2006 World Series (Official Thread)

[The Man]

to Kenny Rogers

to Todd Jones

exactly. Jonesy scares me every time.

 

[osugrad21]

Dispatch

Streaking Rogers rules, evens series
Monday, October 23, 2006
Ronald Blum
ASSOCIATED PRESS

JEFF ROBERSON ASSOCIATED PRESS Tigers pitcher Kenny Rogers shut down the Cardinals on two hits through eight innings on his way to a victory.

DETROIT ? Now you see it. Now you don?t.
Whatever was on Kenny Rogers? hand, even after he washed it off, the St. Louis Cardinals barely hit him.
Virtually untouchable this October, Rogers blanked the Cardinals on two hits in eight shutout innings, leading the Detroit Tigers to a 3-1 victory last night that tied the World Series at one game apiece.
Rogers also figured in a first-inning flap regarding something noticeable on his pitching hand. It appeared to be something dirty or dark, and umpires brought Cardinals manager Tony La Russa out to the field at the end of the first inning for a brief discussion.
The left-hander said it was a clump of dirt and resin he picked up from rubbing up baseballs. Whatever was on the Tiger pitcher?s paw, it was gone when he came out for the second inning.
"I didn?t know it was there until after the inning," he said.
In the middle of the second, Detroit manager Jim Leyland talked to three umps near the third-base line.
"He was pretty clean the rest of the way," Leyland said.
La Russa wouldn?t discuss it: "It?s not important to talk about," he said tersely.
Leyland said St. Louis hitters brought the matter up.
"I know Tony said, ?Hey, I don?t want to make any issue here, but a couple of my players are saying that the ball is acting a little funny,? " Leyland said. "And obviously they were a little suspicious."
Rogers extended his scoreless streak to 23 postseason innings this year and 24 1 /3 postseason innings overall, a streak that began in 2003 with Minnesota. It is the longest streak since Curt Schilling pitched 25 scoreless innings in 1993 and 2001.
Rogers struck out five and walked three, improving to 3-0 in this postseason. He was 0-3 with an 8.85 ERA in the postseason before this year.
"This is where it?s at and what it?s all about, being able to come in here and do something like this," he said. "I?ve done as bad as you can do on the field. It?s great to have some success."
Todd Jones came on in the ninth and allowed Scott Rolen?s two-out single, then misplayed Juan Encarnacion?s comebacker for an error that put runners on the corners. Jim Edmonds blooped a double down the left-field line that scored Rolen, and Jones hit Preston Wilson with a pitch, loading the bases.
After a visit from pitching coach Chuck Hernandez, Jones retired Yadier Molina on a forceout, preserving the shaky save and completing a fourhitter.
Craig Monroe got the Tigers started by homering for the second straight night, a shot off Jeff Weaver in a two-run first inning, and Carlos Guillen and Sean Casey also drove in runs for Detroit. Guillen had three hits, falling a home run short of the cycle.
Rogers allowed an infield single by Rolen in the first that third baseman Brandon Inge could only knock down. Rogers didn?t give up another hit until Molina singled to right leading off the eighth.
In a battle of starters who flopped with the New York Yankees, Weaver struggled and allowed at least two runners in every inning. He left after five, having allowed three runs and nine hits.
A night after St. Louis got the National League?s first Series win since 2003, Detroit made sure one record won?t fall this year: There have never been three straight Series sweeps.
After a travel day, the new Busch Stadium in St. Louis will play host to its first Series game Tuesday night, with Cardinals ace Chris Carpenter pitching against Nate Robertson.
Rogers pitched with emotion once again, spinning off the mound when he walked Scott Spiezio, making huge hops over the World Series logo when he walked from the mound back to the Tigers dugout. He pumped an arm and snapped his head when David Eckstein hit into a double-play grounder that ended the eighth.
"It makes me nervous to see someone that pumped up," Leyland said.

 

[BuckBackHome]

Interesting photos on ESPN. Basically same smudge from last night's game and game 3 in the ALCS. Wonder how much he will be checked in his next appearance?

 

[jlb1705]

Does anyone else think that maybe LaRussa didn't press the issue on Rogers because this kind of thing is so widespread and he didn't want the Tigers taking a look at the Cardinals staff?

