Caught Fox World Series duo Joe Buck and Tim McCarver on “Pardon the Interruption,” tonight. Kornheiser/Wilbon asked them if they thought the way Tuesday night played out was a disadvantage to the Phillies.
They scoffed, McCarver asserting some nonsense about how, if anything, it disadvantaged the Rays, since scoring that run in the sixth involved B.J. Upton having to steal a base then score from second on a single on a muddy track. Even on the broadcast Tuesday, McCarver didn’t seem to realize the advantage the offense had in that mess - pitchers couldn’t grip the ball, and every batted ball in play was an adventure.
But even that’s not the point. Since baseball knew (Proud to be Your Bud said later) calling the game official before playing all nine innings wasn’t an option, why wait until the middle of an inning to call it a night? If they’d called the game at the end of the fourth or fifth, when it was clearly unplayable, at least Hamels would have given his team a lead. As it was, Hamels’ start was in effect wasted, and the Rays got one one at bat in the slop.
Of course that’s a disadvantage for the Phillies.
In other news: John McCain accused Barack Obama of delaying the World Series for “an infomercial.” In the last of blatantly false things McCain’s said about Obama, this doesn’t make the top 20, but in fact Obama did America a service: pre-empting Fox’s pre-game show.
