Well, let me tell ya ’bout this baseball rain thing, you know, when them fellas gotta stop playin’ ’cause the sky opens up. It ain’t as simple as just runnin’ off the field, no sir. They got rules, just like everything else in life, even if they don’t always make a lick of sense.
What happens when it starts pourin’? First off, they call it a “rain delay.” That’s just fancy talk for “hold your horses, it’s raining cats and dogs.” The umpires, them fellas in blue, they’re the ones who decide when to stop. They look at the sky, feel the rain, and if it’s too much, they say, “Alright boys, take a break.”
- They gotta wait a bit, see if the rain lets up. I heard it’s somethin’ like 30 minutes, but don’t quote me on that. Thirty minutes is a long time to just sit around, I tell ya.
- If it keeps rainin’ cats and dogs, well, then they gotta figure out what to do next. Sometimes they just wait it out, sometimes they call it quits for the day.
Now, if they just started playin’ and the rain comes, that’s a “suspended game.” Means they gotta stop and pick it up later, like when the sun comes back out. But if it’s been a while, like more than five innings, and the home team is winnin’, or four and a half innings if the away team is ahead, well, sometimes they just call it a game right then and there. Makes sense, I guess, nobody wants to sit around all day for a game that’s already decided, right?
What if the game gets called off completely? Well, then they gotta reschedule it. Find another day to play, which ain’t always easy, what with all the travelin’ them fellas do. Sometimes they play a doubleheader, two games in one day, which is a lot of baseball if you ask me. But hey, at least the fans get their money’s worth, I suppose.
They changed the rules a few years back, you know. Used to be, if a game got rained out real early, they just pretended it never happened. Wiped it clean off the books, like it was all a bad dream. But now, they always finish the game, even if it takes a few days. Guess that’s fairer, though I ain’t sure it matters much to an old gal like me.
I remember this one time, back when my grandson was just a little tyke, we went to see a game. Beautiful day it was, sun shinin’, birds singin’. Then, wouldn’t you know it, right in the middle of the seventh inning, the sky turned black and it started pourin’. Poured so hard, you couldn’t see the ball! They waited and waited, but it just wouldn’t stop. Finally, they called it a night. Had to drive all the way back home, soaking wet and grumpy. My grandson was real disappointed, but I told him, “That’s just baseball, honey. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, and sometimes you just get rained out.” He didn’t understand much, bless his heart. He just wanted his hotdog.
And you know, a baseball game lasts nine innings, unless they are tied. Then they just keep playin’ until somebody wins. Each inning, well, that can take a while, maybe 20 minutes or so. But with all the pitchin’ changes and the hittin’ and the runnin’, sometimes it feels like forever. Especially if you’re losin’!
So, that’s the long and short of it, the rain delay rules in baseball. Not too complicated, but not too simple either. Just like life, I reckon. You just gotta roll with the punches, or in this case, the raindrops. And hope they start playin’ again soon, so you can get back to eatin’ your peanuts and cheerin’ on your team.
And when they say ppd, it means postponed. They just like to use fancy words, them fellas on TV. But it all boils down to the same thing: no baseball today, folks. Come back another time. And that’s all there is to it.
Tags：MLB, Baseball, Rain Delay, Rules, Suspended Game, Postponed, Regulation Game, Innings, Weather
