The Back Story: The Issues Involved in Rangers Rain Delay, Postponement and Rescheduling

The Rangers didn’t throw a pitch Friday. It didn’t stop them from employing a game’s worth of strategy, however.

Dealing with a rain delay – and ultimately a postponement – this late in the season is no easy task.

There were so many factors to consider on Friday night, perhaps the least of which was a radar screen decorated with Christmas colors (green for light showers, red for heavier storms). When the rain started falling at about 6:30, a half-hour before the Rangers and Mariners were scheduled to play the first of three games over the weekend, the radar showed a system moving in an unusual direction. Rain was approaching Arlington from the Southeast in an arcing pattern coming up from the Gulf of Mexico. Typically, rain approaches the park from the West. Behind the line of showers, there appeared to be a significant span of clear weather, at least enough to play five innings. So the Rangers decided to wait.

Well, it’s not like they had any other attractive options.

That’s because of the other factors. To wit:

• The schedule: The weather forecast isn’t favorable for scheduling a doubleheader on Saturday. Hey, it’s not real favorable for playing a single game, either. This is the Mariners last trip into Arlington this season and with the teams having no common off days remaining, playing a doubleheader this weekend was the only feasible option. Scheduling a single game for the day after the regular season ends is not feasible since the Rangers could be looking at a one-game playoff for the final spot in the playoffs.

• TV: There are national TV “windows” today and Sunday. Had the Rangers tried to play a doubleheader today, they would have had to schedule the first game at 6 p.m. or later or join the broadcast already in-progress so as not to interfere with FOX’s national broadcast window. On Sunday, they’d have to schedule the doubleheader in such a manner that the second game was not likely to start after 4 p.m. because ESPN has an evening broadcast window. Of course, the Rangers could just not televise one of the two games. The fallout: They’d probably lose significant dollars for not fulfilling their contracted number for telecasts with Fox Sports Net. You think this team can afford to lose dollars right now? Even without a terrible forecast, the more attractive option was to start earlier on Sunday in order to fit both games into the broadcast window. Even if Sunday’s second game runs long, it won’t be pre-empted. Once the game starts, you don’t have to worry about losing the broadcast.

• The pennant race: If the three games don’t get played this weekend, you can bet they will still get played. In Seattle. Over the final three days of the season. The last thing the Rangers can afford to do, both competitively and financially, is play fewer games at home than the schedule calls for. But if tonight’s game gets rained out – the chance of precipitation does not dip below 60 percent today; below 40 percent on Sunday – the Rangers will indeed be playing at least 82 games on the road. Umpiring crew chief Gary Cederstrom, very aware of the implications of a lost home game on the playoff race, was quite amenable to whatever the club thought best to get as many games as possible in this weekend. That’s the game wasn’t called until 9:35, two and a half hours after the scheduled start time.

So, that’s what the Rangers were faced with on Friday. Well, that and a larger-than-usual expected crowd because of fireworks. Those, too, also had to be moved. They will light up the sky on Sept. 26 after the game against Tampa Bay.

The Rangers are faced with nearly identical circumstances tonight. Except that things get even tighter. Another lengthy pre-game delay might push the start back to nine or later. The teams are supposed to play two tomorrow starting at 12:35. The Rangers had a tough enough task earlier this week playing three games in 19 hours in Cleveland; another delay tonight and they are looking at playing three in 16 or 17 hours.

Or playing more games on the road than at home.

Moral of the story: Be prepared to wait this evening. It’s the only alternative.