2008 Philadelphia Phillies Season/Playoff Thread (Die Mets Die)

[QB Eagles]

Selig's a dictator and can do whatever he wants. He said so.

Quoting rules to him is like quoting the Constitution to congressmen.

[Cerevant]

Well, like I said - I missed that part of the presser.  Given the fact that they seemed to be waiting for the game to tie to suspend play, it would seem logical that they were worried about the consequences of stopping it earlier.

[The BIGSTUD]

Hopefully Mein Fuhrer doesn't try to squeeze the game in tomorrow night when it is obvious the conditions won't be good enough again tomorrow either. You don't want a repeat of tonight's travesty. Just wait until the damn weather is clear.

[QB Eagles]

Well, like I said - I missed that part of the presser.  Given the fact that they seemed to be waiting for the game to tie to suspend play, it would seem logical that they were worried about the consequences of stopping it earlier.

Just made it easier for them to save face. Plus they want the Rays to win so the Series goes on longer and attracts more viewers.

[stalker]

So here's the deal. I went out with my 14 year old and his friend just to be there for the party. Around the 4th inning those 2 were asking people who were leaving for their stubs thinking they could get in. Of course they couldn't. They threw the stubs away. But as we were driving home after the reain-out it suddenly hit me......those stubs would have been usable when they finish the game!

[Don Ho]

I'm still farging pissed.

[PhillyPhreak54]

The angriest place on earth
October 28, 2008 • 12:22 am
By Michael Radano

PHILADELPHIA - Proof that major league baseball is run by a bunch of buffoons came at midnight when the suspended game notes were handed out.

At the bottom of the sheet, the powers that be maybe thought it was cute or even pithy to include Koppett's Law.

"Whatever creates the greatest inconvenience for the largest number of people is guaranteed to happen."

Yeah, that's what the suspension of Game 5 was, inconvenient.

Inconvenience was why the Phillies clubhouse all but boiled over after the game. Inconvenience was why what began as a day not of hope, but of destiny quickly dissipated into disgust and bursts of anger directed at the television where Commissioner Bud Selig held a press conference on why Game 5, tied at 2-2, was suspended in the middle of the sixth inning.

"That (expletive deleted) guy," one pitcher said as he saw commissioner Bud Selig before walking out the back door of the clubhouse. "I wouldn't let him supervise one of my (bowel movements). He has no clue. Not one (expletive deleted) clue."

"(Expletive deleted)," one position player said in the direction of one television pausing only for a moment before leaving. "He's a moron. How stupid can one person be?"

Well, pretty stupid if this night was any indication.

Compounding matters, several national media members couldn't figure out why the players were so upset? The game was still tied and really how could it continued to be played.

Well:

1. Hamels is now done. He won't be available to finish this game despite a low pitch count. It's a stretch to believe that he will be ready for Game 7 even if this game resumes on Wednesday. That means three days of rest and we know the history on that one.

2. The Phillies held a 2-1 lead heading into the sixth as the rain continued to fall and rivers formed throughout the infield. The grounds crew - already working beyond the call of duty - did their best but as the inning wore on the field worsened. B.J. Upton hit an infield single that Jimmy Rollins had in the tip of his glove. Normal conditions, inning over. In these, Upton reached base, stole second and then scored on a flare into left field.

3. Tampa can start David Price tomorrow or whenever this game resumes. The Phillies have already indicated they will begin with their bullpen. that favors the Rays as Price can go multiple innings.

4. The emotions of the crowd will be diminished and it will be interesting to see how many fans can and will show up.

5. If this series goes back to Tampa, James Shields and Matt Garza will get the starts and they have been very good at home this year.

"I feel really bad for Cole," catcher Carlos Ruiz said. "He was pitching well even though the ball was tough to grip. I don;t know why we started that inning. I don't understand this at all."

He's far from alone.

[Don Ho]

 

I don't know if I can sleep tonight after all this bull shtein.

Bring on Mr. Price.  He can kiss my ass.

[QB Eagles]

Jayson Stark. The national media is missing out on the story of how pissed the Phillies and their fans are, but Stark's a Phillies fan and he gets it right.

And here's what he also knows: The Phillies had better go on to win this World Series. Because if they don't, the always-magnanimous residents of Philadelphia aren't going to blame Charlie Manuel, the next three losing pitchers or good old Mother Nature.

They're going to blame him, Bud Selig.

So if the commish has always wanted to, say, tour Independence Hall, there may be no better time than the last Tuesday in October.

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

today would suck a lot less if there were actually a good chance they could play tonight

[Seabiscuit36]

just heard MLB wont let Cole pitch anymore, i guess if it goes 7 he could go

[SD_Eagle5]

I've had a sickening feeling all night that lastnight probably cost us a title. I hope Selig dies:

Phil Sheridan: Tainted by television
By Phil Sheridan

Inquirer Sports Columnist

Game 5 of the World Series became a farce the moment Jimmy Rollins - one of the finest defensive shortstops of his generation - dropped that zigging, zagging pop-up in the fifth inning.
This doesn't happen to Rollins, an all-star and the reigning National League MVP, in playable baseball conditions.

