Around the fourth inning, the rain started to fall on Citizens Bank Park. With the Phillies leading 2-1, I immediately thought to myself, "This game could end in a rain delay if they let the Rays bat in the top of the fifth and the Phillies could win the World Series in a 4 1/2 inning game." Of all of the embarrassing things that Bud Selig has done in his time as commissioner of Major League Baseball, ending the World Series in a shortened game would've been the trump card.
Controversies Under Bud Selig
Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig is under fire again for the way he handled the suspension of Game 5 of the World Series in Philadelphia. Click through the gallery to see some of Selig's most controversial moments at the top of baseball.
Elsa, Getty Images
Selig suspended Game 5 in the middle of the sixth innning with the Rays and Phillies tied at 2-all. The teams played several innings in a downpour with Philadelphia leading Tampa Bay 2-1. Though Selig claims he would not have allowed the Phillies to clinch the World Series in a rain-shortened game, he made the decision to halt play only when the game could be suspended under MLB rules. (Read MLB Rule)
Jed Jacobsohn, Getty Images
Under heavy pressure after a series of incorrect home run calls, Selig instituted instant replay this August on boundary plays -- those that involve home runs and the foul pole. Major League Baseball could be pressured to expand video replay further in the wake of a number of botched calls in this year's Fall Classic.
J. Meric, Getty Images
Selig has also drawn criticism for turning a blind eye to the rampant use of performance-enhancing drugs in the game during the 1990s and early 2000s. The widespread use of steroids and other drugs helped rewrite many of baseball's most hallowed records and brought the nation's pastime into the halls of the U.S. Congress on multiple occasions.
Scott J. Ferrell, Congressional Quarterly / Getty Images
The suspension of Game 5 isn't the only controversial in-game call Selig has had to make as commissioner. He declared the 2002 All-Star Game, which took place in his hometown of Milwaukee, a tie after the managers ran out of pitchers.
Darren Hauck, AP
Two years after taking over as acting commissioner, Selig oversaw one of the darkest moments in baseball history -- the 1994 player strike which forced him to cancel the World Series that year.
Getty Images
Selig also spearheaded a realignment movement and the addition of a wild-card spot in each league, which added two divisions and doubled the number of teams in the postseason each year. The Florida Marlins were the first wild-card team to win the World Series in 1997, pictured, and while it has increased interest in the sport, some purists dislike the fact that a team that didn't win its division can capture baseball's ultimate prize.
Getty Images
In 1997, Selig helped introduce interleague play. While interleague matchups have likely helped drive some of the record attendance numbers in the last decade, it has also been received poorly by baseball purists.
Jim McIsaac, Getty Images
Of course, Selig now claims that if it came down to it, he could've acted to call an extended "rain delay" and resumed the game on Tuesday night, no matter what the score of the game or what the actual rulebook says. That would obviously be the right thing to do in a 2-1 game after five innings given the situation, so why, exactly, did these two teams play through a freezing downpour for an inning and a half, only to have the game almost immediately suspended at the first point that the rulebook allowed for it.
Sure, the Rays tied the game. But they only did it after B.J. Upton reached when Jimmy Rollins flubbed a very fieldable grounder, then ran around the basepaths to score the tying run while the Phillies attempted to throw him out with an incredibly slippery baseball. If Selig and the baseball officials had the power to suspend the game until tomorrow, even though the rules don't technically allow for it, and they were meaning to do it, why hadn't it been done at that point? With all due respect to the Rays, the tying run in this game was scored by the weather, not them.
When, exactly, were you planning on acting, Bud? After Evan Longoria shredded his ACL sliding in the mud? After Cole Hamels destroyed his arm trying to throw a slippery baseball in the freezing weather? After one team rallied for 12 runs because the field was such a disaster that playing defense was no longer tenable?Selig can claim that he would've suspended the game no matter what the score, but all we have is the empirical evidence that he didn't. The game was officially suspended at the only point that it's allowed for in the MLB rulebook thanks to a rule change that was made prior to last season. Essentially, Selig's claim boils down this:
"I had the means to suspend the game until tomorrow and allow for Game 5 to be played to its completion, but instead I chose to let the Phillies and Rays muck around in the mud for an inning and a half for my own amusement while the entire country believed the game could be called and the Philles could've won the World Series in a rain-shortened debacle -- much to the embarrassment of my sport. Then when the Rays tied the game up and I no longer had to make any tough decisions or assert myself in any way, I chose to call the game as dictated by the rulebook. I am the biggest wuss in the history of life, the universe, and everything."Maybe Selig really did discuss the options with the Rays and Phillies before the game. Maybe he really did have the power to go around the rules and suspend a game that wasn't tied. But the fact is he didn't, and he allowed the most important game of the season, to this point, to press on in conditions that were unfit for baseball.
