It was played. It should not have been played! The forecast was for light rain, with a downpour at 7:30 pm to 7:45 pm. The radar backed up the forecast, and both turned out to be right on target. I don't believe that we ever played one pitch without at least a drizzle. For the first 5-1/2 innings, it was only a mild inconvenience, and the game went on as one might expect: The Dodgers, behind Jim Shook, were clinging to a 2-0 lead. That is when the rain got heavier and quite steady. This is when we needed the arbiters to step in and say: finish this game on Wednesday, before the start of game two. But that didn't happen. Both Chris Dunn (in the bottom of the sixth) and Jim Shook (in the top of the seventh) had to deal with wet baseballs and a very slick mound. The game got sloppy as a result, and the final score ended up at 6-2. Don't get me wrong, I am not blaming the Cub loss on the wet field -- no way in hell! The Dodgers were clearly the better team on a night when both teams had to deal with this messy weather. I am just saying that it would have been better to wait until Tuesday night for game one. If this was a regular season game, I would have agreed with just trying to get it in, but this was game 1 of the championship series that both teams had worked hard all season to get to. With a dry forecast for the next 3 nights, I just wish we would have postponed game 1 from the start.
A tip of the cap for Jim Shook, who was his masterful self, and Carlos Llera who had a clutch bases loaded double with 2 outs and a full count, in the bottom of the sixth to break the game open. Also a solid effort from Cubs starter Chris Dunn and Shawn Maney, who had two hits off of Shookie on his 44th birthday. Here's hoping for perfect dry conditions for games 2 and 3 on Wednesday and Thursday. Looks good from the weatherman so far.
