Chaos caused by Hurricane Irene won't be limited to Carolina's Outer Banks. It's already being felt by Major League Baseball as teams scurry to consider rescheduling weekend games ahead of the storm's arrival on the East Coast.
Weekend series in New York, Philadelphia, Boston and Baltimore could all be impacted with the Northeast expected to take the brunt of Irene's hit on Saturday and Sunday.
CAPTION
By Barbara Johnston, AP
The Yankees and Orioles, scheduled to play five games in four days, have a day/night doubleheader slated for Saturday. The Yankees would like to play a doubleheader on Friday but the Orioles are said to be balking.
"I don't know what you do if you don't (play a Friday doubleheader)," Yankees manager Joe Girardi told CBS Sports. "I don't know if (games) would be made up in our ballpark. I don't know if you would make them up in December."
In the Boston area, a Kenny Chesney concert scheduled for Sunday in Foxboro has already been moved from Sunday to Friday. As of now, the Red Sox and A's remain scheduled to play afternoon games at Fenway on Saturday and Sunday, but that could change. The teams are considering a Saturday doubleheader.
"I think they're throwing around a lot of ideas that are just ideas," Red Sox manager Terry Francona told reporters. "It sounds like it could be anything from us having trouble getting home (from Texas) to who knows? It's iffy. I know they're trying to brainstorm."
The Marlins, who have already seen their schedule altered, are supposed to play in Philadelphia with a night game on Saturday. The Marlins and Reds played a doubleheader in Florida on Wednesday, fearing Irene would wash out any possibility of playing on Thursday.
Finding makeup dates this late in the season can be problematic. But the Phillies and Marlins both have days off scheduled on Sept. 15.
The Braves and Mets are scheduled to play at Citi Field this weekend but have a common off day on Sept. 8.
The category 3 hurricane which has packed winds in excess of 115 mph, is expected to make landfall on Saturday. It has already impacted television scheduling. TBS, which had planned to air the Yankees and Orioles from Baltimore on Sunday will now show the Cubs at Milwaukee.
"We are trying to make as many contingency plans as we can," commissioner Bud Selig told the Atlanta Jounal-Constitution. "We're trying to figure out what we could do in case we have the one really bad day of rain."
SBR Top-Rated Sportsbooks
Hurricane Irene expected to wreak havoc with baseball schedule
Reply With Quote