The lies being told by Rogers and MLB officials are embarrassing. At least some of the other parties involved are coming up with plausible scenarios when they're lying or embelishing. The stuff Rogers said is worse than "the dog ate it."

Why was he even given a chance to wash it off and go back out there? If Albert Pujols or Ivan Rodriguez had broke a bat and cork came flying out, does anyone think they would've been told to clean up the cork, grab another bat, and come back out?

I'll still root for the Reds - just because they're the Reds. Major League Baseball as a whole has become a joke and a sham though. Vince McMahon could assemble a league with more integrity than this.

 

[Best Buckeye]

More like Damaging the whole world series and baseball. I don't think BB wants the bad PR. They dont need this to be talked about for years, it would or could equal the black sox scandal.

 

[The Man]

More like Damaging the whole world series and baseball. I don't think BB wants the bad PR. They dont need this to be talked about for years, it would or could equal the black sox scandal.

are you serious? That is the worst comparison I have ever seen. Pitchers use pinetar a lot but not that obviously. Not sure if you understand what the black sox scandal really was, that was a fixed series which is nothing like a corked bat or pine tar on a ball. Talk about blowing something out of proportion.

 

[methomps]

More like Damaging the whole world series and baseball. I don't think BB wants the bad PR. They dont need this to be talked about for years, it would or could equal the black sox scandal.

Baseball is weird. Actual cheating is forgivable. Throwing games or betting on games is unforgivable.

 

[The Man]

Baseball is weird. Actual cheating is forgivable. Throwing games or betting on games is unforgivable.

Actually cheating is encouraged, getting caught is discouraged.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

ABJ

Column: Subplots make Series interesting

MIKE FITZPATRICK

Associated Press

ST. LOUIS - Pitching to Albert Pujols, chasing Christy Mathewson, and Smudgegate. Hey, this ain't so bad!
Turns out, the World Series that nobody wanted has been pretty entertaining so far. In the first two games alone there was enough controversy, questionable strategy and conspiracy talk to keep Oliver Stone AND Michael Moore happy.
Plus, it won't be a sweep, which is a major step up from the past two years.
All right, so the St. Louis Cardinals and Detroit Tigers aren't exactly the sexiest teams in baseball. They're short on stars, they never wear pinstripes and they don't believe in age-old curses.
But there's all kinds of intriguing stuff going on here. Fun story lines, even if no one is watching.
To start with, Kenny Rogers is closing in on an astonishing slice of history - with or without that brownish smudge on the palm of his pitching hand that TV cameras caught in Game 2.
"I don't believe it was dirt. Didn't look like dirt," St. Louis manager Tony La Russa said Monday. "I did watch video of the other postseason games, so I had an idea of what it looked like, and I said, `Let's get rid of it and keep playing.' That's the attitude I took. If he didn't get rid of it, I would have challenged it."
Has Rogers been cheating all along? Did La Russa back off because he and Tigers skipper Jim Leyland are such good friends? And if so, did that upset some Cardinals players?
"I'm not going to chew yesterday's breakfast," Leyland said. "I had the Pujols situation the first day when you guys had a field day."
Come on, this is great theater.
Better than a soap opera.
The 41-year-old Rogers, who on Sunday night became the oldest starting pitcher to win a World Series game, has tossed 23 shutout innings this postseason. He is only the second hurler to have three scoreless starts in one postseason - Mathewson threw three shutouts (27 innings) for the New York Giants against Connie Mack's Philadelphia Athletics in the 1905 World Series.
As long as neither team wins three straight in St. Louis, Rogers will start Game 6 back home in Detroit with a chance to surpass Matty's mark.
If you're not impressed by that, well, then ... you must be a soccer fan.
In the dugouts, two of baseball's most recognizable and intense managers are matching wits - and their moves are making the difference. Leyland acknowledged he made a costly decision when he chose not to walk Pujols with first base open in Game 1.
Of course, the big slugger hit a two-run homer off rookie Justin Verlander, and the Cardinals cruised to a 7-2 victory.
Leyland, beloved all over Motown for engineering such a quick turnaround with the long-moribund Tigers, was heavily criticized for that call and took the heat himself.
The next night, Leyland lifted Rogers after eight innings of two-hit ball and brought in closer Todd Jones, who nearly blew a three-run lead.
Jones hung on, however, and Detroit's 3-1 victory tied the Series at a game apiece. Just like the Tigers, the ratings rebounded in Game 2 from a record low for the opener.
Now the Series has shifted to St. Louis for Game 3 on Tuesday night, and will go at least five games. It looks as though it could swing back and forth all the way to Game 6 or 7.
That's refreshing, especially after the long-suffering Boston Red Sox swept St. Louis in 2004, and the long-suffering Chicago White Sox did the same to Houston last season.
But the Tigers are quite a story, too. Don't forget, they lost an AL-record 119 games only three years ago, and their revival has been meaningful not only for the city of Detroit, but the entire sport of baseball.
"It's a seven-game series. They jumped out to a quick one, we fired back," third baseman Brandon Inge said. "We're going to their place now. It should be interesting."
Are we headed for a long series?
"We may be," Inge added.
The Cardinals, who won the NL Central with only 83 victories, look much more competitive than they did in their last trip to the Series. They'll send ace Chris Carpenter to the mound Tuesday night at new Busch Stadium, where they've played well all year.
"Knowing our fans and our history it will mean a lot more if we're all involved with the first World Series that was won in this park, rather than the first World Series that was played," La Russa said. "That's our goal. It's not just to play, it's to win. And we've got a shot. We've got a better shot than most people think."
Perhaps it's time to tune in.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