"When you look up into the rain, it's pretty hard to catch a ball," Phillies starter Cole Hamels said.

In April or May, in June or July, in August or September, the umpires would have stopped play at that moment - if they hadn't already. Pop-ups that drop toward unseeing eyes can seriously injure a player. It was pouring rain. Pools of water were forming in front of the infielders. Pitchers were cleaning their spikes after every pitch.

In October, the game went on. And Major League Baseball should be ashamed for allowing its most important game of the year to deteriorate into an embarrassing mess because of slavish obedience to its pimp, the Fox Television Network.

Simply put, Game 5 is hopelessly tainted by what transpired between the time the game should have been called and the middle of the sixth inning, when it was finally suspended.

Whatever happens when play resumes, whether the Phillies celebrate their first World Series championship or the Rays force a Game 6 in Florida, MLB can't justify its decision or its decision-making process.

This night was different from Saturday, when a rain delay caused Game 3 to begin 91 minutes late, at about 10 p.m. That game ended at nearly 2 a.m., but it was played fairly and under perfectly acceptable conditions.

Those things are going to happen in outdoor ballparks in the Northeast in late October. It rained all day Saturday, and the best time to play the game was, in fact, when it was played.

The first problem here is TV's insistence on scheduling these games for 8:30 p.m. or even later. There are plenty of lovely autumn afternoons - and yesterday was one of them - that give way to cold and blustery evenings. When baseball, like other sports, sold its soul to the networks and their craven need for prime-time sports programming, it created a situation where young fans couldn't stay up to watch the most important games of the year.

There is no mechanism for the baseball commissioner, Bud Selig, to look at the weather reports, discern that a night game is doomed, and shift the start time to late afternoon.

That would inconvenience fans, but so does suspending the game for a day. That would be tough on players, but so does suspending the game for a day.

If the fans and players were the priorities, last night's game would have been stopped much sooner. They aren't. Television is, and television won't allow its prime-time program to be moved to 5 p.m.

Rollins, rain pouring into his face, dropped that pop-up in the top of the fifth. The play was rather nastily ruled an error, as if it had occurred in acceptable conditions. Hamels got out of that inning without allowing a run. The Phillies led, 2-1, in the middle of the fifth.

At that moment, a regular-season game would become official. A rainout would mean the game was over, with the Phillies winning.

"This is not a way to end a World Series," Selig said. "I would not allow a World Series to end this way."

Selig is right on that point. The problem is, it appears MLB allowed play to continue in unplayable conditions because the Phillies had a lead. It seems like more than a coincidence that play was suspended after the top of the sixth, when the Rays tied the game on a base hit by Carlos Pena.

That run was scored by B.J. Upton, who hit a two-out grounder up the middle. Rollins ranged to his left, caught the ball deep in the hole and turned to fire a throw to first. The ball slipped out of his hand and Upton was safe.

Now Upton is fast. It may well be that Rollins wouldn't have been able to get him. But it's also impossible to know whether the slick infield slowed Rollins down as well as caused him to lose his grip on the ball. If he throws Upton out, the inning is over.

Upton scored from second on Pena's single to left. Pat Burrell's throw was on target but bounced in the muck in front of home plate. Would a cleaner bounce have allowed Carlos Ruiz to get the ball sooner?

Maybe these are long shots. The point is, no one knows. What we do know is that this game was being played in unacceptable conditions. That's not my opinion. It's Selig's, too. He ordered the game suspended just moments later.

"The weather, it kept changing," Selig said.

Well, yes, sir. We call that Earth.

The tie made suspending the game a lot easier and more convenient. It sure looks as if Major League Baseball let an unplayable game play on long enough to make things easier.

And that's just shameful.

[ice grillin you]

as usual stark nails it

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/playoffs2008/columns/story?columnist=stark_jayson&id=3668201

[SD_Eagle5]

Asked when HE would have stopped this game, Rays reliever Trever Miller replied: "I would have said no later than the fourth inning. As soon as Jimmy Rollins had trouble with that fly ball (Rocco Baldelli's uncaught popup leading off the top of the fifth), right then and there that would have told everyone that conditions were not conducive to playing good baseball.

Damn right. The problem with that is it wouldn't have been an official game and you still lose a Hamels start.

The game should have never been played in the first place, but from everything I saw it was only supposed to be light rain.

I'm pretty sure we're farged now. I just knew some bullshtein like this was gonna happen. I just want to go into a coma and wake me up when it's all over.

[Seabiscuit36]

Im so pissed off still, farging bullshtein, it felt like Betteman was setting this plan up.  Weather looks really bad tonight, 20-25mph winds, and rain/snow.  They probably wont play until Wednesday