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He can say what he likes about what he would or wouldn't have done had the Rays not tied the game up, but it certainly seemed to me that the Rays scoring provided an easy out for him and prevented the debacle that he allowed to to take place in the first place from going on any longer.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 13)
10-28-2008 @ 6:15AM
Dave said...
Does anyone really care? Can't these overpaid primadonnas play a few outs in the mud? The conditions were the same for both teams. In football you never hear anyone complaining about a slippery ball -- give us a break.
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10-28-2008 @ 8:35AM
Michelle said...
The conditions were not the same for both teams as the field deteriorated from the 5th to the 6th innings. If it was to be the same the game should have been suspended after the fifth or the Rays should have had to complete the sixth inning. Selig just didn't want to suspend a game where one team had a lead.
10-29-2008 @ 8:07AM
Chike Powell said...
Have U every had a 90mph slick baseball "unintentionally" thrown at ur head or been hit by one anywhere else?
10-28-2008 @ 9:28AM
deucek said...
I don't nderstand why everyone has there panties in a knot. I'm not at all a fan of Selig's but the the weather got worse so they called for a rain delay, the score is tied and the teams, not the weather, will decide there fate in the end. Now I know that the Phillies fans will cry if the Rays come back to win the whole thing in 7 games but a one run lead in those conditions was not going to hold up and the world series would not have been decided by who the best team was. If the Phillies are the better team then they should have no problem winning one more game out of the next three. As far as the conditions being credited for the tie, the conditions were the same for both teams plain and simple. Everything on the field can only get so wet and at that point everything had already gotten it's limit of rain so there wasn't some plot that was orginized by Selig and Mother nature, against the Phillies, to give the Rays an advantage. The best and deserving team will decide this world series, not the weather.
10-28-2008 @ 9:49AM
James said...
I have never seen a football thrown 93mph either. "Slick" is not the issue. These are two different sports. With your logic, let's play the opening NBA game outside in Buffalo.
10-28-2008 @ 2:33PM
Dennis said...
Lots of people care and you obviously are not a baseball fan. Baseball is not Played in the rain. It totally changes the game. Football players do not need to grip a ball and make it spin in order to do their job. Why would you want them to play a deciding game and the teams not be able to preform up to par? Would you play basketball on a wet gym floor? How about hockey on melting ice? Another stupid football fan tough guy saying to play in the rain. Come on.
10-28-2008 @ 12:05PM
Mike said...
Dave,
Yea the conditions were the same for both teams, but not for the same length of time. Bad weather conditions ALWAYS favor the batter, and the Rays had 6 chances to bat, where as the Phillies only had 5. In the 6th inning, Cole Hamels wasn't thinking about getting guys out, he was thinking about not slipping and tearing a groin. He said himself that he couldn't throw his changeup - his bread & butter. I've no problem with trying to let them play, but make sure it's even. When the game starts back up in the bottom of the 6th (whenever that happens), David Price will be throwing off of a fresh mound and the Rays D won't be competing with puddles for ground balls. The only way to restore competitive balance is to revert back to the last full completed inning.
Yea, I may come off as a curmudgeonly Philly-biased fan, but it's true and I'd be saying the same thing if it was the other way around. I'll never argue against your point that pro athletes are primadonnas, cuz we all know that's true - but I'm definitely a fan of fair competitive balance.
10-28-2008 @ 11:15AM
mike d said...
thats the difference between baseball and football...
10-28-2008 @ 11:35AM
Lynn said...
Wait just a minute! Someone only thinks the PHILLIES were disadvantaged because of the rain and 'slippery balls'???? What about Upton & company trying to steal bases with 'ponds & lakes' between the bases and the slippery conditions of THAT?? So they go to steal a base and slip and either mess up disks in their back ( I have experience with that..but not playing baseball!)..or they break a hip or worse slipping in the mud..See..I kept thinking.. oh no..all it will take is one major injury here and then the Phillies really will have the advantage! Honestly..That game was pretty well evenly played through the whole thing.. with the RAYS AT A DISADVANTAGE with their thin Florida blood..playing in drizzle & the cold.. Come on!! Until I read this article, I honestly thought the challenges..unfair and fair alike..were even.. And up til the pouring cold rain..(except for game 4..:( )..they have played pretty even.. I think we have 3 very great teams here.. Boston, Philadelphia & Tampa Bay! What a post season! Its been exciting and fantastic..full of surprises.. and why start now to claim one time is being 'advantaged' over the other????? PLLEZZE!!!!
