Ok, Bud. You are America's whipping boy today. We can fix that, though. Hop into my DeLorean, and we're setting time circuits to 4:00 pm EST, October 27, 2008.
So you have another chance to not be caught in the middle of yet another self-inflicted debacle. Just follow these few steps, and everything will be fine ...
1. Check the freaking radar. I know you have the ability, because it's already been announced Game 5 won't be finished tonight.
2. Realize what is coming, and be proactive instead of reactive, for once. The weather is going to get nasty at some point during the game, so you need to figure out how this game and series can be salvaged. Go meet with front office personnel of both teams, including the managers, and the umpires. Tell them that you are issuing an executive order that the game will not be over until nine innings are completed. Notify the umpires to stop play the second they believe the conditions merit it, and when play resumes -- whether it's Halloween or Thanksgiving -- the game will pick up from the point it left off.
3. Hold a press conference and notify everyone else.
Done.
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The game likely would have been called in the middle of the fifth, with the Phillies holding a 2-1 lead. Sure, there would be naysayers whining about how the rules were changed ... but they were changed before the game for the good of the game and no team gained an advantage from said change. There would also be those buffoons who think baseball players need to "man up" or "get tough" and play through the conditions (by the way, you people are dead-wrong. The players are tough, but the sport is a precision sport and you take away that ability in bad weather ... and I've played both baseball and football in really bad weather, there's a huge difference and it has nothing to do with who is more "manly.").
All in all, though, true baseball fans would be commending Selig for being a strong leader because he made a decision with foresight which was for the good of the integrity of the game.
Instead, Bud Selig is a reactionary commissioner who is putting on a clinic of how to poorly run a business.
What a shame.
What Bud Selig Should Have Done originally appeared on MLB FanHouse on 2008-10-28T15:20:00 00:00. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
