Long, fruitless night at the ballpark
Posted by: Peter Abraham - Posted in Misc on Jun 27, 2008 
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Just so everybody is clear on what transpired at PNC Park:
* The stats do not count. What happened on the field is wiped off the boards. The teams will start from scratch on July 10.
* Because it was the last night of the last series between the teams at the park, the umpires had control over when to call the game, not the Pirates.
* The Yankees were pretty upset to have the game scheduled at night with the doubleheader tomorrow. It comes down to the Pirates appeasing their television partners, Mike Mussina said. The Yankees, he said, asked the league to try and change the start time and the Pirates refused.
“We had a beautiful day, we could have played all day long,†he said. “Now we’re going to get home at whatever time we get home. It’s frustrating. Now we lose another off day and have to come back (to Pittsburgh) and play another game.â€
Losing an off day is a big deal. The Yankees had a tough April and the schedule gave them a few breaks in the summer. Now they’re playing one-game series in Pittsburgh (July 10) and Detroit (Sept. 1).
That’s two less days to rest players, especially pitchers.
Then we have Dan Giese. He was sent ahead to get some rest for his Game 1 start today against the Mets. His flight was delayed so he went to get something to eat. The schedule changed and the flight left without him.
The Yankees booked him on another flight, which was canceled by the storm. So Giese returned to the park and flew home with the team. Had the game last night started up, he likely would have pitched.
The Yankees catch a break in one sense that their bullpen is rested for the doubleheader.
Lots of blogging all day today, so check back for updates.
I just think its wrong that the Pirates refused to change the game to day game. I hope when they play this make up game the Yankees make beat the snot out of them.
Whew. They must be steamed. Hope they use channel their frustration in a positive way.
Good luck today, they’re going to need it. Mets fans must be enjoying the Yankees’ bad luck. Hopefully karma does its thing.
Well, to be fair, didn’t the Pirates schedule this game before the Mets rainout? It’s unusual for teams to move games. We only do it for the Pope, not to ease someone else’s schedule.
ESPN is allowed to change game times for Sunday night baseball, why not MLB to avoid insane scheduling? Television revenues are important but a little common sense would go a long way.
Why didn’t Giese leave earlier? Especially since he’s starting the day game!
this year every team will play 162 games. if any team in their division wins more games than them then they have to finish with more wins than any non-division winner in the league or else they miss the playoffs.
none of the other thirteen teams are crying for the yankees, no use whining about it
What a mess… and with the assortment of pitchers we’re throwing out there in the mets series, I think we’ll be lucky if we split.
I just hope the Yankees make a note of tonight for when the next time the Pirates play in the Bronx.
Might have to make it a special 10:05 EST starting time on their get away day.
It’s summer. Schedule a day game so kids at day camp could go. Trying to appease their TV partners? Pete, I’m surprised that a TV station would devote airtime to the Pirates. They haven’t been relevant since Barry Bonds was skinny.
The times of getaway games need to be bargined into the next CBA anat issue will then be out of the hands of the owners who complain about the Yankee payroll (although, you never hear a whimper when they receive their welfare checks). Every owner and every city knows that they will rake in more money during the Yankee visits that at any other point in their scgedules. Teams, and hotels jack up the prices (San Diego, Houston and Colorado jack up ticket prices three times the face value when the Yanks come to town. Hotels do the same). Owners know that they’ll get more advertising revenue and higher ticket sales by scheduling the games at night. Baltimore, Oakland and Tampa are nototious for this, too.
***bargained****
Why couldn’t they play a standard Double-header on Sunday, like the Mets and Rangers did last weekend?
crappy.
we already have 3 weak starters (of 4 games) going against the Mets this weekend, we didnt need a tired offense on TOP of that.
They should have sent some Yankee employee with Giese to the airport because it’s pretty clear he didn’t know what he was doing. It’s actually pretty funny what happened, he’s eating a burger and watching the plane he’s supposed to be on take off.
You can’t blame Giese because the airlines changed the flight times TWICE.
how does one miss a flight these days…they call your name umpteen times before they finally shut the door. He must have been wearing headphones playing air drums/guitar. Oh well! Hope he pitches well on fumes, and that Mr. Ponson can get us through the later game. Here’s to shawn chacon becoming available so we didnt have to trade phil hughes for you him
good night kids.
