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Contenders say: rain, rain, go away

Sporting News, The, Sept 20, 2004 by Todd Jones

We are officially in crunch time, and many teams still are in the hunt. The Marlins and Astros seemed dead in the water three weeks ago but are right back in the thick of the race. I can't decide if the season is too long or just long enough. Some teams seemed like they've had their respective divisions locked up two or three times only to hit a slow stretch and find themselves back in a fight.

I must admit the wild card is a good thing. This season, it has given fans in at least five extra cities an opportunity to see meaningful games in September. But now some of those fans' teams are dealing with an additional challenge--the weather.

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With less than a month left, when clubs lose an entire series like the Marlins and Cubs did because of Hurricane Frances, it can really hurt their chances. At the beginning of the week, the Cubs had played four fewer games than the Giants. The Marlins are in the same boat. To catch up, they have to jam in extra games on off-days and play doubleheaders at a time of the season when all teams already are running on fumes. The Marlins even had to play some home games against the Expos at a neutral site--U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago--because of Hurricane Ivan.

Last week, I wrote about how some September call-ups don't get much of a chance when they are promoted to a team still in the race. Well, the Marlins had to call up a kid pitcher from Class A, Logan Kensing, to start at Wrigley Field in a doubleheader. That's really getting a chance.

When there was a balanced schedule, making up games was a little easier. If games in the early part of the season were rained out, you knew they could be made up during the visiting team's next trip into town. Now you visit some teams just once a year, so if a game is rained out, you end up having to use an off-day to make it up.

The teams with tremendous leads look forward to clinching so the managers can rest their horses. But when you're a club such as the Cubs or Astros and you have to blow out your guys just to get to this point, you're at a distinct disadvantage. Then the weather comes along and makes things even tougher. Now you're not just looking at the last month of a marathon season, you're being forced to cram in something like 32 games in 28 days. Hey, go get 'em.

E-mail Todd Jones, a reliever for the Phillies, at tjones@sportingnews.com.

Contenders say: rain, rain, go away

Sporting News, The, Sept 20, 2004 by Todd Jones

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