Tonight's Game 4 rainout in Saint Louis underscores a necessity for many teams around MLB, especially the Yankees and Mets, to address. Both teams lost valuable momentum to their opponents and subsequent victors and eventual World Series opponents in those respective series, the Tigers in Game 2 of the ALDS, and Cardinals in Games 1 and 5 of the NLCS. This is not making any excuses for the Yankees and Mets losses but a possible solution to prevent future inclement weather issues.
Both the Cardinals and Tigers are now rained out as well. With rain forecasted over the next few days in both Saint Louis and Detroit, who knows when they'll get the games in? Seattle is known for its inclement weather and took the necessary precautions when they built Safeco Field. It is a state of the art facility that Yankees radio broadcasters John Sterling and Suzyn Waldman rave about as the best stadium they have seen. Given not only the playoff rainouts and even difficulties of getting regular season games in from early in the season to summer showers and into September when often heavy rains from hurricanes coming up the East Coast, the Mets and Yankees should put retractable roofs on their state of the art facilities. Ground has barely been broken on both facilities and there is time to make the necessary engineering and architectural modifications.
Yes, it will cost more money but the Mets and Yankees won't have to worry about lost revenue if fans don't want to take the chance on getting themselves and their loved ones sick from rain and the wind that accompanies it, especially from Long Island Sound. Furthermore, both teams will be able to stage off season events. This is a work around to the failed West Side Stadium which died when London beat out NYC for the 2012 Olympics as well as a little help from the Dolan MSG Monopoly. NYC is 26th in Convention business and the new stadiums can help the City move up in the ranking creating jobs (granted some not great paying but jobs nevertheless), especially in the off season. What out of town sports fan wouldn't want to visit the new Yankee or Met Stadium? Concerts, political conventions, and other events could also generate additional tax revenue.
Traditionalists can point to the romantic nature of a nice summer day at the ballpark. That's great. But, if it's raining (or even the threat of rain), romance and MONEY are out the window as our weather continues to become more unpredictable with global warming and other climate changes. What if you try to play when there is light rain and someone gets hurt God Forbid? More lost MONEY down the drain. Why chance it? Please join me in calling local sports talk stations like the FAN 660 and ESPN 1050 to get the debate going for retractable roofs as well as contact the Yankees and Mets directly. Thank you very much for your support!
Posted by the always passionate and pensive Tank in NY.