Let's See How Long This Takes (Game Now Postponed)

It's a little after 4 am right now in Chicago; outside, it's 36 degrees, very windy, and puking a mix of rain and snow, and the forecast for the rest of the day isn't much better:

This is an absolute no-brainer. The next time the Astros are in town is the weekend after the All-Star break. Both teams have Thursday, July 12, the day after the break, off. And, as we all know, Lou Piniella doesn't like his boys playing in this sort of weather. So, here's what I do if I'm making the decision: Call the game as soon as I get out of bed, reschedule it for July 12 and make all the tickets issued for today good for that date. Since today's game is likely not even close to a sellout, that'd give them a chance to not only not lose a home date, but likely sell several thousand more tickets. Now, it's true that today is a "value date", with tickets priced far lower than they'd be during the summer, but this is still a better option than playing on the off-day tomorrow, with this weather forecast:

I was out for a while last night and listening to the Brewers/Marlins game on the radio -- it was rain-delayed, and during the delay, Bob Uecker and Jim Powell were discussing the horrid weather we've had in the Midwest and Northeast so far this year. They were commenting specifically on the decision made in Minnesota to build a new stadium for the Twins without a retractable roof, which, they said, would cause a loss of home dates in April and September, with a corresponding loss of revenue, eventually making the Twins at a competitive disadvantage. As posted in cwyers' headline diary, you can't reschedule the entire season, but at least the good folks in Minnesota could have helped out some.

In any case, as noted, it's now a little after 4 am in Chicago. Let's see how long it takes for Cubs management to do the sensible thing and postpone today's game until Thursday, July 12.

UPDATE [2007-4-11 9:42:28 by Al]: Just called the Cubs main phone number... the game was postponed at 9:38 am CT. No makeup date has yet been announced. So, in fact, they did the right thing, and it didn't take very long at all.

UPDATE [2007-4-11 10:17:24 by Al]: Here's the official release on the postponement and rescheduling for July 12. As of this posting, at 10:17 am CT, you could still buy tickets for today. Might not be a bad move if those are going to be honored on July 12.