On Monday I write a column for Flushing University. This was this week’s column.
They got the game in yesterday. The question is, “Was that a good decision?”I think MLB needs to focus on the fans more than the schedule.Yes they got the game in, but after a two hour delay. If I have tickets for a Sunday morning, and there’s localized flooding and powerful thunderstorms around, I want the Mets to just call the game.I don’t want to do the whole “should we or shouldn’t we” dance. I don’t want to drive out to the park and then find out the game is canceled. I don’t want to stay home and find out they played. I just want to know the deal, as soon as possible.On Wednesday the Mets called the game at 7:13pm (for a scheduled 7:10pm start). Did they not know ealrier that they wouldn’t get the game in? Did “the window” suddenly close three minutes after scheduled game time? Did someone upstairs do some math along the lines of “well if 10,000 fans show up, and each spends $10, and 2000 of them pay to park…we make money on the night?” Maybe they do make money on the night, but it’s another straw on the camel’s back.I’m writing this around 6:15 on Sunday night. It’s the 9th inning. Figure you left the house at 11am, sat in the rain at the park for two hours, then caught a game, probably even left early. That’s no fun for anyone. Heading out to the park on Wednesday for the Mets to decide three minutes after game time that they aren’t going to play is no fun.What do you do when it rains? Do you “eat” the tickets? Fool on you. Do you head out to the park and sit in the rain? Fool on you.Just calls the games early. A doubleheader won’t kill anyone, and in 2010 the Mets are going to have the empty available seats, believe me.Maybe when the new stadium rolls around in 2069 someone will have heard of retractable domes. Maybe.
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good question. this year, the Mets certainly won't care for the fans. but wait 'till next year. when people stop going to games in the numbers that they were suckered into buying into ticket plans this season, maybe they'll think differently about doing things for the fans.
myself, i was at Sunday's game. i wrote about it during the 1st inning of the game i had a ticket to. I got there a shade after noon, just before the rain, got through the non-line at Blue Smoke, and moved under cover just before it started pouring. my friend's little girl decided it was time to leave around 2pm, and i went with them, and i was back in NJ in plenty of time to see the entire game on TV. what do i get for it?
another time, maybe 20 years ago, maybe they would have postponed the game and played 2 on Monday. it was an option. they did have the window on Sunday when they did play and it was fine, but how do you handle 40,000 people on the concourses for 3 hours during the rain? there was no way i could have stayed walking around for that long, and not many seats under cover like at Shea to sit in to avoid standing (even the ones in the Upper Deck were cleared when the lightning started). i'm not gonna walk around sampling the cuisine or the clubs. even with Casey Stengel Plaza exposed behind the Promenade Club, it got lots of people stuck on one side of the concourse or the other. at least you could move all around Shea without getting wet (leaks aside).