Rain delays start Cricket Contest

If ever a sport needed to be played indoors...

You Call This Progress?

This was a throw-away news item Friday, lost in all the NFL playoffs and Roger Clemens talk, but the Cleveland Indians announced that they have reached a 16-year, $58 million dollar deal with Progressive Corp. to rename its 42,000-seat ballpark after the car insurance company. Don’t ya just hate that? Anyway, the former Jacobs Field will be officially named Progressive Field when the Tribe takes the field in 2008. I know. I know. This news has nothing to do with sports and weather, but it does give me another opportunity to display a photo of the snow-out at The Jake back in April. That reminds me: Pitchers and catchers report to spring training in a month.

We'll See Ya Tomorrow Night!

It looks bad at Fenway Park at the moment, but according to forecasts, skies will be clear with a low of 55 degrees at the ol' Beantown ballpark for Game 6 of the American League Championship Series Saturday night. That's knuckleballer Tim Wakefield (in the photo) strolling onto the soaked field for a throwing workout earlier today. (I love knuckleball pitchers, even if the play for the Red Sox.) The Sox are trying to dig themselves out of an early hole in the series. Cleveland leads 3-2 and can advance to the World Series with a victory Saturday. The Colorado Rockies, the team officially endorsed by The Rainout Blog (See below) are patiently awaiting the winner of the ALCS.

Not The End of the World If Rains Fall in Cleveland

Game 5 of the American League Championship Series is tonight in Cleveland, and there is about a 40 percent chance of rain with a low of 65 degrees when C.C. Sabathia tosses out the first pitch at 8:21 p.m. If you're going to the game or watching at home and hoping not to have to sit through a long rain delay, remember this line from a story posted today on Cleveland's News Channel 5 Web site about Jacobs Field and its remarkable ability to not, uh, retain water:

"The drainage system under the field can whisk away 12 inches of water an hour."

That may be the stat of the day. Also, I don't think anyone doubts the ability of the Jacobs Field grounds crew. Remember what they did on Opening Day when a snow storm hit the ballpark? If not, watch this remarkable time-lapse video from Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer.

Judging from tonight's forecast, there shouldn't be much to worry about as far as the weather is concerned. I'm no meteorologist, but I don't expect a rain out. But if there is a rain out, it's not the end of the world. Right, Manny?

Warning: Expect Delays

While everyone is finding their seats on the Rockies bandwagon, it seems that other League Championship Series has been pushed to the backburner a bit, except in Cleveland and Boston. In case you missed it last night, the Indians grabbed a 2-1 series lead at Jacobs Field. Tonight in Cleveland is Game 4 of the ALCS between the Tribe and Red Sox, and if you're going to the game or just checking it out on your high-def TV, you should expect some delays. The temps forecasted to dip to the high 50s with a 40 percent chance of rain and, my favorite, scatted thunderstorms. (High 50s equals about 15 degrees Celsius for those two or three of you from Malaysia who occasionally visit this blog.)

While we're visiting Cleveland, take a look this Plain Dealer time-lapse video that zips us through the Opening Day snow storm that hit the ballpark as the Indians were hosting the Mariners.

Buy Me Some Peanuts and Cracker Jacks... and a Poncho

I love October baseball. Most people I talk with say they hate when cold weather comes into play during the playoffs. "It's just not baseball weather," they tell me. I, of course, disagree. The cold, rainy playing conditions at Coors Field last night, and every other time the weather has come into play in the MLB playoffs, creates an entirely new challenge for the teams embarking on the grand prize. It's a beautiful stage that blends perfectly with the emotions of the games. And you can't tell me the fans at Coors last night didn't just absolutely dig it that their team is kicking the frozen snot of a Diamondbacks team that hails from Arizona and plays in a ballpark with a retractable roof. I'm sure the folks in Denver believe the cold weather is to their team's advantage – they're probably right – and cheer louder with each drop on the thermometer.

A look at the weather-related sports headlines in the Denver Post today gives insight into how into the mindset of the Colorado faithful. Here are a few of those heads:

- Rockies fever keeps away cold
- Almost on Ice
- Rockies Right As Rain
- Arizona Gets Lost in the Fogg (Referring, of course, to Josh Fogg, but still…)
- Rain, Snow, and Base-brrrrrr (This headline actually was in Sunday's Post, but it is my favorite.)

In case you missed the game last night, the Rockies defeated the D-Backs 4-1 at Coors as temperatures dipped into the 30s and cold rain fell before the game during the early innings. It was a beautiful sight. Tonight's Game 4 weather forecast calls for temps in the high 30s, but with mostly clear skies. It’s Broncos weather in Denver, but as their team sits one way away from reaching the World Series, fans in the Mile High City are hot for the Rockies.

