The daylong rain that postponed Friday’s Cubs-Pittsburgh game and forced a doubleheader beginning at 12:25 p.m. Saturday means the Cubs could go to bed on Saturday night having clinched the National League Central Division title.
That’s because after Houston lost to Milwaukee 12-5 Friday night, the Cubs took a half-game lead into the final two days of the regular season. If they sweep the Pirates on Saturday and the Astros lose again, they will have a two-game lead with just one to play. It’s a good thing, too, since Florida wrapped up the wild card Friday.
Nevertheless, the postponement angered fans, wreaked havoc on the Cubs’ possible playoff rotation and nearly led to the unthinkable scenario of a critical Cubs home game blacked out in their hometown.
In short, Mother Nature created so much chaos on Friday she made all the previous disorder of this most bizarre season seem mild in comparison.
The decision to postpone a game normally belongs to the home club until the first pitch. Then the decision is up to the umpiring crew. During the last week of the season, however, it’s the umpires’ call, upon consultation with the two teams.
“There are a lot of things that can happen [Saturday],” Cubs manager Dusty Baker said. “We’d like to think more positive things will happen to us as opposed to negative things.”
Mark Prior is to face Pittsburgh’s Josh Fogg in Game 1 Saturday, followed by Matt Clement vs. Ryan Vogelsong. With the NL division series starting Tuesday, Prior wouldn’t be able to pitch in Game 2 of the playoffs unless he pitches on three days’ rest. The reason he originally was switched from Saturday to Friday was so he would be able to go in Game 2 on four days’ rest–if the Cubs made the playoffs.
Prior and Kerry Wood have said they wouldn’t mind pitching on three days’ rest, but Baker has been against it because he doesn’t want to risk the possibility of overextending the arms of his two aces and chancing injury. If Baker were to stick to that and the Cubs make the playoffs, he couldn’t use Prior until Game 3 Friday.
“Yeah, well, that’s how it was intended to be, I guess,” Baker said. “There’s nothing you can do about the weather.”
Carlos Zambrano’s struggles in his last two starts have the Cubs concerned about a tired arm. So with the possibility of a tiebreaker game against Houston on Monday, Baker may be forced to shuffle the deck and use Shawn Estes on Monday. Then, if the Cubs win, Juan Cruz could be the possible Game 1 starter on Tuesday. Until the rainout, it appeared doubtful Cruz would even make the postseason roster.
Everything is just speculation at this point, and the only certainty is the Cubs probably will have to make some crucial audibles over the next 48 hours.
The last time the Cubs swept a doubleheader from the Pirates at Wrigley Field was July 4, 1975, when Jim Marshall was manager and Jose Cardenal and Rick Monday roamed the outfield. The Cubs have played two doubleheaders this month, splitting both of them–against St. Louis on Sept. 2 and at Pittsburgh on Sept. 19.
“The old baseball saying is it’s hard to win a doubleheader and easy to lose one,” Cubs President Andy MacPhail said. “In the end, the numbers are what the numbers are. The team that makes the best pitches, gets the key hits, wins. And it is what it is.”
The Cubs will fall short of their goal of drawing 3 million fans this season and will lose about $1 million in gate receipts for the loss of one game, or about 40,000 tickets at an average price of around $25 per ticket. That’s why they resorted to day-night doubleheaders in 2002 rather than the traditional doubleheaders that give fans two games for the price of one. MacPhail said the Cubs could not schedule a day-night doubleheader Saturday because of the 1988 city ordinance allowing only 18 night games a season at Wrigley.
Many fans vented their anger outside the customer relations window at Wrigley Field when they learned they couldn’t trade in their Friday tickets for either Saturday or Sunday’s games because both are sold out.
“They’re either going to get cash back for their tickets or they’re going to get a ticket for next year, whatever they choose,” MacPhail said. “But that’s not what they want. What they want to see is a Cub game. I had a devil of a time trying to explain it to one guy.”
Most Cubs fans watch the games on TV and were relieved to learn Friday night that both games will be televised. The first game will be simulcast on WFLD-Ch. 32 and Fox Sports Net, with the second game on Fox Sports Net.
Double trouble
The Cubs might need a sweep Saturday, but the odds certainly are against it. In their 16 home doubleheaders in the past 10 years, the Cubs have swept just twice, splitting 10 times, and were swept four times. The breakdown:
YEAR DATE OPPONENT RESULT
2003 9/2 St. Louis split
2002 9/2 Milwaukee split
8/31 St. Louis lost both
5/21 Pittsburgh split
4/28 Los Angeles lost both
2001 4/18 Pittsburgh won both
2000 8/25 Los Angeles lost both
1999 9/7 Cincinnati split
1998 7/24 N.Y. Mets lost both
7/24 San Francisco split
1997 7/22 Atlanta split
7/9 Colorado won both
1996 9/27 Pittsburgh split
8/30 Atlanta split
6/18 Los Angeles split
1995 8/10 San Diego split
Source: Baseball-Reference.com
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