They should invite Stu Miller to throw out the first pitch.

Will they even play tonight? It looks pretty rainy.

DISGRACEFUL.

Weather.com says that there's a 10% chance of precipitation from 7-9, 0% after 9. They'll probably play through some rain, but they'll definitely play.

Forecast I'm seeing (here)seems to imply it will clear up by the early afternoon and remain cloudy but no rain through the evening.

So, if the Series is, say, Red Sox-Phillies, or Yankees-Rockies, how will the weather be for games 5-7?

With the WC here to stay, I vote for a 154-game schedule with a few doubleheaders, so the series actually ends in mid-October.

I'm just going to follow robinred around BBTF today agreeing with him.

Today: . . .Breezy, with a west wind between 17 and 24 mph, with gusts as high as 50 mph. . . .

Tonight: . . .Breezy, with a west wind between 11 and 20 mph, with gusts as high as 43 mph. . . .

Tomorrow:...Blowy headline...Brett Gardner Hits 6 Home Runs!

Happy Windsday, Piglet!

Ha, I thought this was going to be one of those clever stories like "High Winds in New York ... from all those bats waving at CC's fastball!"

So, if the Series is, say, Red Sox-Phillies, or Yankees-Rockies, how will the weather be for games 5-7?

Not appreciably worse than it would be if it were the final week of October, at least in Boston. The difference between mid-October and early-November in rain/snow terms is pretty minimal this time of year. The temperature difference will probably be pretty dramatic going from "cool but bearable" to "crap, where are my mittens."

I don't hate the 154/doubleheader plan but way too much is made of this. It's absolutely pouring right now and it's October 7th, not November 4th, unless we're going to a 130 game season and starting the World Series on September 10th rain and cold is going to be a risk.

And an early September World Series that involves either Miami or Houston could get very exciting from a weather standpoint.

With the WC here to stay, I vote for a 154-game schedule with a few doubleheaders, so the series actually ends in mid-October.

I don't even think it needs to come to that. Because of the WBC, the season started late. And, I'm not sure about this year, but the past two seasons the television networks wanted an extra day off in the playoffs, so in the LCS there have been offdays between Games 4 and 5.

But, those things all make money. And, if anyone notices, any interview with Bud Selig where "the state of baseball" is brought up, he mentions how well it's doing financially. So, he's not going to do anything to upset those deep pocketed network people, or anything that will end the WBC (look at all the jerseys they sell).

If I were commissioner, any network that bought the rights to show baseball would not dictate the schedule. They would have their broadcast rights revoked if they did anything to embarass themselves (i.e. - have Tim McCarver broadcast games, show ingame commercials for Fringe, etc).

The temperature difference will probably be pretty dramatic going from "cool but bearable" to "crap, where are my mittens.

This is a pretty big issue to me, and the other thing is that the WS and LCS being exclusively at night is also here to stay, so to me these issues combined are enough reason to move the calendar up a bit to keep the series ending around October 15-20. Most east/northeast/upper midwest WS games now involve guys playing in ski masks, blowing on their hands all the time, etc.

Also, I suppose I should acknowledge that I understand none of this will happen--as Koot says, it is about money. That caveat should also be attached to any "get rid of the Wild Card" threads.

It's actually pretty windy here in Philly as well. Not sure what it's like down at the stadium, but I'm 3 or 4 miles north & it's really gusty here.

Also, I suppose I should acknowledge that I understand none of this will happen--as Koot says, it is about money.

I think it would happen if something big happened. For instance, if there was a blizzard that washed out a handful of World Series games in late October/early November. Money be damned, it would be difficult to ignore the fan outcry after something like that.

Money be damned, it would be difficult to ignore the fan outcry after something like that.

I would hope so. I think back to when MLB wanted to put Spiderman bases out on the field, as a cross promotion with one of the Spiderman movies (y'know, like how McDonald's has themed Happy Meal prizes), and the fan outcry was enough that they scaled it back some.

It's nice to know that it stopped that farce from happening. It's just scary that the man in charge needed that to realize that putting Spiderman bases on the field was a terrible idea. I don't even know that they were inline to collect more than a few hundred thousand dollars on that venture either.

The problem is Denver. Forecast High/Low of 37/23 on Saturday, 44/33 on Sunday. That night game on Saturday is going to be brutal, with a forecast game time temperature of 32F and windy.

Wind advisory f'reals. I almost got knocked over in the middle of a street today by a gust. That's never happened to me before.

The temperature difference will probably be pretty dramatic going from "cool but bearable" to "crap, where are my mittens.

This is a pretty big issue to me, and the other thing is that the WS and LCS being exclusively at night is also here to stay, so to me these issues combined are enough reason to move the calendar up a bit to keep the series ending around October 15-20. Most east/northeast/upper midwest WS games now involve guys playing in ski masks, blowing on their hands all the time, etc.

