Should the postponed game rules be changed?

TreAnt985 · 05-11-2003, 05:52 PM

Today's Cubs/Cardinals game, which featured 20 runs in a little over 4 innings of play, was postponed just after the fifth inning had begun. Due to this, the excellent performances of several batters and awful performances of some pitchers from both sides will not count.
I think it's crazy that stats from a game that everyone considered to be a regular game when they played it will not count...I can see not awarding a win or loss and not counting the game towards standings, but not counting the hits, homers, innings pitched, etc. for it just makes no sense.
I remember Jayson Stark wrote a column about a year ago stating that the minor leagues have already woken up and started to count the stats from postponed games; also, he mentioned that had postponed games' stats actually counted, Jimmie Foxx would have had 60 homers in 1932 instead of 58, and Al Kaline would have finished his career with 400 instead of 399.
I've never heard anyone state that they think the stats should not count, so why are not the rules changed regarding postponed games?
Does anyone else have an opinion on this? Also, vote on the poll on what you think.

JamesI · 05-11-2003, 05:54 PM

The silly thing is had the game gone 5 innings, the stats would count and the game would be made up.

TreAnt985 · 05-11-2003, 06:01 PM

One other thing I just remembered is that the Cardinals' rightfielder Eli Marrero injured his foot (it looked pretty bad) in a game that never happened...

GGC · 05-11-2003, 09:06 PM

I voted to let the stats count. From what I heard, it sounded like an ankle strain for Marerro.

LeGrandOrange · 05-11-2003, 10:29 PM

I vote other, because these sort of games should be suspended.

Wolf Hopper · 05-11-2003, 10:30 PM

The answer is simple - never postpone a game that is started, only suspend it to be resumed at a later date. Then the stats count.

This also eliminates all the issues around games past 5 innings that get ended before a full 9.

Make every game be 9 innings.

JamesI · 05-11-2003, 11:30 PM

Steve, too bad the idea of suspending until later is too logical for baseball to ever try. That and finding a suitable make up time could be difficult.

How do you handle a makeup for a suspended game when the next time the teams play may be weeks off and by then rosters will have changed?

pwdennis · 05-11-2003, 11:42 PM

I voted to count the stats and pick up the game from the point at which the game was called.

BTW - didn't Maris lose a homerun to rain during 1961 ?

LeGrandOrange · 05-11-2003, 11:48 PM

I mean, if an exploding light standard is good enough call to suspend a game, shouldn't wind and rain be?

TreAnt985 · 05-12-2003, 06:23 AM

Has the Players' Union ever had anything to say about this? I mean, players like Marrero can get injured in a game, and they never get credit for actually playing it. Also, what about players with incentives in their contracts to reach certain levels of performance? What if, in a rare chance, someone just missed earning an incentive in their contract, and would have gotten there had their stats from when they played counted? According to the numbers and rules, it is like they're playing an exhibition game, except the players didn't know it at the time...

Ytown Tribe fan · 05-12-2003, 06:58 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Wolf Hopper
The answer is simple - never postpone a game that is started, only suspend it to be resumed at a later date. Then the stats count.

This also eliminates all the issues around games past 5 innings that get ended before a full 9.

Make every game be 9 innings.

I agree with the first half of your post. The rule for the minimum length of an official game is okay with me.

Wolf Hopper · 05-12-2003, 07:54 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by JamesI
How do you handle a makeup for a suspended game when the next time the teams play may be weeks off and by then rosters will have changed?

It's not that much different from a rain out.
Say, the Mets are to play the Braves in May, and the game is rained out. The next time they meet is August, when the make-up is scheduled.

In the meantime, since the Mets are out of it, they trade everyone - including Piazza - dump all salary, and are basically going with a AAA team come August.

Now, is that fair to the Phillies, etc., that they Braves get a game now against a lesser opponent? Well, it's the way it works - luck of the draw.

Same deal with the completion of a suspended game.

Craig S. · 05-12-2003, 08:21 AM

They should complete the game at a later date, at which point the stats would count. It's ridiculous to dismiss those performances, good or bad.

SmedIndy · 05-12-2003, 09:28 AM

I see no reason not to try to have every game go 9 innings now, since with modern travel, etc. it wouldn't be a hardship.

However, the question remains about a team coming into a city for the last time. Let's say Milwaukee is at Florida, and they're in the middle of a game and it gets too rainy. Milwaukee doesn't come back into Florida. What do you do in that case about a suspended game?

KCBOOMER · 05-12-2003, 09:46 AM

I voted "No", but really prefer LGO's "suspended" option for games called before five innings of play.

I think there is a real logistics problem with the "always play 9" proposals. The logistics of opening a stadium are not non-trivial and as the season wears on the difficulty of completing games could be very difficult. When two teams suffer a rainout in say the eighth inning of a game that is their last regular season meeting it would be a real hardship to get them back together again to complete the game.

As for games rained out before five complete innings I have always felt that they should be picked up where they left off.