ABJ

La Russa:'I don't believe it was dirt'

BEN WALKER

Associated Press

ST. LOUIS - A day later, baseball was still trying to get a grip on what Kenny Rogers had on his hand.
The Detroit pitcher answered wave after wave of questions Monday, making this percolating World Series flap seem like an innocent mistake. Mud, resin, spit, dirt - he insisted that's what everyone saw at the base of his left thumb in Game 2.
An hour or so later, the Tigers found out what St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa thought about Rogers' explanation.
"I don't believe it was dirt," La Russa said. "Didn't look like dirt."
The Tigers got to hear it for themselves, too, because La Russa's words from the interview room boomed all around Busch Stadium, courtesy of the PA system. He never mentioned pine tar, but many believed that's what Rogers really used.
Beyond the ballpark, it was the No. 1 topic in sports.
"We know it's all over the place right now," umpires' supervisor Steve Palermo said.
Partly because some photographs from Rogers' start in the AL championship series against Oakland showed what appeared to be the same kind of yellowish-brown smudge on his pitching hand that caught everyone's attention Sunday night.
Prompted by La Russa, the umpires asked Rogers to clean off his left hand before the second inning. He wound up pitching eight shutout innings in a 3-1 victory that evened the World Series at one game each.
Game 3 is Tuesday night, with reigning NL Cy Young winner Chris Carpenter starting against Nate Robertson. The forecast is for cool conditions.
It's commonly known within baseball that pitchers sometimes put some sort of substance on their hands in chilly weather to help them grip the ball. A little bit, that's OK; too much, that borders on cheating.
"There's a line that I think that defines the competition. And you can sneak over the line, because we're all fighting for the edge," La Russa said. "I always think, 'Does it go to the point of abuse?' And that's where you start snapping."
Rogers, who's gone from playoff farce to postseason force this October, stood in the clubhouse and tried to explain away what happened.
"I rub up the balls between the innings and before the game all of the time," he said. "I rub up the bullpen balls I pitch with with mud, resin, spit. I do it all the time. They rub the ball up, too, with mud before the games.
"The game balls, they're dirty. Usually, when I get done, there's not much on my hand, but I guess a little bit more than normal. I wiped it off and proceeded to pitch seven pretty good innings," he said. "Mud, resin, sweat. It's always there. I try not to go crazy with it, but it's not making my pitches do anything crazy."
Rogers has pitched 23 scoreless innings this postseason - after going 0-3 with an 8.85 ERA in previous postseasons.
La Russa said he brought the smudge to the umpires' attention, but did not demand they search Rogers because he didn't want to make a big deal about it.
And yes, La Russa said the Cardinals were aware Rogers had a similar spot earlier in the postseason.
"I said, 'I don't like this stuff, let's get it fixed.' If it gets fixed let's play the game. It got fixed, in my opinion," La Russa said.
"If he didn't get rid of it, I would have challenged it. But I do think it's a little bit part of the game at times, and don't go crazy," he said.
La Russa also said he talked to the Cardinals before they worked out Monday.
"I briefly explained where I was coming from and I said, 'Anybody felt like I should do different, then I disappointed you.' ... And they didn't raise their hand and say, 'Hey, I disagree,' they just didn't say anything," he said. "But it's very possible there were guys that disagreed. It's not the way we want to win."
La Russa was adamant that his longtime friendship with Tigers manager Jim Leyland did not affect how he handled the situation.
"It had nothing to do with Leyland," he said.
Palermo said he talked with plate umpire Alfonso Marquez about how to best settle the flap, advising that a quick word with Rogers would work. That satisfied La Russa.
"Tony did things in a good and professional manner to resolve the issue," Palermo said.
Umpires can inspect a pitcher on their own if they believe something is wrong. A manager can ask an umpire to check, too.
In 2002, the Cleveland Indians suspected Rogers was scuffing balls and asked the plate umpire to search for anything illegal. Nothing was found.
Pitchers occasionally will put substances on their hands to help grip the ball in cold weather. Tigers reliever Todd Jones once wrote a newspaper column admitting he'd used pine tar - that's illegal - when he pitched at Colorado.
"I'm saying in my particular case, in situations like that, I have in the past done that," he said Monday. "Guys are not scuffing and guys are not using Vaseline. That's a vast difference than a guy who can't feel anything and is using something to get a grip."
This episode has become perhaps the most-discussed Series smudge since Game 5 in 1969, when Mets manager Gil Hodges brought umpire Lou DiMuro a ball with shoe polish to persuade him that Cleon Jones had been hit by a pitch from Baltimore's Dave McNally.
Asked about the flap, Leyland brushed it aside.
"I'm not going to chew yesterday's breakfast and I'm not going to comment on it," he said.
Rogers is scheduled to pitch in Game 6, if the Series returns to Comerica Park.
"Obviously, it's going to be a thing that everyone talks about," Palermo said. "And we'll be well aware of it if there is a next time."