Meanwhile, the ALCS moves to Cleveland tonight with the Indians and Red Sox tied at 1-1. Folks at the Jake should be fairly comfortable with low temperatures expected to be in the mid 50s with a slim change of precipitation. Tomorrow night, however, could be a different story. Rain is being forecasted all day with a chance of thunderstorms at night during Game 4.

Do Dogs and Drinks Affect the Spectator Index?

The Spectator Index is 6 for tonight's opening game of the American League Championship Series between the Red Sox and Cleveland Indians at Fenway Park.

What?

You've never heard of the Spectator Index? Well, you have to check it out.

The Index is a feature on weather.com that rates the comfort factor for fans at a particular sporting event based upon temperature, chance of precipitation, humidity, wind speed and cloud cover. So, the reading of 6 for tonight's contest is "good," meaning comfy conditions for fans when the first pitch is hurled at 7:07 p.m. The Index goes from 1 to 10, with 10 meaning "excellent" live viewing conditions. A Spectator Index of 1 means you're probably in Buffalo. The Index is updated several times a day. So if you're sitting at home tonight watching the game from your living room, where I'm sure your personal Spectator Index will be a 10, you can click on weather.com and see just how the temperatures and wind conditions and such are changing the Spectator Index reading at Fenway. Then, just for fun, try to determine just how many beers Sox fans will need to drink to stay warm when temperatures dip to 45 degrees and winds reach 15 to 25 mph. Oh, and a 20 percent chance or precipitation is also forecasted.

Those west winds at Fenway tonight, The Weather Guys at USA Today remind us, should mean an increased chance for home runs to right field. Let's hope the winds calm when the Sox are at the plate. On their blog today, The Weather Guys have a cool graphic (see above) illustrating just how the winds tonight could benefit lefties.

(The above graphic is from USA Today. You didn't think I drew that myself, did you?)

SPRINKLES: It looks as though there's a turf war brewing in Columbus, Ohio involving the intramural football fields. An Ohio State student has written in the school newspaper five reasons why rain should not halt intramural play. Reason No. 4 is the best. Wikipedia fans will agree. … We've spotted a snow football game in Canada. …The Williston (Fla.) Pioneer Sun News tells us that in rodeo, like pro football, the show must go on despite the presence of rain and mud. You just know there's a scientist working some place in a lab to develop artificial mud for rodeo. Jeez!

Rain Could Slow ALCS Opener

As you can see in the photo, it was a rainy day in Cleveland – better than bug attacks, eh? – so the Indians hurlers had to cut their workouts short. The Tribe hitters, meanwhile, left the wet Jacobs Field and took some swings at the team’s indoor facility.

The way it looks, the Indians will be taking the wet stuff with them when they travel to Boston for games one and two of the American League Championship Series. Rain is being forecasted over Fenway Park for both of those contests, which are scheduled to be played Friday and Saturday, respectively.

But don’t worry Red Sox fans, your smock-wearing manager has a plan for his pitchers should a game be called or endure a lengthy rain delay.

From the Associated Press:

The rotations would be shuffled around if games are delayed or postponed by rain, which is forecast for both Friday and Saturday. Francona said he would consider using lefty Jon Lester following a long rain delay, if necessary; Lester threw 38 pitches on Tuesday to stay fresh.

Russell Remembers No. 42 After Fenway Rainout

For a change, it's a slow news day as far as weather intermingling with sporting events is concerned. The past week has been pretty hectic. The Cleveland Indians tonight will play their true home opener at Jacobs Field after being relocated to Milwaukee following a snow storm in Cleveland. Yesterday, the Red Sox had their game with Seattle postponed after rain pelted Fenway Park. And from that rain out comes this gem of a story from the Hartford Courant that allows former Celtics great Bill Russell talk about his hero worship of Jackie Robinson. Below is an excerpt of the article followed by a link to the full story. Major League Baseball is honoring Robinson Sunday on the 60th anniversary of his breaking the baseball color barrier.

The cold, pelting rain made for a dark day at Fenway Park Thursday.

Inside, though, Bill Russell's heartfelt words turned that all around.

He wanted to praise his hero, Jackie Robinson.

"You may or may not know that I was a pallbearer at Jackie Robinson's funeral," he told a group of reporters on a day that the Red Sox were to honor the late Celtics patriarch, Red Auerbach.

"The day after he died [in 1972] Rachel Robinson called me to ask if I would be a pallbearer," Russell said. "When Jackie broke into baseball, I was in junior high school. To all of us, he was our hero, and here she was asking me to be one of his pallbearers."
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The photo above is not from Thursday's rainout. It's an AP photo from a 2005 game at Fenway between the Sox and Devil Rays.