Column:

Bud Selig rained on Yankees' parade

By John Hunt

Published Oct. 30, 2009

Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig is just lucky I'm not a New York Yankees fan. If I had personal ties or affiliations with the Bronx Bombers, or if I was even a casual fan of them or their American League Championship Series counterparts the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, I would not have been a happy camper Saturday night, to say the least.

Major League Baseball postponed game six of Saturday's ALCS to Sunday night due to consistent rain at Yankee Stadium, moving a potential game seven to Monday. This decision comes almost exactly one year after Selig and the umpiring crew postponed game five of the World Series midway through the sixth inning to two days later, again due to rain.

Although I might not be a Yankees fan, I am a baseball fan. Speaking strictly from a fan's point of view, canceling games is not only a bad deal for the fans, but is also bad for the sport itself. Selig made a hard decision Saturday night, and it was probably the right one, I just wish there was a way around it. There are New York faithful who have been attending games for generations, lifetimes, who would have more than willingly watched their team through the rain and the slush.

All this said, I could almost empathize with the decision for two reasons. First, baseball is a whole different ballgame in the rain. It's easy for me to say "play on," watching from the couch in my warm living room, but I doubt I would have had the same inclination watching errors galore amid muddy conditions at the ballpark.

It's highly likely that people could get sick in the wet and the cold, and that's never fun. That, and I happened to be one of the many present when our football team took on Nebraska at Faurot Field three weeks ago and got just a taste of how truly awful sporting event conditions can be, and I wasn't even playing. That fateful night tested my true fan mettle, however, and I swear my clothes are still wet.

Yet, I still think I would have been angry if our football game would have been called midway through, at least if it would have been called before the fourth quarter. Many made plans to attend that specific game on that specific night. I'm sure many people spent an incredible amount of money on tickets. How many nights would they expect us to be able to afford to let our schedules revolve around a sporting event?

All major sports' loyalties are to their fans. America's pastime would only be a fraction of itself if not for its enormous fan base and family-friendly history created over the years.

There are people out there who absolutely live and die with their baseball team. People who get their favorite team's logo tattooed on their bicep or name their child after a particularly inspiring outfielder or even a ballpark. They're out there. I've seen them. They are the same people who probably would still love the game all the same if Selig took their team away from their city.

Let's hope this was just a precautionary measure for the health and well-being of all those involved and not a step in that direction.