Blame it on the Rain

I need to rant a little bit about tonight's Mets game. June 27, 2015. Mets hosting the Reds in the 2nd game of a 3 game weekend series, with a post-game concert featuring the Steve Miller Band. And it rained.

And it rained. And that's where the day went to hell. I went to the game, taking the trains in from New Jersey, because it was in my ticket plan (a flex plan, and I selected the game because of the post-game concert). I did want to see the Steve Miller Band. I had a lot of fun at the Huey Lewis and the News and Boyz II Men post-game concerts last season. And it rained. They played 6 innings, in the rain, and stopped tied 1-1. After about an hour in a rain delay, the decision was made to suspend the game, making it up the next day (tomorrow). And the post-game concert would be moved to tomorrow, taking place after the regularly scheduled game (I had joked that they should have done after the completion of tonight's game, which would be between the two games).

And it rained. You can't help mother nature. But you can certainly plan around it. Of course, the Mets didn't, for whatever reason (which we can speculate). The forecast was for rain starting mid-afternoon and getting heavier into the evening. Translation...if they tried to play, it wouldn't be pretty, and if they stopped, there really wouldn't be any way to start back up until tomorrow. And if they didn't try to play, they would have to reschedule the entire game either for tomorrow or on a mutual off day (I didn't look to see if there even was one). As the home team, the Mets own the decision whether or not to even start playing. And once they did start, the decision stop and continue playing belongs to the umpires.

And it rained. They knew it was going to rain. They never should have tried to play the game. It wasn't fair to the fans to start playing in the rain knowing they wouldn't be able to finish, and it was technically a hazard to the players. By all accounts, the game never should have been started. But, I guess for the teams, it was better to play 5 or 6 innings tonight and the last 3 or 4 tomorrow (plus the regularly scheduled 9 innings, plus any potential extra innings) than to try to play 18 (plus potential extra innings) tomorrow. But there was one additional thing. A heavily promoted post-game concert. And there were fans coming out either specifically for the concert or at least because of the concert (like me). So they played the game.

And it rained. They played 6 innings. The infield conditions got worse and worse (no puddles, but more and more drying agent every half inning as the game went on). And went into a rain delay before starting the 7th. We all knew that this game wouldn't resume. I was joking about the Mets having the concert inside the Caesars Club after the game would be called. The Mets finally announced, after about an hour of a rain delay, that the game had been suspended, and would resume tomorrow before the regularly scheduled game, and that the concert would take place after baseball was complete tomorrow. There were some groans. Fans with tonight's ticket were welcome to come back tomorrow and exchange it for a ticket to Sunday's games and then get to see the concert.

I think it was both the right thing to do (better than not being able to have the concert at all) and an empty gesture to the fans who were in attendance on Saturday. I'm leaving the game on Saturday feeling completely empty inside. Not only did I not get to attend the post-game concert, but I didn't even get to see a complete (or decided) baseball game. I could come back tomorrow, and spend the extra travel expenses and ballpark concessions to use a free ticket. But I don't have the time to commit to going to the game (for me, with travel, it really could be a 10 hour day), and I also have other plans late in the afternoon, so I couldn't go even if the time and money were in a vaccuum. So the Mets are, for lack of a better term, gifting me with a ticket exchange for tomorrow's game, but I can't use it, so I get nothing (and less than nothing if you count tonight). At least if the game was rained out, I would have a rain check ticket free to exchange for any other game I wanted. And for that matter, with my flex ticket plan, had I NOT gone to the game (which I kind of regret, even thought I got to see some people), I would be able to exchange it for another game. But I went, saw 6 innings of baseball, and won't get to see the other 3 innings or the concert, which was why I bought the ticket in the first place.

And it rained. Mother nature caused the last 3 innings of the game not to be played tonight, and mother nature caused the post-game concert not to take place tonight. But somehow, I feel like this is the Mets fault.



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Unboxing the Box Score

Mets won last night in a rain shortened game. Mike Pelfrey threw 106 pitches through 5 innings to get his 4th win. Counting the save he has, he has factored in 5 of the Mets 10 wins as they break the .500 mark.

But I'm looking at the box score and I'm a bit confused. All of my confusion takes place after Pelfrey is removed from the game. He did not start the top half of the 6th inning. Raul Valdes did. Valdes threw 1 pitch. And then the game was stopped. That part is straight forward.

The game is listed as being a final in 6 innings. 1 pitch was thrown in the 6th (the top half even). Last I remember, when you can't complete a half inning, it doesn't count (erased from existence). But the line score has Atlanta scoring 0 in the top of the 6th, and X's after that, indicating half innings never played (ala a home team winning without needing the bottom of the 9th). The pitching lines say Pelfrey 5.0 innings, Valdes 0.0 innings. Valdes, 1 pitch, 1 strike, 0 batters faced. Look for yourself.