GreenBeret7, please, he’s like 28 or something. If An 18 year old pitcher missed the flight maybe I’d buy that, but I doubt the other 200 passengers missed the flight. It is funny but in reality he had a responsibility to take that flight and get to NY early and he didn’t manage to do it… Like michelle b said, it’s pretty damn difficult to miss a flight especially when you’re already in the airport waiting for it. He probably saw the flight was delayed, went to the bar, tried to pick up some chicks, and then said “whoops, forgot to see what time the flight was re-scheduled for”.
Dfox: he’s 31, even worst. When you’re over 30 you gotta start being mature
awfully harsh on giesy geese (yea i call him that)…if there is one person who is mad its got to be him about that
Whatever you say. Or, you can read what was issued by Pete Abraham where he said the flight was delayed and then changed the time of the flight again. Have you been to the airport in Pittsburgh? You can’t always hear the announcements. I’ve never understood a thing that’s said in that airport when 3 and 4 annouments from different airlines are going at the same time. They all talk like they’ve got my socks in their mouths, anyway.
They cant schedule a DH on Sunday because ESPN owns the rights to night games on Sundays.
Giese must have been screamed at quite a bit for missing his flight. I feel bad for the guy
They dont scream over the PA that a flight is leaving or boarding. And im sure he didnt think it would be rescheduled so fast
According to Baseball America, the Yankees are the leaders to sign Dominican shortstop Giancarlo Arias, with a bonus in seven figures. The international signing period opens next Wednesday.
Any info on Arias? Age?
What Yankee movie has Tom Selleck playing a character named Jack?
Not a Yankee movie. He was a Yankee traded to Japan. For Kei Igawa.
Mr. Baseball
Part 2. George Washington Steinbrenner was traded 46 million times. (I love trick questions)
The movie was based somewhat on two real players…Former SF Giant 3rd baseman Daryl Spencer and Leron Lee, an ex-Padre/Dodger (among others). Lee is the uncle of Cubs first baseman, Derrek Lee.
GB7,
Thanks. Your encyclopedic knowledge never ceases to astound me.
Kids and I are ROFL at the noodle slurping scene.
I thought the two leagues didn’t do trades?
My pleasure, Mel. I have about 25 baseball themed movies, and, that is a favorite.
They do trade…sort of. There has never been a trade of US for Japanese players, though.
Yankees probably getting home now
2 things….
Why could’nt Mussina start in one of the friday games against the Mets? It’s weak thinking to rest him for five days now just to stick to your plans. Girardi has to be a little more flexible.
Crying about being tired for the friday games would just be the right excuse for players not performing well. They should be able to to play three games in 24 hours from time to time without getting to lagged. I mean, this is baseball not hockey.
Wanting to keep the game at night to maximize revenue (and not caring about the other team’s shed), fine, I get that….but are there no competent weathermen in Pittsburgh?! You gonna tell us NOT ONE team official could check a forecast and see that a rainout was probable if they held it at night?
I agree that the game should have been played during the day, but when they created the schedule how did they know it was supposed to rain at night? Also, can a team reschedule a game the day before from a night game to a day game if it is the last time those two teams will meet in that city if there is a chance that it will be washed out? I don’t think they can, but if they can let me know.
“GreenBeret7, please, he’s like 28 or something. If An 18 year old pitcher missed the flight maybe I’d buy that, but I doubt the other 200 passengers missed the flight. It is funny but in reality he had a responsibility to take that flight and get to NY early and he didn’t manage to do it… Like michelle b said, it’s pretty damn difficult to miss a flight especially when you’re already in the airport waiting for it. He probably saw the flight was delayed, went to the bar, tried to pick up some chicks, and then said “whoops, forgot to see what time the flight was re-scheduled forâ€.”
I’ve missed a flight in the same manner before (out of Atlanta on my connecting flight, delayed, then rescheduled time changed), and no, they do not repeat your name umpteen times, nor repeat that so and so flight is leaving.
I got a free round trip out of it though.
“Why could’nt Mussina start in one of the friday games against the Mets? It’s weak thinking to rest him for five days now just to stick to your plans. Girardi has to be a little more flexible.
Crying about being tired for the friday games would just be the right excuse for players not performing well. They should be able to to play three games in 24 hours from time to time without getting to lagged. I mean, this is baseball not hockey.”
That’d be killer on Moose’s arm. He warmed up, pitched two innings, then likely stayed loose for a bit. He’s not a bullpen guy, he can’t pitch 2+ innings on back to back days.
And don’t be ridiculous. 3 games in 2 days is insanely difficult physically, especially with little sleep. You ever play sports? I doubt it.
