Posted on 10/25/2005 2:46:22 PM PDT by UB355
The roof, the roof, the roof is on… or off Jason Joyce on Tue, 10/25/2005 - 11:29am.
Because there are several hundred baseball writers covering the World Series, there's a lot of sweating the small stuff. The latest non-story to become a big story has to do with the retractable roof on Houston's Minute Maid Park and whether it should be open or closed for Game 3 (Tuesday, 7:38 pm, FOX).
The Astros want it closed for two reasons: crowd noise and predictable weather. Writing a diary for the Houston Chronicle, Houston third baseman Moran Ensberg considers it a home-field advantage issue. "If the decision on the roof is taken out of the Astros' hands, I view it as some sort of punishment. I'm confused as to why the league would have so much input and why it would be so concerned about it."
However, Major League Baseball commissioner Bud Selig has said he prefers to see the roof open, particularly on a clear, 62-degree night like tonight. "Why wouldn't the roof be open?" he asked. "Why do you have a retractable roof in the first place?"
Others have speculated that TV executives looking for dramatic blimp shots of the field during the national broadcast are in control, in which case Ensberg strongly disagrees. "That's not shooting people straight," he said. "I'm shooting you straight in that I like the advantage of the roof being closed because of the sound and (the wind) doesn't swirl."
But so far, nobody has brought up what might be the most compelling issue in play: a power struggle between Astros manager Phil Garner and Selig. Milwaukee Brewers fans will remember that Selig's daughter, Wendy Selig-Prieb, fired Garner as manager early in the 1999 season. Garner, like his players, wants the roof open. But could it also be true that he doesn't like the sound of Selig pushing him around?
That a baseball club would choose to close its stadium's roof on a beautiful autumn evening is, of course, ridiculous to anyone living in Wisconsin. But so is the thought that Selig's meddling would anger a guy like Garner and his players. While Selig has enjoyed praise for some of his initiatives as commissioner, including the Wild Card and inter-league play, he's still remembered by many around here for his decision to end the 2002 All-Star game in Milwaukee with a 7-7 tie.
Yes, playing baseball inside is like fishing in a swimming pool, but anyone who had to sit and watch Selig and his family preside over the downfall of the Brewers has to be skeptical about whether he truly has the best interests of the game in mind when he imposes his will in cases like this.
Bud Selig strikes again. When the All Star Game was played in MIlwaukee some years ago he stopped the game after the teams had run through their pitchers.
Open or closed the White Sox will beat the Stro(h)s (formerly the Colt 45s) to the brink of elimination.
It's the World Series. The event belongs to MLB so Seilig gets a say. God help them.
Selig fleeced the taxpayers of Wisconsin to get a new stadium for the Brewers and then built it where it was only accessible by cars. The value of the Brewer franchise rose with the new Miller Park but Selig didn't invest in the team he merely cashed out his profits. He's a skunk through and through.
"Minute Maid" park should be banned. Easy pop flies to left field are home runs and whoever heard of a pole in the middle of center field, much less the man-made grade in the same center field.
I live just outside Houston. To me, that is a chilly a$$ night at 62 degrees. If I pay this much money for a ticket, I expect climate control.
I'm not familar with the pole, I will watch for it. I'm kind of rooting for the Sox.
Whatever, lunkhead...your screen name is so "appropo".
SOX wont be able to lie, cheat, and steal through the next three games.
Bud Selig. I always thought that was someone mispronouncing "Butt Sealing".. a control for loose bowels.
You are getting free AC, Wear a jacket.
They will be able to keep knocking those home run balls out of the park if your closers keep serving them up though.
The White Sox got to take advantage of the home field advantage of the cold. Rather galling that the idiot Selig would deny the Astros the small home field advantage of a closed roof. Especially after the Astros just got royally screwed by the home plate ump in the last game (and after Chicago benefited from a similar blown call in game 2 of their LCS.) No, the ump didn't serve up the grand slam fat pitch, I am not saying he surely cost them the game. But if Bud wants to deny the Astro's their home field advantage, then perhaps it should have some bearing on the decision.
White Sox in Five.
No it's Bub. His daughter Wendy ran the Milwaukee Brewers into the ground before the family cashed out.
Small fact Bud roomed with Herb Kohl (D WI) at UW Madison. That may explain a lot.
Bud Selig strikes again. When the All Star Game was played in MIlwaukee some years ago he stopped the game after the teams had run through their pitchers.And thereby ended the game in a tie. For that result, Bud Selig should have been banned forever from baseball.
Yankee Stadium. Even shallower to the right field. And they used to have a flagpole in play.
And while the Crawfords are shallow, Center field is far deeper than most any other park. It is not a cookie cutter ballpark. If you don't like it, fine. But the dimensions don't change in between innings.
Whoops, Bud
Sox played better ball the first two games. They are a great team. I suspect Houston will put up a fight at home. It should be a great game.
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