Is There A Game?

I have, for many years, kept a Mets pocket schedule pinned above my desk at work. I did it at my old job and now I have done it at my new job, just so I always know if and when there's a game on any given day.

I was dubious all morning, given the absurd amount of rain falling in New York (likely the same rain that had come up from Philadelphia), that the Mets and Phillies would even play today...or was it tonight...I wasn't quite sure. I sort of took for granted that it was a night game, but with this being a 2-game series and the whole getaway day and cross-country trip to Colorado, one can never be too sure. I suppose I could have solved all that by just looking at the schedule pinned above my desk, but I didn't bother to do so. Then, at some point early in the afternoon, I got a buzz on my phone from ESPN's ScoreCenter announcing in block letters "THIS GAME HAS BEEN POSTPONED DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER ETC ETC ETC..." I figured, since the alert came at around 1pm, that it must have been a day game. I figured I was wrong about the time of the game. Only at this point did I bother to look at my schedule to see that it was, in fact, a night game, and the good people of Philadelphia actually wised up and decided to head things off at the pass and spare people from having to show up to Mike Schmidt's Moustache Stadium Citizens Bank Park for no reason. If it were the Mets, who seem to have a very odd way of showing how much they care for their fan base, they probably would have stood around shrugging their shoulders and opened the gates at 4:30 just so they could sell a few Shackburgers before calling the game around 8pm, because everybody loves making the trek out to Flushing for no apparent reason.

Bottom line is, the game was at night, but it was apparent all day that there was no way in hell they were playing baseball tonight in Philadelphia, or New York, or basically anywhere on the East Coast, so the will-they-or-won't-they drama was basically spared very early in the day. Of course, these rained out games must be rescheduled, and generally they're done so as the ever popular Day-Night Doubleheader that you all know I love so much. I was expecting that this is what the Phillies would do, on some random Saturday in July, but they surprised me by scheduling the game on a random Monday afternoon in June when both teams were off. Last season, these mutual off-days were sucked up by a spate of early season rain/snow/horrible-outs, meaning the Mets had to do things like fly from San Diego to New York by way of Minneapolis. At least Philadelphia is closer to home. And at least the Mets aren't making a trip out to Colorado until May 1st, although the weather in Denver has been known for being unpredictable. So, hopefully this 4-game trip will be the only time they have to go there this season. These random 1-game trips are the sort of thing you really want to avoid piling up.