could lead to postponement of “Treehouse of Horror!” Oh, the humanity!
I’ve gotta say this, because I so rarely get to say it while being on topic:
There was an alternative solution to the All-Star tie game, that nobody in baseball seemed to recognize.
Question: What happens in the regular season when a team runs out of pitchers?
Answer: A position player pitches.
(For that matter, what happens in a pick-up game when a team’s pitcher gets hurt?
Again, the answer: A position player pitches.)
I am aware that it’s the ASG, and people expect to see high-level baseball being played, but surely bringing in one of the outfielders to pitch a cup of coffee is preferable to a TIE, right? Not to mention the fact that, as evidenced by TPJ earlier this year, position players have something like a 110 ERA+ over the history of baseball.
Also, baseball fans like quirky baseball events (part of, I suspect, the allure of baseball trivia), and they LOVE it when position players pitch.
LB- Awesome work.
‘And he would not have had so many imbecilic spawns of Satan around him to cloud his judgment while commish.’
That line is pure genius.
Justin,
totally agree that the shootout is silly, and thank god it hasn’t corrupted the playoffs. I was just objecting to the idea that expaning to warm weather markets, which good or bad represent almost all of the growth in the US population, was a bad idea because people there don’t like hockey.
I could not be more glad the Phillies got it done for you, Joe. Happy Halloween!