MLB Playoffs 08

[ollie]

When did MLB get so lax on letting games go during the rain?

Stop the press!

We know have final proof that there is such a thing as a "dumb question".

Show me how that's a dumb question.

[Booche]

Wow.

[ollie]

Nice bluff.

[Booche]

[color:purple]Yes, it was a very smart question.

[AD]

While Phillies players got to stay at home, the Rays had checked out of their Philadelphia hotel Monday and wound up at the 97-year-old Hotel du Pont in Wilmington, Del. While some players spent the day at the hotel, others went to a mall.

"What's there to do in Delaware?" reliever J.P. Howell said. "We're nervous to go outside. This isn't our territory."

WILMINGTON, Del. - J.P. Howell woke up Tuesday morning, looked out the window of his hotel room and wondered aloud: "Now, where am I?"

Like many of his teammates, the Tampa Bay Rays reliever had never been to Delaware before Game 5 of the World Series was suspended because of rain. The AL champions settled into the Hotel du Pont in downtown Wilmington after they were unable to return to their hotel in Philadelphia.

The du Pont, which opened in 1911, lists among its one-time guests eight U.S. presidents, Gen. Douglas MacArthur, aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart and a number of big-name athletes, including Jesse Owens and Pete Rose.

Now, the Rays have stayed here.

"This place in awesome," Howell said. "Our season could be over and we'd be back in Tampa right now. But we're still playing and here we are in Delaware. It's unusual, but it's kind of cool."

The Rays trail the series three games to one, but feel rejuvenated after rallying from a two-run deficit to tie Monday night's game 2-2 before play was stopped in the middle of the sixth inning.

More rain and windy, cold weather prevented the game from resuming Tuesday. The Rays and Phillies hope for better conditions Wednesday, when the Series again is scheduled to pick up in the bottom of the sixth.

"It hasn't been a conventional World Series. It's been a little different. It goes along with our season," Rays rookie pitcher David Price said. "It's kind of what we've been dealing with all year. You don't expect everything to be perfect. You expect some bumps in the road, and that's what we're getting."

How the Rays wound up in Wilmington, the home of a class-A Carolina League team, is an interesting story itself.

Travelling secretary Jeff Ziegler called 21 hotels before finally finding one that could accommodate his last-minute request for 100 rooms.

One woman who answered the phone at another Wilmington hotel thought he was joking, but offered to check room availability throughout the city after she turned on the television and saw poor weather indeed was threatening the game.

"She came back to the phone and said the only place you're going to find that many rooms is the du Pont," Ziegler said. "She said it's a great hotel, you're really going to like it. A little pricey, but it's really a nice place."

Even the people at the du Pont initially weren't sure Ziegler was who he said he was.

"I called and the girl who answered the phone said: 'I think I've got a prank call,"' he said. "I could hear her say it, and I said, 'I'm dead serious. If you'll turn the TV on you'll see what I mean."'

Some players spent much of the day sitting in their rooms resting, watching TV or visiting with family and friends. Others went shopping at the mall and set out looking for places to eat lunch and dinner.

Reliever Grant Balfour got a "good burger at the tavern down the street."

Bench coach Dave Martinez went off to get dry clothes for his children because they got soaked in the steady rain Monday night.

Maddon planned to rent a car and drive back to Philadelphia to see his kids, who were staying at his niece's house.

"It's the perfect weather to sit down with some nice hot chocolate and some coffee, spend cozy time with your family," slugger Carlos Pena said. "This is actually something we're going to use to our advantage and really try to refuel."

Howell joked that he hadn't done much of anything.

"What's there to do in Delaware?" he said. "We're nervous to go outside. This isn't our territory."

Maddon said the du Pont is one of the nicest hotels the team has stayed in all year.

"If you're going to have to have a postponement, you might as well stay here," the manager said during a conference call.

Ziegler said the Rays wound up needing about 85 rooms, which was good because the du Pont had 90 available. He initially asked for 100 because he didn't have time to sit down and figure out exactly how many he'd need for the Rays' travel party of 170.

The former police officer, who has been Tampa Bay's director of travel for 10 years, was watching the game from the clubhouse at Citizen Bank Park and began frantically making calls in the fifth inning when he realized puddles were forming in the infield.

"I knew it was not going to end well, so I started looking at what my options might be, knowing downtown Philadelphia probably wasn't going to be one of them," Ziegler said.

"I went through the motions just to make sure, then I started looking in a bigger radius outside the city, and eventually went to 50 miles (80 kilometres) outside the city."

Maddon credited Ziegler with keeping everything organized "in spite of all the chaos in front of us."

"They did a tremendous job of pulling it off," Maddon said. "Everybody was milling around the hotel lobby, which is a magnificent lobby, waiting patiently for their keys. The bags were already here. They did a great job of getting the bags off the plane and they were here when we arrived."

In the morning, Maddon went down to the lobby for coffee and ran into plenty of familiar faces.

"There were a bunch of Rays folks down there having a good time. Families together and a bunch of kids still with us. I don't know, it was one of those moments when the organization comes together," he said.

"We haven't got out in the town yet. Obviously, that would be very difficult. The weather is kind of nasty here, too - but great place. People have treated us wonderfully, and again, we'll get out and walk around a bit if the wind dies down."

As far as returning to the field, Maddon declined to discuss much strategy. He reiterated that he'll stick with relievers the rest of the way in Game 5 rather than pitch rested starter James Shields.

Right-hander Grant Balfour is in the game for the Rays, but he could be removed right away when the Phillies send up a pinch hitter for ace Cole Hamels to begin the bottom of the sixth.

Tampa Bay rallied to tie it in the top half before the game was suspended, and Maddon thinks the wait might help his team.

"Of course, their bullpen has been magnificent, also. So it's not going to be an easy task," he said. "I think us coming back like we did and sitting on it for a day or two possibly could weigh in our favour a little bit. I'm not sure yet. But I think the most important part of it is that both bullpens are rested. There's no telling what's going to happen at this point."

[Thorgnor]

Boo-yaaa!!

Phillies!!

ps.should have replayed the whole 9 though.

[Hal Johnson]

Yup, congrats to the Phillies, they definitely earned it. We should watch what happens in Philladelphia tonight, cuz I imagine it will be much the same as when the Leafs win a cup.

On Chase Utley's play:

The commentators are wrong on this one. What Chase Utley did was what anyone would do. He fielded the ball and went to make the throw to first. When he noticed he had no play, he wisely held on to the ball. Big whoop. Then he noticed the Tampa runner rounding third and gently (he had the guy by a mile) tossed the ball to home as anyone in their right mind would do in the same situation. He didnt, however, "Fake the throw to first" in order to fool the Tampa runner into running for home, as the announcers would have you believe. "People will be talking about Chase Utley and this amazing play for long time," they said. Yes, they will, but they should really be talking about the bonehead coach who sent the runner, not Utley who was just playing his position.

[TheSloth]

Aw, Phillie fans, God bless them.

[ollie]

I would like to see any of these 3 teams win it all, in order: Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay, Milwaukee.

That means you should probably bet against these teams.

[Hal Johnson]

hehehehe...good call Ollie.

[Schwa.]

Philly fans got nothing on this Tampa guy

[TheSloth]

Oh my god.

[c-towns]

Ha, Rome was all over that bottle to the head video yesterday.

[Booche]

Oh.My.God.

That dude got clunked.