ST. LOUIS — Mist began to fall on Busch Stadium around 4:30 p.m. Central Standard Time today. By then, a tarp covered the diamond and the World Series had been delayed a day. Officials from Major League Baseball elected to postpone Game 6 between the St. Louis Cardinals and Texas Rangers until Thursday night, due to a combination of pleasant forecasts in the coming days and the league’s fear of seeing an elimination game delayed by inclement weather.
“Every forecast we’ve had probably for the last three days or so — and we get them hourly now — is calling for precipitation during the game,” said Joe Torre, the former Yankees manager who serves as a vice president in commissioner Bud Selig’s office.
The deciding game of the 2008 World Series, played between Philadelphia and Tampa Bay, was interrupted by bad weather. League officials wanted to guard against a repeat of history. St. Louis manager Tony La Russa and Texas skipper Ron Washington indicated baseball officials did not consult them about the decision, though neither offered much of a protest.
With his franchise one victory away from its first world championship, Washington said: “I want to play. But I understand the situation.”
After being flayed for a series of mix-ups in Game 5, La Russa joked that on a day off, “I can’t do anything wrong. Could run a stoplight or something.”
The Cardinals trail in this series, 3-2. They are a proud, resilient team, one that culled much from their late-season charge to snatch the wild-card spot from the reeling Atlanta Braves. Now, once more, their season is on the brink.
“Are we in bad shape, a bad situation? Of course,” first baseman Albert Pujols said. “We know that. There’s no tomorrow for us. But we just need to come out, and push this to Game 7.”
Besides the gift of extra rest, the day off also adds a bit of intrigue back into the coming pitching matchups. If St. Louis forces a Game 7, their ace, Chris Carpenter, has told La Russa he would be ready to pitch. It would be his second appearance this October on short rest. Carpenter struggled in Game 2 of the National League Division Series working on three days of rest.