THE BOOK--Playing The Percentages In Baseball

There’s no option for whenever. I don’t care when they start a game after a rain delay. If the game starts under rain delay I’m leaving even if they think it will start in 20 or 30 minutes. I hate rain outs a lot more than I hate rain delays.

I can’t believe they started the Sox/Yanks so late last night. Crazy. Luckily I made it to the 7th though…

Does this question presume that I am attending this game in person?  If not, then any starting time at all is fine for me, the later the better in some ways.

how late are they serving beer and do i have work the next day?

After 23 votes, one-third say 90 minute delay or less, one-third say 150 minute delay or more, and one third is at two hours.

Seems to me the rule should be 120 minutes…

My vote for 23:00 was a vote for ‘whenever’.

I presumed that anyone willing to wait 4 hours is willing to wait indefinitely and are not looking at the clock.

I attened a Tigers-Yankees game a few years back in Detroit that began at 23:00 due to rain. The Tigers finally won at 3:30 AM with a walk-off homer in the 11th inning off the bat of Carlos Guillen.

Best game I ever went to.

I voted for 21:30. Can’t imagine people staying longer than 2.5 hours.

Great excuse for my favorite rain delay story. Last year I attended a Pirate game that was scheduled for a 7pm start. After a 2.5 - 3 hour rain delay, there must have been less than 500 people in attendance for the start of the game. Typically I would have left, but I was entertaining a couple of friends from out of town and we had plenty of old times to catch up on and they were determined to take advantage of their 1 chance to catch a game at PNC Park.

Anyway, we had peanut heaven seats for the game so we decided to upgrade just a little and move down from the upper deck to the back of the lower bowl. We were in these seats (and they were in no way ‘premium seats’ ) less than a minute before an usher rushes up to us and asks for our tickets. Of course we immediately fess up that we were supposed to be upstairs, but since the stadium was empty we thought we could move down a bit closer to the field. The usher, in a voice that does not mirror the politeness with which I had just spoken to him, explains that we can either go back to our section or be escorted out of the park by security and face trespassing charges. I must repeat, these were NOT in any way premium seats, we were not sitting in a private area, and we were no where near the field of play. I was incredulous that not only were we not allowed to move to reasonably better seats even though the stadium was empty, but we were threatened with charges for doing so. IMHO, they should have used the PA system to invite everyone left at the game to move down to the box seats!

Of course we simply went back to our original seats. But it sure left a sour taste and I haven’t been back since.

Once 50% of people leave, doesn’t that signal that perhaps the policy requires changing?

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Of course if 90% of people leave, they should invite everyone to sit together.  The main point of going to the park is for the communal experience of it.

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I can’t imagine a team not offering a “rain delay” rebate offer of getting at least 50% off the price on a future ticket (if not 100% off).  If that’s the case, what’s the point of starting a game 4 hours late?

My worst rain story occurred during a 2003 game at PNC Park against the Red Sox that was supposed to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first World Series.  My group and I waited for about 2.5 hours without seeing a single pitch, and then they cancelled the game.  I’m willing to sit through a rain delay as long as I actually get to see a game!  Perhaps the worst part of it was that, even though we got to turn in our tickets for future tickets to a game of our choice, so could the thousands of people with tickets who went home and did not put up with the rain like we did.  I felt like we deserved something extra for putting up with the rain (and patronizing their concessions!) without seeing a pitch.

I used to not really factor weather much into the equation when deciding to go to a game, since I was willing to sit through a rain delay.  However, this experience has made me more reluctant with iffy weather for threat of not seeing a game at all.

I have to think that there was some Yankee gamesmanship going on last night with the extensive rain delay before the start of the game:  the Yankees knew the Red Sox had to travel that night (the Sox play tonight in Toronto) and the Yankees didn’t (they have a home game tonight against Cleveland). I’m pretty sure that if the Yankees had to travel after last night’s game, they would have called the game rather than endure a 3.5 hour rain delay and then travel.

Good point.  A “bonus threshhold” for anyone willing to wait two hours is a great idea.  So, anyone walking out the doors at 21:00 or later, they get an extra rebate coupon, in addition to being able to use their ticket as the rebate coupon.

