In a very interesting development, MLB spokesman Pat Courtney said that it is possible that the Phillies/Rockies Game 3 could be postponed…due to cold. And quite frankly, if the forecast holds, it absolutely should.
Right now, Weather.com’s forecast for 8pm Denver-time tomorrow is 32 degrees, with a wind chill of 21 degrees, and a 30% chance of snow and freezing rain. At 11pm, around when the game will end, it calls for 29 degrees, with a wind chill of 19 degrees, and a 30% chance of snow and freezing rain.
The coldest start-time temperature over the last 22 years, according the Courtney, was 38 degrees, for Game 4 of the World Series between the Indians and Marlins. The wind chill in Colorado would be 17 degrees below that, at 11 degrees below freezing.
In my opinion, playing in this level of cold changes the game too much. It will be impossible for pitchers to get loose, the ball with be an ice block, the ball won’t take anything resembling normal hops in the field, and the combination of earlier precipitation and temperature means the grass could even be icy. Sure they could play, but they would be playing a different game.
If the Game is postponed (and keep in mind Saturday is the only day forecasted to be this cold), the travel day on Monday would be removed and Game 4 would be played then. This would mean that Cliff Lee and Ubaldo Jimenez could be in line to pitch Game 4, not Game 5.
We’ll see what the MLB decides.
One thing they already have decided though, is to place all Phillies/Rockies games and the most inconvenient times possible. If you haven’t seen, the start time for Sunday’s Game 4 (or 3), is set for 10pm EST. Are you serious? There are 4 games Sunday, and the MLB refuses to overlap them one bit, so there will be a 12pm, a 3pm, a 7pm and 10pm start time. In what universe is a 10pm, Sunday night start time a good idea? Even from a ratings standpoint, which is the only way they think, almost all casual baseball fans on the East Coast will be asleep by the 3rd inning because, you know, they have to work on Monday. It’s the first round! Every game doesn’t need its own time, you can overlap by a couple hours. Especially the earlier games, when the casual fans will likely be watching the NFL. This isn’t even about respect for being the World Champs, it’s about the basic intelligence levels in whoever made these decisions.
Alright, well there’s my rant. Feel free to discuss Game 2 (NO DOUBLE PLAYS!) or Game 3 (Who’s the starter?) here…
Pete, we did win last year didn!t we ? They show the champs no respect with these start times, I hope it fires them up that much more !!!
Is anyone else pissed that Hamels forgot that his best pitch is the changeup? He barely used it, but when he did it was very effective. Instead, he decided to use his shitty curveball when he was ahead in counts. It made no sense. Torrealba got 2 in a row, the second was deposited in the left field stands. He should only use the curve when he notices that the batters are sitting on fastball/changeup. I don’t know whether to blame Ruiz or Hamels, it was pissing me the hell off the whole game. He struck out 2 guys early in the game and fell in love with it.
Drew: you’re just mad cos he hung the cruveball once and Torrealba hit it out. Othere thn that I wouldnt fault him. but you’re right that his change-up yesterday was pretty filthy, Ruiz was almost catching it on the ground and the hitters were tomahawking air.
Pete: would it not be a good thing to have it postponed and maybe Happ can go. he didnt throw any pitches, just need his leg to not be hurt bad enough.
Pitching in windy September nights is hard enough for pitchers but 10PM in Colorado! you gotta be kidding me!
deepsixersuede: they’d rather have the f**king yankees allo day long. well actually its not so much disrespect as the fact that both angels and dodgers series are Pacific (3 hours behind) and us and the Yankees Eastern which means someone has to get the sucky spots. between us and the Yanks, who d’you think?
I think the game should be moved from Sat night to 9am eastern time on Sunday, that way I can watch it and tell the wife I can’t go to mass. Yes the time would be slightly worse than some of the other times the Phillies have been given but only slightly. MLB doesn’t seem to care, so as long as it’s convenient for me…
I know that they are floating Pedro as the 3rd game starter, but I think it would be a shame if Happ didn’t get the start! He has done so much for the Phillies, that I think he deserves the start. If things don’t go well, Pedro is there to back him up.
As far as the times of the games, it is a COMPLETE DISGRACE!! I’ve never heard of such terrible start times before this. You would think MLB would realize how bad the rating will be from the East with those times. But as metioned before, they feel the Spankee’s have to have the best times. I’ll try to watch the whole game, but it will be rough.
it’s not a disgrace for them to put the yankees ahead of us. they have 13 million people in that city and the largest following in the country. I get that.
Pete is exactly right, MLB seems to think that 50% of all TV sets will be tuned to the Yankees, thus the Phillies on at the same time would squeeze that number to 40% or something. When in reality the Yankees will be lucky to squeeze out a 5% share leaving plenty of room for the Phillies.
The math is actually quite easy. The Phillies on at 10pm will likely get a 1% share, but if you had them on at 8pm they would get a 3% share, and that would likely take the Yankee share down by something much less than the 2% gain you are picking up on the Phillies.
grow up philly fans. i cant watch the games cause its on too late. boohoo. its the playoffs man up and be tired at work for 1 day on Monday. you guys are gonna lose both games in Denver any way. just like 07. go Rox
eik237-
We lost one game in Denver, not two, in 2007.
But thanks for coming by, your insight and intelligent commentary really added to the conversation. Next time, throw in a “you guys suck!” or “ROX RULLLLLEEEE!!!!!!” to cap off your comment.
If you aren’t in middle school, you should re-evaluate your life.
i didnt add something as stupid as you guys suck i am a better fan than that. and i know about 07 i was saying that the series is not going back to philly like 07. i found this artice randomlywhen i googled to see if the game was gonna be PPD. iwas saying that it is the playoffs and if fans cant stay up late for one night to watch a postseaon game then they are not very good fans. is a late start time really that big of a deal? that you cant work one day on short sleep? like i said man up its the playoffs
The point was not that we can’t do it - I imagine everyone here will be up. The point is that no one should have to do it. Phils fans, Rockies fans, whoever. I can stay up all night, but I imagine someone with small children or some crazy job might not be able to. I’m sure there are a bunch of kids who won’t last through the game even if they try – that’s just lame.
The other point was that it doesn’t even make sense from a marketing perspective – as stated well by Mike Donnelly above.
It’s frustrating in general, because I have to take actual vacation time during the week to watch a baseball game because TBS thinks that 2:37 is an appropriate time for a game. People in Colorado had to take a full half day. I don’t get a whole lot of vacation time at my job, so I very well might have to take some unpaid time around the holidays because I had to take off to watch the Phils. It’s just plain stupid.
If you are a Broncos fan as well, you are welcome for Brian Dawkins, and thank you for beating the Cowboys.
yes i am a die hard Broncos fan, fav sports team of all time and i love what Dawkins brings to the team, he has been nothing short of amazing. i guess living in CO, MTN time zone i am just numb to getting crappy start times for sporting events cause trust me we get screwed on this all the time. i was jus surprised when i saw all the comments from people acting as if it was the end of the world (wasnt trying to be a bad fan if it came across rude sorry-even though the way philly fans treay opposing teams/fans is awful and more shocking to me is the way they treat their own teams w/ such disrespect-any way thats another topic) good evenly matched series, two good teams, should be fun. go Rox