Argh! Pirates Kick Astros at Rain-Soaked PNC

I've never been there, but PNC Park in Pittsburgh is one of the coolest-looking baseball parks in the Major Leagues. It looks even better, as you can see above, with a fresh coat of rain and gloomy skies. The Getty Image was taken Tuesday night sometime during a rain delay that held up the Pirates and dreadful Houston Astros for 75 minutes. The Pirates won 6-2. Nothing like playing the incompetent 'Stros to end a four-game slide.

Pirates Do it Better in the Rain

The Pittsburgh Pirates survived three hours and seven minutes worth of rain delays Tuesday night to beat the slumping Houston Astros 4-3 at soggy PNC Park. The first delay popped up in the fourth inning, lasting two hours and 30 minutes. The second break in the action lasted 28 minutes and followed less than an hour later in the bottom of the sixth. The delays gave Pittsburgh fans plenty of time to check on the status of the sale of the Steelers. Rain fell steadily at times while the teams played the innings between the two delays. The photo above is from the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, which has a full game photo gallery here.

Wimbledon, Wet Sox, Wet Birds and All Wet Rules Changes

There’s a new rule here at The Rainout Blog: Less Writing, More Photos. The rule goes into effect immediately, and… there I go writing again. So let me briefly tell you that the photo above is from Wimbledon 2007. The tournament is making news today, in April, about three months before the ’08 edition takes center stage, because Wimbledon officials have said they will not allow the tournament to be played on the middle Sunday, no matter how many rain delays the tournament suffers during its first week. Good for them. Every one who complains can suck it up. Right? Right.

In other rain out, rain delay news… the Mets and Pirates were rained out at Shea Stadium last night, and the White Sox and Orioles were suspended in the 12th inning because of persistent rain in Chicago. No date to resume the game has been announced. The start of that game was delayed more than two hours because of continuous rain that has plagued the White Sox home stand. The good news for the Damp Sox is that they’ll be playing under the roof in Minnesota over the next few days. Oh, and that Pirates at Mets contest will be played Aug. 11, which had been an off day for both teams. Don’t ya hate being called into work on your day off? At least they have a four-month notice.

All right, so much for writing less. I’ll try harder next time. I swear. Speaking of swearing, today is the 25th anniversary of this…

Oh, and can you believe I wrote about wet tennis and never mentioned Maria Sharapova?

And Now For Something Completely Different

Not all days are filled with ominous rain clouds here at the Rainout Blog. Today, the Pirates and Cubs have a picture-perfect day for baseball at Pittsburgh’s PNC Park, as you can clearly see in this Getty Images photo of the first pitch from the Pirates Tom Gorzelanny to Cubbie Alfonzo Soriano. As of this posting, the Cubs lead 8-5 in the top of the sixth. It’s the home opener for the Pirates.

Slick Racing

I know NASCAR is the most popular racing entity in the States, but you have to hand it to the Formula 1 guys when it comes to bravery in dealing with the natural elements.

Last Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix was no exception, as you can see in the photo above taken of British driver Lewis Hamilton, Aussie Mark Webber and Japanese racer Sakon Yamamoto during the race at the Fuji Speedway in Oyama, Japan. That's just west of Tokyo for those of you not up on your geography of Japan. (AP Photo/Chitose Suzuki)

Hamilton may not have been the safest driver on the track. According to news reports, the FIA is investigating his driving tactics during his win in Japan.

Meanwhile, the NASCAR fellas (left), on the same day, huddled under their umbrellas while waiting for rain to stop in Kansas City. What a bunch of pansies.


The baseball photo below is about a week old, but it may be my last chance this year to bring you a pic of a ballpark grounds crew. The photo shows members of the PNC Park crew clearing rain water following a sudden downpour during a Pirates game with the Arizona Diamondbacks.


You XM Radio subscribers out there who frequent or sometimes just scroll past the regional traffic/weather stations in the low 200s may have noticed a unique message on the Boston station Thursday. As you may know, the display screen for those channels offers weather messages such "Fair" or "Rainy" or "JAM ALERT" for, of course, traffic jams in that particular city. But on Thursday, the opening day of the Major League Baseball playoffs, and the first game between the Red Sox and Angels being played at Fenway Park, the Boston channel display read "Go Sox!"