PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Game 3 of the World Series became a late-night affair, starting at 10:06 p.m. following a 91-minute delay caused by a storm system that brought heavy rain and gusty wind to the area.
Philadelphia’s 45-year-old Jamie Moyer, the oldest player to appear in the World Series in nearly eight decades, began the game with a strike to Tampa Bay’s Akinori Iwamura before a towel-waving sellout crowd at Citizens Bank Park. In the top of the first, fans taunted Rays rookie star Evan Longoria with chants of “Eva!” a reference to the actress with the same last name. Longoria then struck out, ending the inning with a runner on first.
cut short, and Major League Baseball said there will be full introductions before Game 4 Sunday.
Philadelphia Athletics pitcher Jack Quinn was the only older player than Moyer in a Series game. Quinn started in 1929 at age 46 and relieved in the Series a year later.
The teams split the first two games in Tampa Bay, with the Phillies winning the opener 3-2 and the Rays taking the second game 4-2.
When the Series last was in Philadelphia, in 1993, Game 3 against Toronto began after a 72-minute rain delay.
Fans at Citizens Bank Park huddled under the overhangs and crowded the concourses during the delay to watch No. 3 Penn State play No. 10 Ohio State on television. A few hardy souls sat in seats behind the dugout, covered by plastic sheeting that whipped wildly.
“People have been out tailgating here since 3 o’clock this afternoon,” baseball commissioner Bud Selig said. “If you called a game off every day starting April 6 because it rained sometime during the game, you’d play till Feb. 8. So people are used to it. And by the way, the parking lots are jammed, and people are here.”
Colors from the ceremonial World Series logos bled onto the crushed brick warning track behind home plate. Puddles formed on the warning track around the outfield and pools collected on top of the tarp.
es and space.
“If you’re in Fenway, in that clubhouse, it gets kind of annoying,” he said. “The clubhouse is, what, maybe half this size. And when you have all the amenities and you get yourself a nice cheesesteak while you’re waiting or watch a game on the tube – J.P. Howell is up there watching Texas versus Oklahoma State right now – this kind of facility ameliorates that situation a bit and permits you to get through the moment.”
His use of “ameliorates” brought laughter from a room of baseball reporters.
Maddon wondered how Rays starting pitcher Matt Garza would spend the time.
“Matt Garza is a different story. I don’t know what he’s going to do. If there’s a padded room around here, I’d really like to know about, so he can go there and bounce around for a bit,” he said.
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