PHILADELPHIA — Sometime after Ryan Howard struck out and Jimmy Rollins went down looking last week at Tropicana Field, my cellphone vibrated.
It was a Rockies player feeling a bit vindicated. The Rockies were nothing but a prop for the Boston Red Sox in the 2007 World Series, beaten by a better team and also sabotaged by a record eight-day layoff.
The player’s point: Guess long rests before the most important games of the year really do hurt, huh?
Just like the too-idle Tigers and Rockies before them, the Phillies’ offense stinks, their timing disrupted. That explains why commissioner Bud Selig is considering eliminating some of the travel off days to make the postseason shorter.
“We are going to look at it,” Selig told me Saturday night. “It’s complicated, there’s a lot of things involved.”
The World Series schedule is set in advance to maximize TV ratings. There are two off days built in even if the league championship series go seven games. Lopsided series have left teams like the Rockies, Tigers and Cardinals waiting around roughly a week to play, something that never happens in the regular season.
With apologies to their opponents, the layoff contributed to their poor offensive performances. The Tigers batted .199, the Rockies hit .218, and the Phillies entered soggy Saturday with a .239 average and just one hit in 28 attempts with runners in scoring position.
The idea of eliminating off days by expanding the division series from five to seven games was rejected out of hand.
“That would exacerbate the problem because you still might need travel days,” Selig said. “We are looking to reduce the number of days, not make this any longer. I think the five-game series is very fair.”
Footnotes.
Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols won the Roberto Clemente Award for his contributions off the field with his charitable foundation. Pujols and his wife have a daughter with Down syndrome and have raised millions to help afflicted kids. “I remember as a boy that my father wouldn’t eat sometimes, giving his food to others,” Pujols said. “It was a great example he set.” Pujols, the favorite to win MVP honors in the NL, recently had elbow surgery to fix a nerve problem. . . . Sandy Alomar Sr. has accepted the Mets’ offer to return to their coaching staff, eliminating him as a possible candidate for any vacancies with the Rockies. . . . Selig, who regularly consults four meteorologists, said the weather patterns influenced his decision to wait out the rain Saturday. “I don’t think the people here wanted us to call it off. They have been out there since 3 p.m. tailgating.” Selig claimed the TV ratings show that the number of people watching increases as the night goes on. . . . Saturday starter Jamie Moyer almost never made this moment. The Cubs thought so little of his future, they offered him a coaching position in 1993. “You never know what you can accomplish unless you try. I wasn’t ready to quit playing,” Moyer said.