It’s a great idea, especially since at least half the people likely won’t even cash in that extra rebate coupon anyway.  It makes the team look really good…

#12: fantastic point!

#9 and #11 illustrate why 1) attendance at new PNC has fallen so precipitously, and 2) why the Pirates ownership group is turning profits it doesn’t deserve to be turning.

#15 is a complete non-sequitur.  First of all, the “Pirates ownership group” is not a constant.  It’s hard to blame Bob Nutting for what happened 8 years ago since at that time Kevin McClatchy was the CEO and primary owner.  Yes there is overlap between the groups but back then McClatchy was the one pulling the strings.  Secondly, I’m pretty sure both instances were followed according to what would be standard official practice for any team.  It’s hard to blame the owners when one fan had a bad experience with one usher (who was probably following the official rule even if you argue common sense should have and often does prevail).

Also, although I was a bit frustrated for not getting a “bonus” rain check (or maybe frustrated that those who left still got something), note that I was able to redeem the rain check for a game of my choice.  Some teams restrict this to only the makeup game I believe.

Last night brought flashbacks to the first baseball game I ever attended (also a Yankee home game).  Game began well after 10pm (my bedtime at the time) after a long rain delay.  I left in tears at midnight during the fateful 5th inning Brewers rally.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA198206290.shtml

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In 1998, a buddy and I were among the brave few who watched this game at Shea against the expansion Diamondbacks:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYN/NYN199805050.shtml

It was chilly and rainy and the game didn’t start until maybe 9:30pm.  I would say that at most 4,000 of the official crowd of 13,205 was still around for the start of the game.  As the game was about to get underway, we noticed a *completely* empty section behind the plate in the lower mezzanine level, and decided to head down there.  We used our own tissues/napkins to dry the (very wet) seats.  After a few minutes, an usher came and asked to see our tickets.  I looked at him in shock and said “You’ve got to be kidding me.  Are you not allowed to use any common sense?” The usher’s response was “take care of me and I’ll take care of you.” I naively asked what that was supposed to mean.  His reply?  “Throw me a few bucks.” My buddy and I looked at each other in confused horror.  We eventually offered the usher $1 each which he took before walking off and leaving us alone.

A little while later (after the completion of maybe the 1st or 2nd inning) the PA announcer made an announcement that fans were free to move to any unoccupied seat in the stadium… We moved down to the field level with a few hundred other people at that point…

"I naively asked what that was supposed to mean.  “

Welcome to the jungle, farm boy.

When the Yankees have an extensive rain delay or a game is played in terrible conditions, for years they’ve offered those who had tickets to redeem them for tickets to another game.

Recognizing tonight’s inclement weather conditions, the New York Yankees announced that they are rewarding all fans with valid tickets for tonight’s game against the Boston Red Sox with a free ticket offer.
Fans may redeem their valid June 9, 2011, tickets—regardless of whether they were used to attend tonight’s game—for a free Grandstand Level or Terrace Level ticket at Yankee Stadium for another game this season, subject to availability.

Alternatively, fans may choose to use tonight’s valid tickets as a coupon for 50 percent off the purchase price of a ticket in any other non-Suite or Club seating location to another game this season, subject to availability.

http://atmlb.com/k1SGIn

Do I have my kids with me?

I’m sure my story from comment #9 above was a combination of:

1. an understandably cranky usher who sat through 3 hours of rain
2. a stupid ‘zero tolerance’ policy that doesn’t allow the ushers to exercise judgment in letting people move down.

That doesn’t mean it still isn’t sticking in my craw and I know that my out of town visitors left with a very unfavorable opinion of the whole organization.

Well, this is odd.  I ran this very same poll two years ago:

http://www.insidethebook.com/ee/index.php/site/article/poll_rain_delay/

Except in that case, I put the options in steps of 15 minutes instead of 30 minutes.

The result?  The median was 1 hour rain delay that time, instead of 2 hour rain delay today.

It’s almost as if people took the “middle” option regardless of what the middle was!