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

WORLD SERIES
Plot twists could make this fall classic
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Mike Fitzpatrick
ASSOCIATED PRESS

</IMG>


ST. LOUIS ? Pitching to Albert Pujols, chasing Christy Mathewson and Smudgegate.
Hey, this ain?t so bad.
Turns out, the World Series that nobody wanted has been pretty entertaining so far. In the first two games alone there was enough controversy, questionable strategy and conspiracy talk to keep Oliver Stone and Michael Moore happy.
Plus, it won?t be a sweep, which is a major step up from the past two years.
All right, so the St. Louis Cardinals and Detroit Tigers aren?t exactly the sexiest teams in baseball. They?re short on stars, they never wear pinstripes and they don?t believe in age-old curses.
But there?s all kinds of intriguing stuff going on here. Fun story lines, even if no one is watching.
To start with, Kenny Rogers is closing in on an astonishing slice of history ? with or without that brownish smudge on the palm of his pitching hand that TV cameras caught in Game 2.
Has Rogers been cheating all along? Did Cardinals manager Tony La Russa back off because he and Tigers skipper Jim Leyland are such good friends? And if so, did that upset some Cardinals players?
"I?m not going to chew yesterday?s breakfast," Leyland said. "I had the Pujols situation the first day when you guys had a field day."
Come on, this is great theater.
Better than a soap opera.
The 41-year-old Rogers, who on Sunday night became the oldest starting pitcher to win a World Series game, has tossed 23 shutout innings this postseason. He is only the second pitcher to have three scoreless starts in one postseason ? Mathewson threw three shutouts (27 innings) for the New York Giants against the Philadelphia Athletics in the 1905 World Series.
As long as neither team wins three straight in St. Louis, Rogers will start Game 6 back home in Detroit with a chance to surpass Mathewson?s mark.
If you?re not impressed by that, well, then ... you must be a soccer fan.
In the dugouts, two of baseball?s most recognizable and intense managers are matching wits ? and their moves are making the difference. Leyland acknowledged he made a costly decision when he chose not to walk Pujols with first base open in Game 1. The big slugger hit a two-run homer off rookie Justin Verlander, and the Cardinals cruised to a 7-2 victory.
Leyland, beloved all over Motown for engineering such a quick turnaround with the long-moribund Tigers, was heavily criticized for that call and took the heat himself.
The next night, Leyland lifted Rogers after eight innings of two-hit ball and brought in closer Todd Jones, who nearly blew a three-run lead.
Jones hung on, however, and Detroit?s 3-1 victory tied the Series at a game apiece.
Now the Series has shifted to St. Louis for Game 3 tonight, and will go at least five games. It looks as though it could swing back and forth all the way to Game 6 or 7.
That?s refreshing, especially after the long-suffering Boston Red Sox swept St. Louis in 2004 and the long-suffering Chicago White Sox did the same to Houston last season.
"It?s a seven-game series. They jumped out to a quick one, we fired back," Tigers third baseman Brandon Inge said. "We?re going to their place now. It should be interesting."
Are we headed for a long series?
"We may be," Inge said. Perhaps it?s time to tune in.

