Hurricane Ike: Cubs vs. Houston in Milwaukee for 2 games

[anabiono]

I've read a few places that part of the reason they aren't beginning the series tomorrow somewhere at a neutral site is that the Astros didn't want to leave their families behind during a hurricane.

 

That makes sense to me as aggravating as it can be to the Cubs.

 

That makes sense, but trying to fly another team into the city to play does not.

 

What's the status of Houston? I would hope that a major league organization could assist in arranging transportation and accommodations for families as well as players if evacuation is urged.

 

totally agree...we aren't talking some college series here, this is professional baseball...surely they can arrange to get their families out of there...probably should have already started doing it...or maybe they are all just hard-headed and riding it out together...whatever...things will be as they will be and it will all work out alright

[Butterscup1679666578]

So we went from an off day on Monday to a DH? [expletive].

[Jehrico]

I'd rather the games get rescheduled even later than that, so lets hope Ike lingers. Stros are red hot, hitting on all cylinders, while we're not playing our best ball right now. Putting the games off until as late as possible works to our advantage, I think.

[Schwarber Fan]

Thank Soto the Tuesday game is at night, or else this would be ridiculously unfair to the Cubs (well, more than it already is).

 

Hopefully one of the 2 DH games are on WGN.

[rawaction]

I think I'd rather play the 2 on Monday over 2 Sunday and 1 more on Monday, because the game on 9/29 will not be needed. It also gives Zambrano a couple extra days.

 

If they play 2 Sunday, I'd go:

 

9-14 Marquis/Marshall

9-15 Dempster

9-16 Lilly

9-17 Harden

9-18 Zambrano

9-19 Marquis.....

 

If they play 2 on Monday, I'd go:

 

9-15 Marquis/Zambrano

9-16 Dempster

9-17 Lilly

9-18 Harden

9-19 Marshall

9-20 Marquis

9-21 Zambrano.....

[Soul]

Just give me one win against these guys. I'm not going to be greedy about this one. The Crew aren't going to steamroll the Phils in their last 3, I think.

 

1 win. I don't care which game.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

I've read a few places that part of the reason they aren't beginning the series tomorrow somewhere at a neutral site is that the Astros didn't want to leave their families behind during a hurricane.

 

That makes sense to me as aggravating as it can be to the Cubs.

 

That makes sense, but trying to fly another team into the city to play does not.

 

What's the status of Houston? I would hope that a major league organization could assist in arranging transportation and accommodations for families as well as players if evacuation is urged.

 

totally agree...we aren't talking some college series here, this is professional baseball...surely they can arrange to get their families out of there...probably should have already started doing it...or maybe they are all just hard-headed and riding it out together...whatever...things will be as they will be and it will all work out alright

 

It's not getting the families out that is the concern. Most of Houston proper has been told not to evacuate. This is partially because it would be logisitically impossible to evacuate 4+ million people which would be the case if the enitre metropolitan area of Houston tried to get out. Thye focused evacuations on the low lying coastal areas. It's very possible that many of the families are going to attempt to ride out the storm, and it is quite possible that the Houston players want to be there with their families.

 

I fully understand why the Cubs didn't want to go into town ahead of the storm, but I can also see why the Astros players didn't want to leave town with the uncertainty of the storm coming.

 

A DH on Monday could be an inconvenience, but it's the Astros perogative to play their home games at home if possible. I think if a bad storm rained out three September Cubs home games, I doubt we Cub fans would want those games moved to another park if there was a chance to play them at home and I doubt the Cubs organization would easily agree to move them either.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

Houston is still on target for a direct hit. I doubt these games are played Monday, and furthermore, I doubt the Texans get to play their game on Monday either.

 

http://blogs.chron.com/sciguy/archives/sloshguidance091208a.gif

 

http://blogs.chron.com/sciguy/archives/WindSpd11_hgx.jpg

 

http://www.chron.com/weather/stormpulse-ike.html

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

According to this article, several possibilities are still being considered.

 

Link.

 

The Astros are still considering multiple possibilities to make up those games, but owner Drayton McLane would prefer to have those games at Minute Maid Park either Sunday and Monday or after Sept. 28, which is the date of the season finale.

 

 

So, it appears that if the games cannot be played in Houston on either Sunday or Monday, which I find highly unlikely, the games would be made up at the end of the season if needed.

[C.C.]

According to this article, several possibilities are still being considered.

 

Link.

 

The Astros are still considering multiple possibilities to make up those games, but owner Drayton McLane would prefer to have those games at Minute Maid Park either Sunday and Monday or after Sept. 28, which is the date of the season finale.

 

 

So, it appears that if the games cannot be played in Houston on either Sunday or Monday, which I find highly unlikely, the games would be made up at the end of the season if needed.

 

 

fine by me.

[vance_the_cubs_fan]

That same article had this to say...

 

The Cubs had hoped the potentially crucial series could be moved to a neutral site, and they made their displeasure clear to the Astros, the commissioner’s office, the union and to the media.

 

“It wasn’t the Cubs’ unilateral decision not to come,” Astros general manager Ed Wade said. “This was a process, conversations that had been taking place over the better part of 24 hours at this point with regard to what was going to happen. Everybody’s looking at the same weather data and trying to look at the schedule and trying to determine what the right thing to do is.

 

“The Cubs had very strong feelings about what they felt was appropriate and everybody got on the same page and everybody is comfortable with the announcement.”

 

McLane and the Astros’ players, who are making a strong push to win the National League wild card, prefer to have those games in front of their fans.

 

“The first thing we heard was the Cubs wanted us to fly to Milwaukee to play,” said Astros infielder Mark Loretta, one of only two National League player representatives.