I agree that they should (but won't) shorten the season and end the Series by mid-October, but it wouldn't necessarily make that much of a difference. The worst weather conditions I can ever remember were for the entire 7 game Series between the O's and the Pirates in 1979. Every game in Baltimore was played under a cold, steady drizzle or worse, and in Pittsburgh the only difference was that one or two games had snow flurries. There've been worse individual games, but never an entire Series like that, before or since.

And yet game 7 was on October 17th, but almost immediately after that, the mid-Atlantic region enjoyed one of its finest Indian Summers ever. You could have kept playing baseball almost right up to Thanksgiving. The only foolproof solution for all this is for every team to have a retractable dome, just in case.

The only foolproof solution for all this is for every team to have a retractable dome, just in case.

Actually, it would be wonderful for every team to have a retractable dome, as expensive as that would be. No more rainouts, no more games in cold weather.

That night game on Saturday is going to be brutal, with a forecast game time temperature of 32F and windy.

And I've got tickets!

The weather here is extremely variable this time of year. It's 70 and sunny today, and could easily be like this again next week. Or we could have a foot of snow on the ground.

Also, I suppose I should acknowledge that I understand none of this will happen--as Koot says, it is about money. That caveat should also be attached to any "get rid of the Wild Card" threads.

We all know the purpose, but I see no competitive purpose in another Yankee-Red Sox playoff matchup. Not to pick on them in particular, and they might not both win the LDS, but a team having to beat a team in its own division, over whom it has already proven superiority over 162 games, runs directly counter to the spirit of baseball and what should be the inviolate 162-game long march.

Denominating games "playoff" games in order to better pitch them to ever-dwindling TV audiences does nothing to change this conclusion. We have this conversation about this time every year and at least this observer is becoming more and more stubborn about the lack of merit in the wild card.(**)

(**) And yes, there is a pronounced difference in projected weather in relevant northern climes between October 14 -- the date of Game 5 of the 1984 World Series, and November 5, the potential endpoint of the 2009 baseball campaign. The difference between projected weather at 3 pm on October 14 and 8:15 pm on November 5 is huge -- the difference between it impacting the play on the field and not.

I think it would happen if something big happened. For instance, if there was a blizzard that washed out a handful of World Series games in late October/early November. Money be damned, it would be difficult to ignore the fan outcry after something like that.

Not sure the fans would be up in arms. A snow out would be a novelty that might actually increase interest. During the Bowie "No Coat For Me, It's Quite Warm Tonight" Kuhn era, I used to root for a cold front to descend on the Commissioner's box.

from NYNJPAWeather.com:

The rain will exit the Bronx by early this afternoon ensuring dry conditions for the game. The biggest impact will be the strong northwesterly winds around 15 to 30 mph with gusts to 45 mph. The direction of the wind will be blowing out towards right field and will have a significant impact on fly balls and pop ups. For example, a pop up towards third base will be pushed towards short stop the longer the ball is in the air. Temperatures at the start of the game will be in the lower 60’s and fall quickly through the mid 50’s for the duration of the game. Temperatures will feel like the upper 40’s to lower 50’s when the wind is taken into account.

Walk-off infield pop-up FTW!

Pop-ups blowing toward Jeter and away from Alex have to be a good thing. But what's the over-under on homers with a 25 mph wind to right? I say 6.

This is a pretty big issue to me, and the other thing is that the WS and LCS being exclusively at night is also here to stay, so to me these issues combined are enough reason to move the calendar up a bit to keep the series ending around October 15-20. Most east/northeast/upper midwest WS games now involve guys playing in ski masks, blowing on their hands all the time, etc.


English soccer has plenty of well attended games around Christmas and New year's eve. But I guess they are way more manly than Americans.

English soccer has plenty of well attended games around Christmas and New year's eve. But I guess they are way more manly than Americans.

England shuts down with an inch of snow or temperatures below freezing for a couple of days. England doesn't know cold weather.

Besides soccer doesn't use hands -- it's much easier to play in cold weather. Baseball is as much hands as any other part of the body (I had that thought before about why baseball is so dramatically impacted by weather than many other sports). DUH (to myself).

2-0 Twins. Mark it down.

#28 should read: (I had never had that thought before ...

I recall the famous Packers-Broncos Monday Night game played about this time 25 years ago in a blizzard at Mile High Stadium, and it got me thinking -- suppose you had a snowstorm hit Denver before game 3 of the NLDS and they couldn't play for several days (think of the rains that hit San Francisco between games 5 and 6 of the '62 Series). How would that impact the overall postseason schedule -- especially if the division series went five games?

I recall the famous Packers-Broncos Monday Night game played about this time 25 years ago in a blizzard at Mile High Stadium, and it got me thinking -- suppose you had a snowstorm hit Denver before game 3 of the NLDS and they couldn't play for several days (think of the rains that hit San Francisco between games 5 and 6 of the '62 Series). How would that impact the overall postseason schedule -- especially if the division series went five games?

According to my sister, who resides near there, the snow doesn't hang around Denver that long. Can Tom or Puck can confirm/refute.