View Poll Results: Should the stats from postponed games count?
Yes, the game was played as if it counted by all players, so they should count like a real game.	8	72.73%
No, the game was not a 'complete' game, as it didn't go 5 inn., and it would be unfair to count the stats.	3	27.27%
Voters: 11. You may not vote on this poll

05-11-2003, 05:52 PM	#1
TreAnt985 NetShrine All-Century Team Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: North Carolina Posts: 2,642	Should the postponed game rules be changed? Today's Cubs/Cardinals game, which featured 20 runs in a little over 4 innings of play, was postponed just after the fifth inning had begun. Due to this, the excellent performances of several batters and awful performances of some pitchers from both sides will not count. I think it's crazy that stats from a game that everyone considered to be a regular game when they played it will not count...I can see not awarding a win or loss and not counting the game towards standings, but not counting the hits, homers, innings pitched, etc. for it just makes no sense. I remember Jayson Stark wrote a column about a year ago stating that the minor leagues have already woken up and started to count the stats from postponed games; also, he mentioned that had postponed games' stats actually counted, Jimmie Foxx would have had 60 homers in 1932 instead of 58, and Al Kaline would have finished his career with 400 instead of 399. I've never heard anyone state that they think the stats should not count, so why are not the rules changed regarding postponed games? Does anyone else have an opinion on this? Also, vote on the poll on what you think. Last edited by TreAnt985 : 05-11-2003 at 05:54 PM.

05-11-2003, 09:06 PM	#4
GGC NetShrine MVP Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Central Connecticut Posts: 299	I voted to let the stats count. From what I heard, it sounded like an ankle strain for Marerro. __________________ Gary Geiger Counter 796.357 GV 862 Baseball History

05-11-2003, 10:30 PM	#6
Wolf Hopper NetShrine Creator & Curator Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: NetShrine WHQ Posts: 6,191	The answer is simple - never postpone a game that is started, only suspend it to be resumed at a later date. Then the stats count. This also eliminates all the issues around games past 5 innings that get ended before a full 9. Make every game be 9 innings. __________________ Steve, Forum Administrator POSTING TIP FOR THE DAY: When composing a post, think about what you would say if the intended recipient was an individual who was actually sitting just two feet in front of you, in person, rather than just some far away and anonymous audience who only can identify you as text on a PC screen - - and then write your post in that manner. It makes for remarkable and sincere discourse.

05-11-2003, 11:42 PM	#8
pwdennis NetShrine All-Century Team Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Winter Springs, FL Posts: 2,503	I voted to count the stats and pick up the game from the point at which the game was called. BTW - didn't Maris lose a homerun to rain during 1961 ? __________________ "I would submit that if the world survives for a million years, perhaps its finest hour may be that in the last half of the 20th century, when the power to blow up the world rested in the hands of a few men in two very unsophisticated and suspicious countries, we didn't do it, and one American, Richard Nixon, moved the cold war away from permanent confrontation toward victory. How could any wrong that he did compare with that?" - John Sears

05-11-2003, 05:54 PM	#2
JamesI Netshrine Vacuum Cleaner Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Potsdam, N.Y. Posts: 3,723	The silly thing is had the game gone 5 innings, the stats would count and the game would be made up.

05-11-2003, 06:01 PM	#3
TreAnt985 NetShrine All-Century Team Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: North Carolina Posts: 2,642	One other thing I just remembered is that the Cardinals' rightfielder Eli Marrero injured his foot (it looked pretty bad) in a game that never happened...

05-11-2003, 10:29 PM	#5
LeGrandOrange Membership Suspended 4/11/04 Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Tacoma, WA Posts: 3,783	I vote other, because these sort of games should be suspended.

05-11-2003, 11:30 PM	#7
JamesI Netshrine Vacuum Cleaner Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Potsdam, N.Y. Posts: 3,723	Steve, too bad the idea of suspending until later is too logical for baseball to ever try. That and finding a suitable make up time could be difficult. How do you handle a makeup for a suspended game when the next time the teams play may be weeks off and by then rosters will have changed?

05-11-2003, 11:48 PM	#9
LeGrandOrange Membership Suspended 4/11/04 Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Tacoma, WA Posts: 3,783	I mean, if an exploding light standard is good enough call to suspend a game, shouldn't wind and rain be?

05-12-2003, 06:23 AM	#10
TreAnt985 NetShrine All-Century Team Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: North Carolina Posts: 2,642	Has the Players' Union ever had anything to say about this? I mean, players like Marrero can get injured in a game, and they never get credit for actually playing it. Also, what about players with incentives in their contracts to reach certain levels of performance? What if, in a rare chance, someone just missed earning an incentive in their contract, and would have gotten there had their stats from when they played counted? According to the numbers and rules, it is like they're playing an exhibition game, except the players didn't know it at the time... Last edited by TreAnt985 : 05-12-2003 at 06:26 AM.

05-12-2003, 08:21 AM	#13
Craig S. Guest Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Ohio Posts: 6,330	They should complete the game at a later date, at which point the stats would count. It's ridiculous to dismiss those performances, good or bad.

05-12-2003, 09:28 AM	#14
SmedIndy NetShrine's Historian Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Zionsville, IN Posts: 10,569	I see no reason not to try to have every game go 9 innings now, since with modern travel, etc. it wouldn't be a hardship. However, the question remains about a team coming into a city for the last time. Let's say Milwaukee is at Florida, and they're in the middle of a game and it gets too rainy. Milwaukee doesn't come back into Florida. What do you do in that case about a suspended game?

05-12-2003, 09:46 AM	#15
KCBOOMER NetShrine All-Century Team Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Home of the T-Bones Posts: 11,116	I voted "No", but really prefer LGO's "suspended" option for games called before five innings of play. I think there is a real logistics problem with the "always play 9" proposals. The logistics of opening a stadium are not non-trivial and as the season wears on the difficulty of completing games could be very difficult. When two teams suffer a rainout in say the eighth inning of a game that is their last regular season meeting it would be a real hardship to get them back together again to complete the game. As for games rained out before five complete innings I have always felt that they should be picked up where they left off. __________________ KCBOOMER *Buck O'Neil: The Monarch of Baseball*

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