The games between the two division rivals on Friday and Saturday have been postponed as the city of Houston braces for Hurricane Ike, which is scheduled to hit landfall late Friday evening and continue into Saturday.
Instead of flying to Houston after their game with the Cardinals on Thursday night, the Cubs planned to fly back to Chicago. Cubs general manager Jim Hendry said the team will take Friday off, then have a workout at Wrigley Field on Saturday.
When the three games against the Astros will be played has yet to be determined, but the Cubs will show up at Wrigley on Saturday with their luggage packed and ready to go. One option will be to fly to Houston and play a doubleheader Sunday and one game on Monday, which is an off-day for both teams.
Another option is to play the games after the conclusion of the regular season on Sept. 28.
The Commissioner's Office, club officials from both teams, officials from the Players' Association, city of Houston officials as well as weather experts had several discussions that lasted until mid-afternoon on Thursday, at which time an agreement was put into place to not play Friday or Saturday.
"These are very complicated times, with the hurricane coming in and it might be right on top of Houston, we don't know," Astros owner Drayton McLane said before Thursday's finale with the Pirates. "We're going to have to wait until [Friday] and we'll have more information. The only thing we know today is we're not going to play Friday and we're not going to play Saturday. We hope to play those three games on Sunday and Monday."
Another idea is to play the games at a neutral site. Several ballparks are empty this weekend, including Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Miller Park in Milwaukee and Rangers Park in Arlington.
During Thursday's discussions, the Cubs suggested the series be played at Miller Park, according to Astros infielder Mark Loretta.
"Initially, the first thing we heard was the Cubs wanted us to fly to Milwaukee to play," he said. "We didn't think it was a very good idea to try to evacuate our families and take off and leave them behind. That was quickly nixed."
Noting the close proximity between Chicago and Milwaukee, Loretta added with a chuckle, "Milwaukee's kind of a home game for [the Cubs], isn't it?"
Minute Maid Park usually sells out or comes close to selling out when the Cubs are in town, so it's no surprise that McLane's desire is for all three games to be played in Houston.
"These are home games for the Houston Astros, we've got the home-field advantage and that's important," McLane said. "But even more important is to our fans, that we play these games in Houston and at Minute Maid Park."
General manager Ed Wade concurred.
"We think the opportunity to play in front of our fans ... that's why our guys put the uniform on, to play for the hometown folks," he said. "In any instance we'd love to play all our games here and take advantage of the home field."
The Cubs and Astros were originally scheduled to open a three-game series on Friday at Minute Maid Park. The storm was expected to make landfall early Saturday, and flights to Houston have been canceled and some parts of the area have been evacuated.
The Cubs entered their game with the Cardinals on Thursday in first place in the National League Central Division, ahead of the Brewers by 4 1/2 games. The Astros, winners of 13 of their last 14, were tied with the Phillies for second place in the Wild Card standings, four games behind Milwaukee.
Playing all three games Sunday and Monday makes more sense than waiting until the end of the regular season, seeing as both teams could be headed for the playoffs but may have to play tie-breakers to determine postseason positioning.
The concern is whether the Cubs can actually get to Houston on Saturday night. The storms are supposed to pass through Houston by late afternoon, but weather forecasts change, sometimes hourly.
"Hopefully, if the predictions that we're hearing now from the weather bureau and management for Harris County in dealing with this crisis, that Sunday should be a good day," McLane said. "We're certainly counting on that. The key part is for the Cubs to get in Saturday night."
In September 2004, the Marlins were forced to play a home series against the Expos at U.S. Cellular Field because of Hurricane Ivan. Hurricane Frances forced the Marlins to play one of their makeup games against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. That year, the Cubs played 26 games in 24 days from Sept. 10-Oct. 3, including two doubleheaders on Sept. 10 and Sept. 20.
"The first priority and the one that drives the train is the human element and the community avoiding a disaster," Hendry said. "The devastation the last few years [in that area] is nothing to look the other way at and prioritize a baseball game before that."
No comments:
Post a Comment