Bud Selig's ass just got saved. At the bell.
Rays' tying run in sixth saves MLB
Monday, October 27, 2008 | Print Entry
10:52 p.m. ET
The run the Rays scored in the sixth inning (after they had two outs and nobody on) might have saved Major League Baseball from one of its all-time October embarrassments.
Because that run tied the game, the rules now permit the game to be stopped, suspended and resumed when the skies clear -- whatever day, week or month that is.
But had the Phillies held onto the lead and the game then was stopped, the rules wouldn't have allowed a suspension. So baseball might have been faced with having the World Series end with the first rain-shortened game in Series history.
So talk about your clutch hits. When Carlos Pena lined that RBI single, the Rays might have been down to their final strike of the season -- in the sixth inning.
If this game can't be resumed -- and at this point, that's actually the most likely scenario -- it's expected that it would be scheduled to resume Tuesday night. But MLB's COO Bob DuPuy told Fox that because the forecast for Tuesday was equally horrendous, it's possible it might not be possible to finish this game until Wednesday.
Asked what the chances were of finishing the game Monday night, DuPuy replied: "Right now, we're not optimistic."
If this situation had arisen in any World Series game before 2007, baseball wouldn't have had the option to suspend the game. Under the old rules, it would have been declared a tie and started over from the first inning. But a 2007 rule change required that, once games become official, all tie games would be suspended and resumed at a later time from the point at which they're stopped.
And now for yet another complication: The Rays checked out of their hotel in center-city Philadelphia, in anticipation of flying home after the game -- and they can't get back in, because the hotel is sold out.
They're scrambling to find rooms -- somewhere -- as we speak.
--Jayson Stark