 

[osugrad21]

Link

Fox wises up for '07 World Series


Ed Sherman
Published October 24, 2006

Here's an idea whose time is way overdue.

Next year the World Series will open on a Tuesday night. Baseball finally has learned that beginning its showcase event on a Saturday night is ratings death.

That evening has the smallest audience of the week. It's date night, not TV night. Also, in October, you're also losing viewers who got their sports fix by watching college football all day.

If you're looking to build momentum for the Series, you don't put the opener on a night on which many people go out.

Sure enough, the numbers bore it out again. Saturday's Cardinals-Tigers Game 1 did an 8.0 rating on Fox (one ratings point is worth slightly more than 1 million homes). The rating jumped 44 percent for Game 2 Sunday to an 11.5.

The new television contract calls for the 2007 World Series to go Tuesday-Wednesday, off Thursday, Friday-Saturday-Sunday, off Monday, then Tuesday-Wednesday again. There will be only one Saturday game, a huge plus.

Fox, meanwhile, is thrilled it will have a Game 5 for the first time since 2003. The Boston sweep in 2004 and the White Sox's sweep in 2005 killed Fox. Networks don't cash in until the Series reaches six games.

A longer run also means the White Sox-Houston series will retain the distinction of being the lowest-rated World Series of all time. Through two games, the 2005 Series holds a 5 percent edge over this year's, but that won't last with a fifth game guaranteed and the possibility for more. Sox fans, obviously, couldn't care less.

And speaking of the first two games, what was the deal with using Arizona's Eric Byrnes on Fox's pregame show? With his hair flying all over the place, and his hey, dude, style, I had only one thought: Spicoli from "Fast Times at Ridgemont High." Wonder what Kevin Kennedy thought standing next to him.

Byrnes is doing only the games in Detroit. Former Cubs managerial candidate Joe Girardi steps in for what should be a more refined approach during the pregame shows in St. Louis.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Canton

World Series: Carpenter too tough
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
By BEN WALKER AP Baseball Writer

ST. LOUIS Chris Carpenter was well on his way to a World Series win when, all of a sudden, people swarmed the mound to examine his hand.