10-29-2008 @ 10:06AM
lorem47 said...
hi Dave,
Interesting that you are comparing the shoulder padded boys of fall/winter(football) with the guys of summer with their polyester uniforms....get A LIFE DAVE
10-28-2008 @ 1:07PM
dr. hees said...
I agree!! Who ever wrote this article needs to get them self a life. I was rooting for the Phillies last night but I didn't want to see this game and the series end in a rain shortened game. And yea maybe Bud Selig could have made the decision to stop the game and pick it up the next day, but that would not have been fair to the Philies who by the rule book should have won. The ground ball dropped by Rollins would not have been made even in the dry weather. you could see that from the replay. The ball was down in the palm of his glove it wasn't fielded cleanly, and therefore he was not able to flip it from his glove to his hand properly. Besides Upton was lucky he was able to steal a base or even round third and go home without falling in the mud. the conditions played out equally against both teams!!
10-28-2008 @ 1:35PM
George said...
If they are to be considered the same conditions, the Phillies should have batted in the bottom of the sixth.
10-28-2008 @ 6:17AM
ajm33771on said...
What a STUPID article!! Why wasn't one of the previous games delayed due to field conditions when "playable" situation
was misplayed by Iwamori of the Rays? First and foremost dude, THIS IS A GAME!! Second of all, ball players DO make mistakes! Third of all, EXCEPT for OVER SIZED Gloves and Holes in the bottom of bats, BASEBALL IS STILL the same as in the last X amount of years. Think what the world would be like if you had a REAL JOB!
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10-28-2008 @ 10:34AM
B said...
why does everyone think we are homeless and wandering into internet cafes to post our acerbic thoughts about baseball
10-28-2008 @ 6:21AM
larry taylor said...
Baseball is a game of rules, why not use the rain out rule, and why didn't the umps use the infield fly rule with the bases loaded and one out in the 6th inning, or was it the 5th inning. Pro baseball is for the birds, I love college baseball a thousand times more.
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10-28-2008 @ 3:56PM
ryan said...
sure, baseball is about rules, but the rainout rule for the first time in world series history?...give me a break man...u don't really think a world series should be decided like that do u?...i agree with the suspension idea Bud Selig had here no matter what the score was...a world series game should be played out in full no matter what has to be done...screw what the rules say...integrity is more important in this case
and the infield fly rule wasn't called, because the only way they can call the infield fly rule is if the fielders look comfortable under the ball..if they are comfortable under the ball they can be thinking ahead and thinking about dropping it on purpose to get a double play...but with the conditions, no fly ball was easy to catch, and if they did drop it, there was no telling if it was on purpose of not...infield fly rule is useless in those conditions
10-28-2008 @ 6:29AM
Dot said...
Does anyone think that we should have earlier starting times for World Series games that are played on the East Coast or cold weathered climates? The days can be mild i.e, this previous Sunday and Monday. Also, children and working people can not watch much of the games when they start at 8:35 EST.
Maybe it's greed that is also responsible for ruining baseball.
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10-28-2008 @ 10:32AM
Fitz said...
"Does anyone think that we should have earlier starting times for World Series games ..." You mean like October 1st? Great idea!! 162 game season is pointless! Cut out 10-12 regular season games, start the playoffs in late September and have the Series start in early October!!
"Also, children and working people can not watch much of the games when they start at 8:35 EST." It's all about TV revenue. Night games generate it, day games don't. However, I remember in the early '70's when some of my teachers would roll in TV's to the classroom and we'd watch the games rather than do classwork. Those were great times!!
10-28-2008 @ 10:08AM
syl said...
I agree Dot. Even 6 would be better than waiting until 8 or 8:30. But then men play baseball, men run baseball, so anything to do with common sense goes out the window!
10-28-2008 @ 10:38AM
Virgie said...
You can thank commercial TV sales TV for the lateness of the games these days. Who ever heard of routine baseball games going 4+ hours - and not even in OT.