NEW YORK — There has never been a rain-shortened game in the postseason, and now there never will be.
Baseball commissioner Bud Selig announced the sport will enact a rules change stating that postseason games cannot be shortened because of bad weather.
“All postseason games, All-Star Games and that, will be full-length affairs, and the rule will be so written,” Selig said Thursday.
Selig said the change also will apply to tiebreaker games that decide division titles and wild-card berths.
“Any game that has significance for the postseason,” he said. “It will be very clear now.”
Under baseball’s rules, games are official as soon as the trailing team has made 15 outs.
During World Series Game 5 between Tampa Bay and Philadelphia last month, Selig decided that it wouldn’t be cut short because of rain. Just after the Rays tied it in the top of the sixth, umpires halted play and the game was suspended for 46 hours.
Selig said that if the Phillies still led 2-1 when play was stopped, the game would have gone into a rain delay until it could resume — even if that took several days.
Management lawyers will discuss the contemplated change with the players’ association.
“I expect that we will be having discussions with the commissioner’s office about that rule in the weeks to come,” union general counsel Michael Weiner said. “I don’t want to prejudge it one way or the other.”
Boss era ends.
George Steinbrenner’s colorful 35-year reign of pronouncements, threats and firings with the Yankees ended when he passed control of baseball’s most famous franchise to his youngest son, Hal.
The elder Steinbrenner has gradually withdrawn from the Yankees’ day-to-day operations in recent years as his health faded, and brothers Hal and Hank were appointed co-chairmen in April.
“I realize it’s a great responsibility,” said Hal Steinbrenner, who turns 40 on Dec. 3. “My dad is, needless to say, a tough act to follow.”
George Steinbrenner, now 78, headed a group that bought the club in January 1973 for an $8.7 million net price and became one of the most high-profile owners in all of sports. He dominated the back pages of New York’s tabloids, earning the nickname “The Boss” as he spent lavishly on players and changed managers 20 times during his first 23 years as owner, feuding with Billy Martin, Yogi Berra and Dave Winfield.
The Yankees regained their former glory, winning six World Series titles and 10 American League pennants from 1976-2003. They also transformed themselves into a sports empire that owns a cable television network and food concession company.
• Meanwhile, Hal Steinbrenner said free-agent pitcher CC Sabathia will have a deadline to accept the team’s contract proposal.
“We’ve made him an offer. It’s not going to be there forever,” he said.
• As expected, Yankees right-hander Mike Mussina retired after his only 20-win season and a month shy of his 40th birthday.
Mussina finished 270-153 with a 3.68 ERA in 18 seasons with Baltimore and New York.
Footnotes.
Three-time all-star Chase Utley, who anchored the middle of the lineup for the World Series champion Phillies, will have surgery and may not be ready for the start of the 2009 regular season.
Utley will have surgery next week to repair any bone or cartilage damage he may have in his right hip.
• The Cardinals are close to an agreement with left-handed reliever Trever Miller, 35, who was 2-0 with a 4.15 ERA and two saves in 68 games last season for the Rays.
The Associated Press
