MLB Executive Vice President Joe Torre talks about rain delay conference call
Major League Baseball (MLB) announced on Wednesday, October 26, that Game 6 of the World Series, scheduled to be played at the Busch Stadium, would be delayed to Thursday, following a forecast of rain for the day. MLB Executive Vice President Joe Torre talked
about the conference call that conveyed the news to the managers and the press, after discussions ensued over the matter for an hour on the phone.
The Texas Rangers were hoping to end the Series in Game 6 with another win over the St. Louis Cardinals. They will now have to hold their ambitions for another day as the two clubs go into the game on Thursday to either prolong or end the series. The Cards
need two straight wins to lift the ultimate trophy.
Joe Torre, former manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, spoke to the press about the conference call that involved him, MLB Commissioner Bud Selig and MLB's senior VP of baseball operations Peter Woodfork. The three men were responsible for handing the delay
decision. Executives from the two teams were invited to take part in the discussion but they were excluded from the decision making process.
"It was a conversation about whether you want to play in rain," Torre said. "I think everybody pretty much was in agreement with the fact that because of all the forecasting ... we just didn't want to take a chance. We anticipate it's going to rain. If it
doesn't rain, you made the decision on what you knew.
"If the forecast wasn't as good for [Thursday] and Friday, chances are, we'd probably wait a little longer [to come to a decision]."
Due to suspension rules from 2009, both teams feared playing a game for a no result as rain would possibly cancel the encounter. The decision however reflects that both teams can relax for an extra. The Cards manager Tony La Russa however pointed out that
there was no way of knowing how Game 6 would play out.
"We don't know how Game 6 is going to go," La Russa said. "So we're just going to play Game 6."
The Rangers need to win just one more game to lift the title. If they cannot do that on Thursday, Game 7 will be played on Friday.
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