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Once again, Major League Baseball has shown that incompetence is running rampant in the front office. Yes, those brainiacs scheduled a team that only comes to Cleveland once in '07 to a four game series in April.
Friday was the home opener for the Cleveland Indians. They were playing the Seattle Mariners. This is the most celebrated game in Cleveland all year and MLB managed to rain on Cleveland's parade. The first problem, they scheduled the game on Good Friday. It would be nice if MLB had a little more consideration for Cleveland's faithful and stop scheduling home openers on Good Friday. This really causes dilemas for people who want to be part of the celebrations and also want to keep the sacredness of this most holy day. There have been two Friday home openers in the last 12 years and they both fell on Good Friday.
Second, by scheduling the game with a team that only visits Cleveland once, they don't leave the home team any option for postponing the game. They had no business playing on Friday, but, because of the scheduling, they had no choice but to try to go ahead as planned.
I've been going to home openers ever since I was 15. I've gone to the last 15 of 16 home openers and this was the craziest thing I've ever seen. There weren't only flurries, there were actual white-outs!! There were times we couldn't see the field. That didn't stop the party in Cleveland. The bars were filled well before game time. People enjoying cold beverages on the restaurant patios leading to the Jake. And by game time, I would guess, there were at least 20,000 in their seats. Many more in the several bars/bar areas around the Jake. The fans made the best of the cold and the snow. The Indians played I'm dreaming of a White Christmas and Let it Snow during the delays. A fan ran out onto the field and made a snow angel. The grounds crew used leaf blowers to clear the snow off the field. Despite the cold, the fans had a blast!! The Indians made the best of it as well, as they took a 4-0 lead into the 5th. And then, the final blow was delivered by MLB...
The umpires did not have control over the game. With the Tribe leading 4-0, two outs, bases loaded, a 1-2 count on the batter, in the top of the 5th; they allowed Mike Hargrove to come out and argue that the batter could not see the ball. At this point, the snow was no worse than at any other point in the inning. One more out, and the game was official. Instead of telling Hargrove that they were finishing the inning and to get back in the dugout; the umps allowed Hargrove to argue until the snow got so bad, they had no choice but to stop the game. Eventually the game was suspended. Meaning, the game needed to be replayed from the beginning. The Indians lead - Paul Byrd's victory - erased. The fans sat in the cold cheering their team for at least 4 hours for nothing. It would have made sitting in the cold worthwhile to see a victory.
Despite everything that went wrong, this will be one game that everyone in Cleveland tells their grandchildren about. I can hear it now; "Back in my day, we went to Home Openers in blizzards. And we loved it!!!"
