MLB considering schedule switch
04/08/2007 7:13 PM ET
By Tom Singer / MLB.com
Maybe you can't change the weather. But following a week in which wintry conditions played havoc with its Midwestern schedule, Major League Baseball is considering changing the games due to be played in it.
Specifically, the three-game series between the Angels and Indians slated for Cleveland's Jacobs Field on Tuesday-Thursday may be switched to Anaheim.
A final determination is not expected to be made until 8 a.m. Monday morning on a development regarded as "unlikely" by all involved in it.
However, if the Mariners and Indians still aren't able to play the Tribe's thrice-delayed home opener on Monday, and the forecast remains discouraging for the rest of the week, MLB may be forced to forfeit this one to Mother Nature.
"It's very unlikely, but we are looking at all possibilities," Cleveland general manager Mark Shapiro confirmed to MLB.com on Sunday afternoon.
"We've been in touch with Major League Baseball," said Angels spokesman Tim Mead, "but no decision will be made until the morning. They will continue to monitor the situation."
One of the issues complicating this predicament is the Angels' inability to simply exchange home series with the Indians.
The two teams are scheduled for two more series later in the season, both times in Angel Stadium, on May 8-10 and Sept. 6-9. Advance ticket sales project crowds of 40,000-plus for each of those seven games, making it a logistical nightmare to even consider swapping out those dates.
Thus, any switched Tuesday-Thursday games would become additions to the Angels' home schedule, attended by walk-up ticket purchasers and the home-visitor shares of the gate appropriately adjusted.
The Indians have been inactive since Wednesday, when they concluded their season-opening series in Chicago with a 4-3 loss to the White Sox.
Games last week also had to be called on account of cold, windy weather in both Chicago and Detroit. Snow showers are forecast for the Cleveland area through Tuesday, turning to rain showers for the rest of the week as temperatures gradually climb into the mid-40s.
