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Earlier on Wednesday, the Giants officially filed a protest for the tarp debacle at Wrigley Field. The protest appeared to be a last-ditch formality, filed because a) they could file one, and b) they couldn't punch somebody. In the history of baseball, only 14 protests led to a resumed game.
Now there are 15! According to multiple reports, the Giants will get the chance to come back from a two-run deficit. The time is not definitive yet, but Andrew Baggarly is hearing Thursday at 2:00 p.m. PT, before the series finale in Chicago. Unless they decide to resume the game much earlier in the day, that would appear to be the only logical time to resume it.
If the Giants win the game and secure a wild card spot (or division title, you pessimist) because of it, this will be remembered as a great victory for justice and a great defeat to tarp-flubbing nincompoops.
Good work, Baseball. I'm assuming Manfred's behind this. Always had a good feeling about that guy ...
Update: It's official. The full statement is below.
Major League Baseball announced today that Executive Vice President for Baseball Operations Joe Torre has upheld a protest filed by the San Francisco Giants regarding the calling of their rain-shortened game against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on Tuesday night.
An examination of the circumstances of last night’s game has led to the determination that there was sufficient cause to believe that there was a "malfunction of a mechanical field device under control of the home club" within the meaning of Official Baseball Rule 4.12(a)(3). Available video of the incident, and conversations with representatives of the Cubs, demonstrate that the Cubs’ inability to deploy the tarp appropriately was caused by the failure to properly wrap and spool the tarp after its last use. As a result, the groundskeeping crew was unable to properly deploy the tarp after the rain worsened. In accordance with Rule 4.12(a)(3), the game should be considered a suspended game that must be completed at a future date.
In addition, Major League Baseball has spoken with last night’s crew chief, Hunter Wendelstedt, and has concluded that the grounds crew worked diligently in its attempt to comply with his direction and cover the field. Thus, there is no basis for the game to be forfeited by the Cubs pursuant to Rule 4.16.