 

“We didn’t think that was a very good idea to try to evacuate our families and take off and leave them behind and all that stuff. I think that was quickly nixed.

 

“Milwaukee came up for some reason. Of course, Milwaukee is kind of a Cubs home game.”

 

Both clubs are scheduled to be off Monday, so one game could possibly be made up before the Cubs fly to play the Brewers and the Astros fly to play the Florida Marlins.

[UMFan83]

According to this article, several possibilities are still being considered.

 

Link.

 

The Astros are still considering multiple possibilities to make up those games, but owner Drayton McLane would prefer to have those games at Minute Maid Park either Sunday and Monday or after Sept. 28, which is the date of the season finale.

 

 

So, it appears that if the games cannot be played in Houston on either Sunday or Monday, which I find highly unlikely, the games would be made up at the end of the season if needed.

 

Great have fun playing the Iowa Cubs. Sorry Brewers.

[SouthSideRyan]

So we gotta be up by 2.5 after that last game.

 

I hope the Astros are out of it by then too and McClane misses out on the entire gate.

 

EDIT: Thinking about this now, it's really important that these games are meaningless and not be made up, otherwise our first round opponent can set their rotation even if they have to play down to the last day of the season.

 

You simply can not add 3 games on the end of the schedule, not when you have legit alternative options.

[jersey cubs fan]

According to this article, several possibilities are still being considered.

 

Link.

 

The Astros are still considering multiple possibilities to make up those games, but owner Drayton McLane would prefer to have those games at Minute Maid Park either Sunday and Monday or after Sept. 28, which is the date of the season finale.

 

 

So, it appears that if the games cannot be played in Houston on either Sunday or Monday, which I find highly unlikely, the games would be made up at the end of the season if needed.

 

Great have fun playing the Iowa Cubs. Sorry Brewers.

 

Here's the problem though, if they have to play 3 games after the season and the Cubs have already clinched, sure the Cubs would rest the regulars. However, you still need 3 starting pitchers, and probably several relievers. You can't expect anybody likely to make the postseason roster to pitch more than an inning or two. Marshall probably can't be a starter then. You'd need to go with Wells, Hart, Howry, and maybe a couple others. They only have 5 OF on the roster right now, 4 of which are regulars. So you'd probably start Pie, but then you'd need Fuld up as well, then Hoffpauier. Ward, Fontenot, Cedeno and McGahee across the infield, with Hill and Blanco catching. But you'd be asking these guys to play 3 games in 2 days, and at any point somebody could be hurt and force you to use a regular player.

 

Anyway, for the Cubs sake, they better hope they play at least one game against Houston this weekend, and probably two. Playing one meaningless game after the regular season would not matter, but playing multiple, or god forbid playing ones that matter, would absolutely suck.

[kujay]

Yeah, they need to get at least one of these games in. I don't care where.

 

If the hurricane passes through and Houston is in bad shape, then move the games elsewhere for Sunday and Monday and get on with it.

[GoCubsGo1679625768]

Pathetic. Total lack of planning by MLB. Edited September 12, 2008 by GoCubsGo!!

[hardcorecubfan]

Houston is still on target for a direct hit. I doubt these games are played Monday, and furthermore, I doubt the Texans get to play their game on Monday either.

 

http://blogs.chron.com/sciguy/archives/sloshguidance091208a.gif

 

http://blogs.chron.com/sciguy/archives/WindSpd11_hgx.jpg

 

http://www.chron.com/weather/stormpulse-ike.html

 

Texans could be rained out tonight, with the system that just passed us in the North

[Laura]

A DH on Monday could be an inconvenience, but it's the Astros perogative to play their home games at home if possible. I think if a bad storm rained out three September Cubs home games, I doubt we Cub fans would want those games moved to another park if there was a chance to play them at home and I doubt the Cubs organization would easily agree to move them either.

 

That's why there is a commissioner's office that is supposed to weigh the best interests of baseball above the competitive concerns of individual teams and force those tough decisions. If these games end up being appended to the end of the season, that has the potential to impact the final national league standings across the board.

 

As a Cubs fan, I'll be furious if they finish with the best NL record, but some of the advantages that the best record is supposed to convey are negated because these games had to be played after the regular season.

[kujay]

Pathetic. Total lack of planning my MLB.

 

That's the moral of this story.

[hardcorecubfan]

Anybody have faith in the rookies we called up for a start?

[Warren Brusstar]

I'd rather the games get rescheduled even later than that, so lets hope Ike lingers. Stros are red hot, hitting on all cylinders, while we're not playing our best ball right now. Putting the games off until as late as possible works to our advantage, I think.

 

I'm utterly astounded that people think delaying these games past Monday is a good idea. There are no more offdays on the schedule. So the ONLY scenario is that they are made up after the regular season ends. If we haven't clinched by then, it would totally and completely screw up our postseason rotation -- the only thing that really matters.

 

Moreover, the reasoning for this -- that the Astros are hot and the Cubs are not -- is absurd. We're scheduled to throw Marquis, Z, and Dempster against Jack Cassell, Alberto Arias, and Randy Wolf. If the games are made up at the end of the year and they are meaningful, you can be damn sure we'll see Oswalt.

[ctcf]

So they really aren't going to move these?

[UMFan83]

I don't expect those games to be meaningful. All we have to do is play up to 4 games worse than the Brewers over our remaining 13 games (17 for the Brewers)

[jersey cubs fan]

I don't expect those games to be meaningful. All we have to do is play up to 4 games worse than the Brewers over our remaining 13 games (17 for the Brewers)

 

But if they have to play all three, there will still be guys forced to play when rest would be preferred.

[anabiono]

when does the NLDS start?