OMG, it goes to show that even ball players such as Giese get caught in the same flight issues as we do! What a mess…
This part of MLB scheduling is insane; no room for error whatsoever.
Is it really worse to play double headers than to go through this kind of a scheduling nightmare? I don’t just mean the double header today, but a double header followed by two more games in three days after a night time get away flight delayed by rain. Plus, they have to go back to Pittsburgh for one game at the price of a day off. Never mind that it’s a completely meaningless game – why does it have to be made up at all? I know… TV. Ditto the Detroit game.
So, given the alternatives, is it really worse to look at even a few more double headers to open up some more schedule flexibility and daytime get away games? If they are going to do away with free flowing amphetamines, something’s got to give.
I ALMOST missed a flight out of JFK. After checking in, i went to the gate, where they said the flight would take off at 530 (this was at 3pm). I go to the bar, have a drink, go to the bath room, next thing i hear is, LAST CALL for flight 23 to Tampa ( this is like at 430). If i was on the other side of the airport, not using the rest room, i would have totally missed the flight. Im sure the same thing happened to Geise.
So lets see. Its the schedule makers, the pirates, and the airlines, all against the Yankees. How does MLB schedule a day night double header, for the Yankees, when they KNOW they are playing a night game in another city the day before? If the pirates would have moved the game to the day, end of story. But they didn’t, so MLB should have done something else before it even got to last night.
Ill be at both games today getting to see the Yankees number 5 and 6 starters today. And im lucky enough to have tickets on Sunday seeing their number 4 starter. Lets just hope the Yankees offense pound the crap out of the muts.
Mlb should punish the Pirates by not giving them any home games in interleague with Red Sox, Yankees, or any other teams that draws good on the road. Enjoy the rays and royals for a few years.
The Guise thing is kinda funny… really funny is he pitches well this afternoon.
As for the schedule, the Pirates should have been approached about moving Thursday’s game BEFORE the Yanks committed to an early afternoon makeup. If they declined, then they play the makeup game at 1:00 Sunday in Yankee Stadium and 8:00 that night at Shea… spaces it out much better than the idiotic thing they ended up with.
That said I agree there should be an effort to pass a rule limiting the number of times any visiting team can be forced to play a night game on getaway day. This is actually a significant handicap to the Yanks and Bosox more than any other teams.
AND is there anyone who can explain why baseball insists on this insane system of raining out games and erasing everything that happened? ALL games that are stopped should be suspended and rejoined whenever that’s two hours or two months later. Jeter hit his 400th career double… oops, no he didn’t.
If a guy gets hurt and the game is rained out is the injury healed?
Pirates scheduled the game before the doubleheader was scheduled (and agreed to by the Yankees BTW). Why should it be incumbent upon them to bump what is arguably one of their Top 5 box office games of the season from night to afternoon????
Unfortunate turn of events as it ended up, but that’s the way it goes sometimes.
“AND is there anyone who can explain why baseball insists on this insane system of raining out games and erasing everything that happened?”
Only happens when they don’t get 5 innings in, right? Logic is that “if it’s not an official game, there aren’t any official stats.”.
there’s no other sport that throws out results is there? It’s absurd!
OK maybe I’m still burning because my only over the fence little league homer was washed out under similar circumstances. I went o-for-3 with 2K in the makeup.
“there’s no other sport that throws out results is there? It’s absurd!”
Certainly no other team sports are subject of rainouts, so I can’t think of a situation where washing out the stats would be necessary.
That little league story sucks. At least you got to experience the feeling of the ball jumping off your bat, but to have it washed out hurts a little.
86w183: you have every right to be pissed after a story like that. you deserve an asterisk in the records.
as for the rest of the Yankees, we’ve seen them show up listless after a perfectly good rest as well. who knows.
do it for Willie, guys. GO YANKS!!!!
And of course the makeup game couldn’t be an afternoon game either. So now they’re going to have to take a flight from Pittsburgh to Toronto at whatever hour they get out of there. Not the biggest of problems in the world, but that’s pretty bad by the Pirates not to allow a change of the start time.
Pirates, don’t look for any favors next time you come into Yankee Stadium. No getaway day for you. We need all those games played at night. You’re a big draw too. Jerks.
Maybe the next time the Pirates come to the Bronx the Yankees can make the final game of the series a special “midnight madness” promotion…
Encourage fans to wear their pajamas to the game… first pitch is right as the clock strikes 12… special black cat gieaways… maybe something tying in with Vampires?