NEW YORK (AP) -Baseball might have several more late shows as sequels to last week’s 3 a.m. thriller between the New York Yankees and Tigers.
Mike Port, major league baseball’s vice president of umpiring, said the game was started at 11:06 p.m. Friday following a 4-hour rain delay based on an e-mail he sent earlier in the week.
“The message from here on out to the umpires is to please make every effort to get all the games in because there are no guarantees of what future weather is going to be,” Port said Monday. “We have some good races and we don’t want to see those sullied by somebody having to make up a game, fly across country after the last game of the season to make up a game – and then if they win, maybe fly across country and start the playoffs the next day.”
New York’s game at Detroit went 11 innings and didn’t end until the Tigers’ Carlos Guillen hit a three-run homer at 3:30 a.m. for a 9-6 win.
“Was it a good idea to play given the way the weather turned out at that hour? A very definitive yes in some respects and possibly no in others,” Port said. “I realize that people who had driven a distance to see the Yankees and Tigers probably said great, we finally have baseball. But it is well realized as well for others perhaps their youngsters were asleep on their lap by 9, 9:30 or 10.”
Port’s memo was first reported by the New York Post.
“I’ve never batted at 3 o’clock in the morning – ever,” Detroit’s Sean Casey said. “I was like, `When’s the sun going to rise?’ That was like the Alaskan League.”
About half the sellout crowd of 44,163 stayed for the first pitch. Several thousand fans stayed until the end.
“With two contending clubs, who knows what would have developed down the line?” Port said. “Had it been called earlier, then is there a segment of attendance or population who might say we could have started at 11 because the weather was fine and given a normal game it might have been over by 1:30.”
Baseball wants to avoid rescheduling games as part of doubleheaders.
“People rue the effect that it has on their pitching staffs.” Port said, “the impact it has on a club for several days running.”
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AP Sports Writer Larry Lage in Detroit contributed to this report.
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