No smudge, no scuffs. Just a cramp, and it wasn't about to blemish his outing.
Carpenter looked every bit a Cards' ace as he threw the Detroit Tigers a curve, pitching St. Louis to a 5-0 victory Tuesday night for a 2-1 Series edge.
Carpenter used big breaking balls to spin three-hit ball for eight innings. And with Jim Edmonds hitting a key double and St. Louis taking advantage of a poor throw, the Cardinals returned their focus squarely to the field.
Gone were any reminders of the squabbling Kenny Rogers caused with his smudged left hand in Game 2.
Oh, Rogers heard plenty from the sellout crowd at Busch Stadium during pregame introductions, as chants of "Cheat-er!" echoed throughout the ballpark. But that was about the only noise the Tigers caused in this game.
Looking fierce with his three-day beard, Carpenter showed why he won the NL Cy Young Award last year and is a top contender this season. He struck out six, walked none and kept the Tigers' trio of Placido Polanco, Ivan Rodriguez and Curtis Granderson hitless in the Series.
Carpenter's lone problem came in the seventh inning. As Polanco led off by lining out to good friend Albert Pujols, Carpenter hopped off the mound and looked at his hand.
Cardinals manager Tony La Russa, a trainer and the entire St. Louis infield converged on the mound, peering at Carpenter's bare right hand. Plate umpire Wally Bell also went out to check as reliever Josh Kinney began warming up in a hurry.
All in all, it certainly was a lot more attention than Rogers attracted on the field after a yellowish-brown mark was spotted on his hand - he said it was a mix of dirt, spit and resin, while others claimed it was illegal pine tar.
A moment later, Carpenter was deemed to be OK. He proved it, too, by continuing to set down the Tigers to constant cheers. He drew his biggest roar when he got a standing ovation as he came to bat in the eighth.
Braden Looper took over in the ninth and finished the combined three-hitter.
Game 4 will be Wednesday night, provided a forecast of steady rain holds off. If it does, NL championship series MVP Jeff Suppan will start against Jeremy Bonderman.
The Tigers had homered in all 10 postseason games before Carpenter stopped them. And a Detroit team that averaged 5 1/2 runs per game throughout the AL playoffs has scored a total of five in the World Series.
It was somewhat of a surprise, too. Carpenter gave up a season-high seven runs at Detroit in June, and the Tigers' starting lineup was hitting .356 against him.
Carpenter had waited a long time for this opportunity. He was injured and missed the entire 2004 postseason, including the Cardinals' matchup with Boston in the World Series, a Red Sox sweep.
Carpenter allowed only one runner past first base. Brandon Inge singled and made it to third in the third on a two-out wild pitch, then catcher Yadier Molina blocked a curve that bounced to keep a run from scoring. Granderson grounded out to end the inning.
Edmonds hit a two-run double in the fourth. A throwing error by Tigers reliever Joel Zumaya and a wild pitch by Zach Miner gave St. Louis its other runs.
Working on 13 days' rest, Tigers lefty Nate Robertson opened with three hitless innings. That's about normal for the Cardinals - they were a weak 23-34 against left-handed starters this season.
Yet it was the lefty-swinging Edmonds who got the key hit against Robertson, who was pulled after five innings. After that, Robertson bided his time on the bench talking to Rogers, perhaps picking up some secrets about pitching in cold weather.
Edmonds delivered the big hit the Cardinals missed the last time they held the World Series under the Arch - in 2004, St. Louis scored a total of one run in two losses to Boston.
But that was at the old Busch Stadium, now a mere hole in the ground adjacent to the new ballpark. In this new place, Edmonds doubled that run total with one swing in the fourth inning.
Preston Wilson, hitting high in the order because he was 5-for-5 lifetime against Robertson, led off with a sharp single for the Cardinals' first hit. Pujols showed his strength and skill when, despite being a bit off-balance, lined a double down the right-field line that hopped into the stands.
When Robertson went to a 2-0 count on Scott Rolen, Tigers manager Jim Leyland went to the mound. Two pitches later, Rolen walked to load the bases with no outs.
The crowd in the lower deck was standing, hoping for action. And after a forceout at the plate, Edmonds came through. He pulled a hard grounder down the line that hobbled first baseman Sean Casey had no chance to get, and St. Louis led 2-0.
In the seventh, Zumaya made a poor choice on Pujols' comebacker with runners on first and second and no outs. Zumaya tried to go to third base and threw it wide past Inge, and both runners scored.
Miner's wild pitch gave St. Louis another run in the eighth. Notes: Molina had an adventuresome at-bat his first time up. He flipped his bat and headed to first on a 3-1 pitch, only to have Bell call it a strike. Then, he hooked a line drive that hit left-field ump Randy Marsh in the back in foul territory. ... Casey had not played the field since injuring his calf Oct. 10 in the playoff opener. ... Rolen has an eight-game postseason hitting streak.

