PHILADELPHIA – The rains had not yet subsided, but the radar indicated improvement. So 35 minutes into last night's World Series rain delay, an advance team from the grounds crew appeared on the infield tarp, brandishing brooms.
Sweeping the standing water from the field's synthetic cover in midmonsoon seemed like a job for Sisyphus, a futile sop to the soggy spectators at Citizens Bank Park.
But the fans ate it up, and near the top of their lungs. The people were primed.
Fifteen years since the World Series was last staged in Philadelphia, it resumed last night following a 91-minute rain delay. But though the downpour drenched their seats and dampened their duds, the fans' spirits proved positively buoyant before and throughout the Phillies' 5-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.
JULIE JACOBSON / Associated Press
Philadelphia Phillies' Pedro Feliz can't handle catcher Carlos Ruiz's throw at third base, allowing Tampa Bay Rays' B.J. Upton's successful steal and game-tying score in the eighth inning.
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When a city has been waiting a quarter of a century for a local team to claim a championship, a little water is not going to stand in its way. When Carlos Ruiz' ninth-inning dribbler pushed Eric Bruntlett across the plate with the winning run, the home fans fairly floated through the exits.
One of the first things you learn about postseason baseball is that the paying customers don't count. Shortly thereafter, it becomes obvious that the paying customers don't much care that they don't count.
The biggest ballgames of the year are scheduled to maximize Nielsen numbers at the risk of alienating the people who are actually in the park. Starting times are set so as to ensure sleep deprivation. Weather conditions that would mean postponements (or frostbite) during the regular season are endured in the name of network programming.
Yet though the conditions are hardly conducive, and the prices are steep, the most demanding baseball consumers will forgive inconvenience and gouging at the Fall Classic. Reason is no match for rapture.
World Series television ratings would tell you that baseball becomes a niche sport in October. Wednesday's Game One between the Phillies and Tampa Bay Rays drew a 9.2 rating and a 15 share – both figures less than a quarter of the audience for Super Bowl XLII – a 12 percent drop from last year's opener between the Boston Red Sox and Colorado Rockies.
But while pro football's pre-eminence is unchallenged on a national basis, the differences are not as dramatic on the local level.
Casual fans are drawn to football by a variety of factors, including but not limited to spectacle, violence, gambling, fantasy games and chesty cheerleaders. Baseball's daily schedule requires a larger time commitment and rewards the neutral observer with fewer vicarious thrills.
When the local nine reaches the World Series, though, the level of passion is pretty comparable to what you find during a football playoff run in most American markets.
This much was clear from the first inning of last night's game, when fans rose from their seats and twirled their towels each time Phillies' start Jamie Moyer delivered a two-strike pitch. It was clear from the derisive chants of “Eva” that greeted Rays' rookie Evan Longoria (no relation to the actress) every time he appeared at the plate.
It was clear at 10:06 p.m. (Eastern time), when the game finally started, and at 1:47 a.m., when it ended.
“It was very uplifting to walk across the field, even through the puddles, and hear the enthusiasm of the fans,” Phillies starter Jamie Moyer said. “It was really electric in our ballpark tonight and I think that was big for us.”
Like most modern ballparks, Citizens Bank Park was designed to feel more like a shopping mall than a sporting venue. The primary aim was revenue, but the byproduct is that people have somewhere to go during a long rain delay, and many eating alternatives. (Local delicacy: crab fries.)
Similarly, contemporary clubhouses are built for comfort, with soft furniture and flatscreen televisions. Ballplayers can be quick to complain, but there are worse places to kill time than the lap of leathered luxury.
“You're fortunate to have a delay like this in this ballpark,” Rays manager Joe Maddon said. “If you're in Fenway, in that clubhouse, it gets kind of annoying. The clubhouse is, what, maybe half this size?
“And when you have all the amenities and you get yourself a nice cheesesteak while you're waiting or watch a game on the tube – J.P. (Howell) is up there watching Texas versus Oklahoma State right now. This kind of facility ameliorates the situation a bit and permits you to get through the moment.”
(For the record, Maddon really did use the word “ameliorates.” Philadelphia's Charlie Manuel is a charming and canny character, but if the World Series were decided by the vocabularies of the managers, the Rays would sweep.)
For the fans who waited out the water, then watched a 4-1 lead evaporate, winning was all the amelioration they asked.
