Bemused by Bud

Baseball Musings is one of the few (only?) writers to come to Bud Selig's defense, citing the rulebook for postponements to show that the commissioner did the right thing in waiting for a tie before calling game five.

Commissioner Selig cited rule 4.12a, section 6, in explaining the suspension of Game 5. According to the rule, "a game shall become a suspended game that must be completed at a future date" for a number of reasons, with section 6 specifying "a regulation game that is called with the score tied."

In this scenario, the rule (4.12c) for suspended games is enacted: "A suspended game shall be resumed at the exact point of suspension of the original game. The completion of a suspended game is a continuation of the original game. The lineup and batting order of both teams shall be exactly the same as the lineup and batting order at the moment of suspension, subject to the rules governing substitution. Any player may be replaced by a player who had not been in the game prior to the suspension. No player removed before the suspension may be returned to the lineup."

Prior to the introduction of this rule following the 2006 season, the suspended game would have reverted back to the beginning of the inning, with the Phillies leading, 2-1, since Philadelphia did not bat in the bottom of the inning. But that is no longer the case and therefore Game 5 will resume with the score tied at 2.

However, Selig would not have allowed the reversion to 2-1 anyway. While Phillies fans might have liked that, Rays fans would have gone through the roof. Selig would have suspended the game no matter what, which would be the right thing to do.

I'm not a big Selig fan, but MLB handled this series in Philadelphia correctly. The wait on Saturday night was due to the bad weather reports for Monday and Tuesday. They had a weather report that the rain Monday night was going to be light enough for the field to absorb. When that proved to be wrong, they suspended the game. They were placed in a bad situation due to the forces of nature, and their decisions were logical. They should be taking too much heat over this.

OK, but if the commissioner would not have allowed a reversion for a 2-1 Phillies' rain-shortened win, couldn't he have asked for the tarp before the game went official in the 5th? There was a downpour for quite some time, and any amateur meteorologist looking at the radar could see the heavier stuff was coming for hours ahead. Heck, I've been to games with preemptive rain delays minutes before the hard stuff falls. Rather than make "logical" decisions after miring yourself in the muck, why not make a better decision before you get stuck? Baseball could have and should have postponed this one much earlier.

Why wait for the Rays to score a run in the slop?

Update: Another voice saying that the game should've been suspended before we hit the midway point of the fifth.

Simply put, Game 5 is hopelessly tainted by what transpired between the time the game should have been called and the middle of the sixth inning, when it was finally suspended.

Whatever happens when play resumes, whether the Phillies celebrate their first World Series championship or the Rays force a Game 6 in Florida, MLB can't justify its decision or its decision-making process.