NO STOPPING REDS-BREWERS
MILWAUKEE – In a decision that was another travesty for the game, Major League Baseball elected to start last night’s game between the Reds and Brewers on a soggy County Stadium field after a rain delay of nearly six hours.
Even though the Reds didn’t want to play under such conditions, they certainly didn’t want to pass up the chance to take a whack at Cal Eldred. That was like a free pass to a playoff game with the Mets today to decide the NL wild card. A win would have put the Reds in a dead-heat tie with the Mets at 96-66, winner take all in one game.
The Reds would start Steve Parris against Al Leiter. Parris is 0-2 lifetime against the Mets and has surrendered 14 runs in 17 innings. The Reds are 1-1 against Leiter this season. They own a 27-16 edge against lefties this year and are 10-10 at home against left-handers.
The starting time of that game was pushed back to 7:05 to give the Reds a chance to rebound from last night’s late start. This game stared at 9:52 Eastern time.
This affair was scheduled to start at 4:05 but the first pitch wasn’t until after a delay of five hours and 47 minutes. Game-time temperature was 45 degrees and there were about 350 fans in the park. The game was originally a sellout so about 50,000 fans knew to get out of the rain.
In the first inning, Reds rightfielder Dimitri Young did his Shamu imitation falling into the slush along right field. In the top of the second a single to right by Eddie Taubensee landed in the water in right, creating a big splash.
On Saturday Pete Harnisch, last night’s Cincy starter, admitted the Reds had put themselves in a tough spot with their second straight loss to the lowly Brewers. It turns out, not only tough, but cold and wet. County Stadium was more like the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field than a baseball park.
Houston’s 9-4 victory over the Dodgers’ AAA-team gave the Astros the Central Division crown yesterday while the Mets qualified for at least a wild-card playoff game with their 2-1 victory over the Pirates, their biggest win of the ’90s.
The cold rain started here at 10 a.m. and did not let up one bit until just before 10 p.m.
An hour after the scheduled starting time of 4:15, Reds manager Jack McKeon walked out of the dugout and sloshed his way out to the left-field warning track. There were huge puddles ringing the outfield. At one spot in right-center, the puddles were so large that rivulets of trash floated through the area. McKeon came out for another visit at 9:17 with umpire Dana DeMuth and the field was a quagmire, but the decision was made to play as McKeon animatedly protested
And pity the poor fans who were forced to sit through the rain and the cold. This game was a sellout because it was originally the closing date of County Stadium. The crane accident that took three lives pushed back the opening of Miller Park until 2001 so County Stadium will be the Brewers home next season as well.
In addition to the rain, the temperature was dropping during the day and night into the low-40s. The Reds did not have centerfielder Mike Cameron, due to a hamstring injury suffered Saturday and Michael Tucker started in his place.
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