Shouldn't that 1 pitch of the incomplete top of the 6th not have counted? Especially since the at-bat was never completed. That would have made the game a final in 5 complete innings, Pelfrey pitching all 5 innings gets a Complete game win. That one pitch cost Pelfrey the "complete" game.

But at least the Mets are giving fans with tickets a rain check anyway. That's gotta be good for those who couldn't sell their ticket (Sunday 8pm games are not ideal, and impending rain makes it even less ideal, unless it's October) but never went and never shed their ticket. I wonder if ESPN has a concession for those that had to sit through the ESPN broadcast with the sound up (or for that matter, without adjusting their TV set to crop that stupid "bottom line" that ESPN insists on showing). I at least go with the WFAN broadcast and deal with the delays.



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If it was Shea, I would not have left

I don't leave games early. I just don't. Unless I have to be some place (how often does that happen after a night game) or if I'm going to miss my last train home (too many connections to make). So why did I leave Sunday's game during the rain delay before the game actually started? Click here to read my account of Sunday in the rain.

My friend and I planned on the possibility of him leaving early (not even considering the rain) because of his little girl, so we actually met at my local train station and left my car there so I could easily get home after the game that way. But I chose to take the ride back home with him during the rain delay. Why?

I had the epiphany this afternoon about that. In my subconscious, I just don't like Citi Field, and felt no need to stay there, not being able to go to my seat (or any seat for that matter) to watch the rain, and not walking around in a Mets-like place. It reminds me of the rainy day I had at Arthur Ashe Stadium in 2006 - just walked the concourse until my feet were ready to fall off (another day I would have left relatively early except that I had Mets tickets that night). A generic-looking concourse, except that at Chez Amazin in the Promenade, you can't walk the whole thing without getting wet behind home plate (a useful place on a non-rainy day). And how many times can you walk the concourse, any concourse, dodging people over the course of what would have been 3 hours from the time I finished eating until first pitch.

Shea had concourses. Maybe a bit more crowded, but it was good to look at - all the colors and banners and photographs. In the Loge and Mezzanine, you could go out to the seating area and move back under cover just to sit without getting wet. Heck, I remember one rain out I was at probably 20 years ago where my dad and I sat and watched live baseball for one hour, and watched an ESPN game on the Diamond Vision screen for another 2 until the game was called. Why didn't they have that at Citi Field?

For all of you that stuck it out, what'd you do for all that time? Certainly, I'm not going to find refuge in one of those exclusive bars or clubs. The price isn't right, and my tickets generally don't let me in there.

If it was Shea, I would not have left. Had it been last season or the year before, I would have been all up and down Shea with my camera taking as many pictures as I could before it was gone, but even before that, I don't think I would have left unless I were to be stranded.

I'm back from the game in time to watch it live on TV

Let's hope there's something (refund, free ticket) for the fans who both would and wouldn't wait out a 2 1/2 hour rain delay. If there's not, it's certainly going to push me closer and closer to stopping going to game entierly (except for GKR games, I can't turn away from them).

At least I got in just before the rain started. Got in the LF gate, through the Blue Smoke line, and over to the RF escalator on the Field Level to find a rail to eat on in all of 10 minutes, never got wet, and it was pouring while I ate.

But I got to see how the concourse levels hold the crowd during a rain delay. It wasn't bad. Having that nice open area behind home plate on the Promenade (call it "Casey Stengel Plaza") kind of hurts in that you're limited to walking on one side or the other unless you want to get wet. There just isn't much to do under cover other than sit on the ground or stairs, wait, and walk around. Some areas filled up, and others seemed pretty open (like by the top of the Rotunda).

I left when my friend (and my ride, though we left me the option of taking the subway/train home to NJ) and his young daughter decided just before 2pm that they had enough. I was home in time (after running a few errands) to watch the game live on TV. At least this wasn't a night game.

Damned if Pelfrey throws a No Hitter today.

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

It's raining, the forecast calls for rain with a thundershower possible this morning then variable clouds during the afternoon with scattered thunderstorms, and I have tickets for today's game. And I'm not going alone, so the decision isn't all mine.

Should I stay or should I go?

It's so hard to make the right decision. I really hate to stay home and watch the game on TV when I have tickets. I also hate to make the long trek out to Chez Amazin' to sit in the rain, stand for hours under cover, and not see a ballgame. On the other hand, the pre-paid parking pass is only good today, and bridge tolls are tolls - no refunds. But the Diamondbacks are here until tomorrow night's game.

I predict I'll be leaving after 11am instead of 10am like we had planned. We'll see if my friend and his daughter want to stay for the entire game.