 

[OSUBasketballJunkie]

Dispatch

Showers threaten Series schedule
Forecast in St. Louis doesn?t hold promise for next two nights
Thursday, October 26, 2006

FROM WIRE REPORTS

</IMG>


ST. LOUIS ? Pitchers dominated the first three games of the World Series and the rain took over.
Game 4 was postponed last night because of rain and will be made up at 8:27 tonight, potentially sending the World Series into scheduling chaos. More showers are expected the next two days, and nobody was certain when the Detroit Tigers and St. Louis Cardinals would play again.
"They?re going to be dicey," said Jimmie Lee Solomon, executive vice president of baseball operations in the commissioner?s office.
Game 5 in Busch Stadium was pushed back to Friday night, which was supposed to be a day off in the Series. It doesn?t look much better this weekend in Detroit, with a forecast of rain and cold.
The Cardinals lead the bestof-seven series 2-1 after a 5-0 victory behind ace Chris Carpenter on Tuesday night. A silver tarp covered the infield all evening, players didn?t come out to warm up and Game 4 never got started.
"You want to go out there and play, but you can?t control the weather. It?s not that big of a deal," St. Louis outfielder Preston Wilson said.
Steady showers all day led to the first World Series rainout since the 1996 opener between the Atlanta Braves and New York Yankees. The rain fell harder as the night progressed, and the game was called after a delay of 1 hour, 51 minutes, the first time a Series game in St. Louis has been rained out.
It also was the fourth washout of a wet postseason. The Cardinals had two games rained out in the NL championship series against the New York Mets, and Game 2 of Detroit?s first-round series in Yankee Stadium also was postponed.
A sparse crowd in Busch Stadium was informed of the rainout about three minutes after Major League Baseball made the announcement. Fans covered in plastic who had hoped for the rain to stop quickly filed toward the exits.
The postponement gives St. Louis manager Tony La Russa a chance to juggle his rotation if he wants. He could bring Jeff Weaver back on regular rest in Game 5 instead of pitching rookie Anthony Reyes again. Reyes, however, tossed eight strong innings for a 7-2 victory in the opener.
Tigers manager Jim Leyland could do the same with Kenny Rogers, who beat Weaver in Game 2 on Sunday night and extended his shutout streak to 23 innings this postseason. But Leyland specifically set up his rotation to give Rogers two starts at home, and the Series doesn?t shift back to Detroit until Game 6.
Justin Verlander was set to pitch for the Tigers in Game 5. Verlander was the Game 1 loser.
While Reyes was brilliant for eight innings in a 7-2 victory that night in Comerica Park, Verlander struggled in a matchup of rookie starters.
Verlander won 17 games during the regular season but gave up six earned runs in five innings in the World Series opener, giving him a 10.80 ERA against St. Louis and a 7.47 ERA in three postseason starts.
The Tigers had been disappointed with Verlander?s lack of velocity in Game 1. Normally at 100 mph, Verlander?s fastballs were in the low 90s.
"I wasn?t really driving with my legs as much as I had been earlier in the year," he said. "We worked on that a little bit. I think it was just a mix of maybe the mechanics and how my arm felt that day."
When the Series does resume, the Tigers may have some lineup changes.
Last night, Leyland planned to drop Placido Polanco from third to seventh and move Carlos Guillen and Sean Casey up in the order.
Polanco was the AL championship series MVP after hitting .529 against Oakland, but he was 0 for 10 in the first three games against the Cardinals.
Leadoff hitter Curtis Granderson (0 for 13) and No. 6 hitter Ivan Rodriguez (0 for 11) are struggling, too, but Leyland chose to keep them in their places in the order.
It?s uncertain when the Series will resume because of the nasty weather forecast, but Tigers center fielder Curtis Granderson said he and some of his teammates were kicking around an idea yesterday that might help them avoid the miserable weather conditions.
"Both (the Tigers and St. Louis Cardinals) have spring training facilities in Florida; we could bring (the World Series) down there," Granderson said with a smile. "TV could still pick it up for the rest of the people that want to watch."
He said there was even talk among players that baseball adopt a revolving neutral World Series site ? maybe in Texas or California ? each year similar to what the NFL does with the Super Bowl.
That way it can always be played in warm weather, says Granderson, who grew up in Chicago and has seen his share of sub-freezing baseball. "I?d rather take warm over cold any day," Granderson said. "It kind of puts you more comfortable. You don?t have to constrict yourself by covering up the whole day. But if you?ve got to be out there in the cold, the rest of the guys on your team and the other team have to be out there, too, so you have to battle through it."

 

[2002AGAIN]

Why aren't all baseball stadiums indoors? Or at least have retractable roofs?