The disastrous decision to start Game 5 Monday night is just the latest example why Bud Selig should resign as commissioner of Major League Baseball.
"You couldn’t do anything you normally do out there."
- Rays outfielder Carl Crawford after Game 5 was officially suspended due to rain.
That statement alone raises a lot of questions.
All that was accomplished by the suspension of Game 5 of the 2008 World Series was to show that the time has come for a new man at the top of the MLB pyramid. On a day that started with every weathercast reporting that there was a 90 percent chance of rain all along the eastern seaboard, this game, in which the champion of the 2008 season could have been feted, should never have been started in the first place.
Let’s face it: this post-season is quickly going to be remembered not for the fantastic on-field performances by the likes of B.J. Upton, James Shields, Shane Victorino or Brad Lidge, but by the lack of leadership coming from the Commissioner’s Office and the extremely poor officiating by the umpires.
In a span of four games and five-and-a-half innings, the need for real instant replays to right wrong calls, not just disputed home runs, has become painfully apparent. But in this age where network TV, and the millions that they put into MLB’s coffers, essentially runs the game, it’s time for new leadership. For commissioner Bud Selig, with his hair askew and glasses sitting uneven on his face, to sit in front of the media after the game was officially suspended, stating that he didn’t know when the game would resume, took me back to the sight of him at the 2002 All-Star Game in his hometown of Milwaukee, shrugging his shoulders and declaring the game tied after 11 innings after both teams ran out of pitchers.
At age 74, the modern game has passed him by. Real leadership would have prevented Game 5 from even starting.
About the only god thing that Selig did was ensure that this game would be played in its entirety, regardless of the rule book. He just forgot to tell the principals involved. For once, the commissioner’s unilateral "best interests of baseball" rule would have come in quite handy. As bad as the All-Star Game tie was, it would have been dwarfed substantially had Game 5 been rain-shortened and the Phillies awarded the title on a technicality. Luckily for all involved, Carlos Pena lined a game-tying single to left field before the tarp was finally brought out and the game suspended until further notice.
It’s not like baseball hasn’t had World Series games postponed in the past. In 1975, there was a five day space between Games 5 and 6 due rainy weather that hung over the eastern seaboard. In 1989, a 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck the San Francisco/Oakland area during Game 3, halting the start of that game until 10 days later. So, once again I ask you, why was it so important to start this game with the weather clearly going to be a factor?
The rain started during batting practice and slowly escalated throughout the evening until the game was finally halted with the base paths having turned to muddy puddles.
When this series is finally over, the time has come to find a replacement for a commissioner who is too old to see the bigger picture. The game is always paramount, despite TV ratings and sponsorship money, and Game 5 of the 2008 World Series was fiasco. No better way for me to put it.
THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT
I’m hoping that the deep thinkers down at One Blue Jays Way are paying attention to the fact that young players, barely out of their college uniforms, can lead a team to the Promised Land. Sure, the Rays’ top shelf rookies, Evan Longoria and David Price, are the exception and not the rule, but in my mind, the time has come to stop babying the young charges.
When the season begins, after an extensive spring training, the Jays should look at the roster and take north with them the 25 best players, regardless of age and experience. That means that if the likes of catcher J.P. Arencibia or left-handed pitcher Brett Cecil are among the 25 then they should make the 2009 squad. The time for worrying about starting a young player’s service clock, or whatever other reasons go into keeping them in the minors are over. 2009 will be a watershed season for the ball club and their beleaguered general manager J.P. Ricciardi.
As the great Dan Shulman so eloquently put it last week when he was an in-studio guest of Bob McCown’s Prime Time Sports radio show, if it doesn’t happen next season, the time will come to break this all down and start over again. And for that, Ricciardi’s legacy will be nine seasons of spinning wheels.
