Because now, we’re looking at the distinct possibility of playing doubleheaders both Saturday and Sunday at Citizens Bank Park. Fortunately, there’s plenty of TVs here in the pressbox to watch college football between likely rain delays.

Nothing like spending a nasty, gray, 14-hour day in a Philadelphia pressbox with ink-stained wretches from the City of Brotherly Cheesesteaks.

There already was a scheduled DH Saturday, as most of you know, a makeup of an earlier rainout. Now, they’re going to try to compress this four-game series into two days. And that just ain’t right. Man is not meant to sit through two doubleheaders in two days, and write state-edition deadline game stories after the opener of said doubleheaders, then combined two-game stories after the nightcaps.

The Phillies want to get three gates out of four games _ like every other team would, sad to say; money rules such decisions _ it means one of the doubleheaders must be a split (separate admission for each game) doubleheader.

In other words, they’re not going to sacrifice two games which is what would happen if they played old-school straight doubleheaders both days, charging one admission for each pair of games.

Officially, they’re going to try for a split DH at 1 p.m and 7 p.m. Saturday, in which case they could then play a straight DH starting at 1 p.m. Sunday.

But if weather’s as bad as forecast calls for Saturday morning, the Phillies can only hope it’s out by early afternoon and then they could play a straight DH tomorrow beginning probably around 5 p.m.

In that scenario, the teams would then have to play a split DH Sunday, again at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.

Here’s the pertinent pitching info: Villarreal and Davies, in that order, are scheduled to start Saturday against Phillies’ Jon Lieber (6-9, 5.09) and RHP Scott Mathieson (1-4, 7.23).

Sunday, Braves plan to start Hudson and Cormier, in that order, against LHP Jamie Moyer (7-13, 4.50) and someone to be named tomorrow.

This is all by-the-seat-of-their-pants to a certain degree, because everything hinges on weather. If they only get three games in, Braves would come back here to play Sept. 25 on an off day after series in Colorado.

The Braves obviously don’t want to do that, and they’re in luck because MLB always wants teams to try to get games in as soon as possible _ simply because you never know what’ll happen between now and Sept. 25.

If either or both team has another rainout, they might need that date to make it up.

Long story short: We’re gonna be out here a LONG time Saturday and Sunday.

Oh, and Daryle Ward wasn’t here this afternoon, but his new unis arrived, and they’re almost as big as Wickman. “He’s a big boy,” Brian Jordan said of one-time Dodgers teammate Ward, who was stuck in traffic somewhere between here and D.C. in the storm this afternoon.

Permalink | Comments (492) | Post your comment |

Advertise here »