Rain, Rain, come this way?

[nymr83]

The Nationals tonight started in a "rain delay" despite total dryness. they had a 2+ hour window until real rain came and its the kind you could play through. why not just call the game ahead of time if you dont want to play?

I think given the state of modern radar, MLB should have a meteorologist who decides if games start or not and then also consults remotely with umpires (much like instant replay) on when to resume or cancel them once a delay in-game happens. its time to take the decision out of teams' hands.

[Frayed Knot]

Well now it's almost 4 hours after the scheduled starting time and they're in the top of the 3rd.
1-0 Nats although with the Braves threatening.

[Frayed Knot]

Final Score: Braves 5 - Nats 2 - Rain 0
Total Time of Game: 6:15 (3:05 delay + 3:10 game)
That puts the approximate end of the game at 1:20 AM in a city where the trains shut down around 11-ish?
But they did give the remaining fans (all 50 ? of them) free ice cream starting around the 4th inning
No cases of sunburn were reported, either on the field or in the stands, during the evening.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Nymr83 wrote: I think given the state of modern radar, MLB should have a meteorologist who decides if games start or not and then also consults remotely with umpires (much like instant replay) on when to resume or cancel them once a delay in-game happens. its time to take the decision out of teams' hands.

Buena idea. Set up someone with a weather center at Command Central (or
whatever they call it where those umps are hanging out) and run it from there.

[Edgy MD]

LOTS of unhappy fans, many pledging to defect from the first-place Nats to the tied-for-fourth O's. (We'll see.)

http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/baltimore-sports-blog/bs-sp-nationals-braves-rain-delay-orioles-20170706-story.html

[HahnSolo]

I wish the Mets could get it together.

I've been feeling an '07-Mets-like collapse for the Nationals brewing. Problem is I'm not sure we have enough in the tank to play the role of the '07 Phils.

[Edgy MD]

No, we don't. That was clear from them being unable to touch the Dodgers or the Nats. There seems to be a very unbaseball like set of class tiers in MLB right now. Very NBA like. The Mets look very middle class.

But that doesn't mean they might not have more gas in a few weeks, when Player X comes up, Player Y returns from injury, Player Z arrives from Shmidtsburgh in a deal, and Player ... ummm ... Delta finds his legs and his bat.

Unlikely, but we've been there before, and recently.

[Frayed Knot]

d'Kong76 wrote: Nymr83 wrote: I think given the state of modern radar, MLB should have a meteorologist who decides if games start or not and then also consults remotely with umpires (much like instant replay) on when to resume or cancel them once a delay in-game happens. its time to take the decision out of teams' hands. Buena idea. Set up someone with a weather center at Command Central (or whatever they call it where those umps are hanging out) and run it from there.

I dunno. I have issues with thinking that big brother MLB can do a better job at forecasting the weather in 15 locations per night than can the locals for the same reasons I'd have trouble
believing that the federal gov't would do a better job micro-managing each county's zoning laws.
Obviously the Nats brass thought they saw something that made them think that starting late was better than starting - then stopping - then starting again. Just as obviously they blew the call
but it's not like that goof helped them in any way and no one wants two rain-outs (given the Wed game canceled w/the Mets) and two days off just before the ASB when you're going to have to
make up those games late in the season anyway.

Can leaving in the home team's hands get abused? Yeah, probably once in a while. I remember the Yanx one time calling off a night game around noon even though it turned out it never rained
that night and the likely reason, though obviously not the stated one, is that they were all backed-up in their rotation that day.
But even if left up to the league there'll still be charges that a cancelation (or non-) was manipulated because one of the owners was in better with Park Ave than the other.

[nymr83]

Frayed Knot wrote: Obviously the Nats brass thought they saw something that made them think that starting late was better than starting - then stopping - then starting again. Just as obviously they blew the call but it's not like that goof helped them in any way and no one wants two rain-outs (given the Wed game canceled w/the Mets) and two days off just before the ASB when you're going to have to make up those games late in the season anyway.

that "something" they saw was their crap bullpen - they were scared of losing their starter after 4 or 5 to rain

[Frayed Knot]

Maybe. It was supposed to be Roark's turn but they switched to Gonzalez because of the previous day's rainout, and Gonzo often pitch-counts his way out of games in the 5th or 6th anyway.
Plus they were going to have to play the game at some point, whether it be last night or in the to-be-determined future. And, oh yeah, they lost anyway.

[Edgy MD]

But the point remains. They were going to have to play at some point, but the theory goes that they wanted to play at a point where they were no interruptions that threatened an artificially early exit.

And if that's true, that's butt.