Snow Daze

The weather in Cleveland continues to be messy; baseball's reaction to the weather even messier.

Workers at Jacobs Field cleared a foot of snow, but were unable to prevent yet another cancellation. Fearing more bad weather, the league announced that the Indians' three-game series against the Angels would be relocated to Milwaukee.

The reasoning? Well, Milwaukee has a dome. And it is closer to Cleveland than... well, than Anaheim. Outside of that, I'm stumped. Does the league really think Indians fans will make the 436-mile drive to Miller Park? For a mid-week series? Wouldn't it have made more sense to play the games at Anaheim's home park? Or at some neutral site, where locals might buy tickets for the novelty of seeing a big-league game? (Like, say, Memphis -- where the temperature is in the high 50s and where baseball staged its exhibition Civil Rights Game less than two weeks ago?)

And hasn't Bud Selig learned by now that he shouldn't make decisions that appear to favor Milwaukee?

Logistical nightmares aside, it will be interesting to see how all this uncertainty affects the Indians' record. The Tribe has lost three home games to this storm already. They'll face a very good Angels team in an unfamiliar ballpark after an unscheduled four-day layoff just a week into the season. At some point later in the season, they'll need to deal with double-headers -- which tend to play hell with pitching rotations and bullpens -- one or two of which may be scheduled in Seattle. That means more "home" games played on the road.

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the New York Giants and New Orleans Saints played a Saints "home" game at Giants Stadium. The Giants won that game and ultimately won their division by a one-game margin. While it's impossible to say that the extra home game gave the Giants a playoff berth... it certainly didn't hurt their chances.

The Indians are in the opposite situation -- forced to compete for the division and the wild card while playing fewer home games than their competition. In the AL Central, where every team but the Royals is expected to be in contention, that may prove to be a major disadvantage.

Originally published at About Baseball