Bob Cooney- Weather Has Changed My World Series Forecast
There are few times in my life where weather and sports have been intertwined. There are some, however. The famous Fog Bowl in Chicago when the Eagles lost to the Bears in a playoff game is maybe the most memorable, but there is also the Snow Bowl in which Shady McCoy and the Eagles trounced the Detroit Lions. And no one is going to forget the most famous rain delay in baseball history when the Phillies took three days to play one game and defeat the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 5 in 2008 to capture the World Series.
Could Tuesday’s rainout of Game 3 between the Phillies and Houston Astros be a series changing event? Logical answer says no as it is still an even series with up to five more games to play and all of that. But the biggest change due to the inclement weather involves the Phillies pitching staff, and, yes, I do believe it is a huge advantage for the Phils.
The biggest cloud (pun intended) hanging over my head going into this series was the pitching advantage I believed the Astros had, both in the starting rotation and in the bullpen. And then when manager Rob Thomson decided to use Ranger Suarez in relief in the Game One 6-5 win, forcing the Phillies to go with a bullpen game in just the third game of the series, doubts about the Phillies winning their third career World Series didn’t just creep into my mind, they took over.
But when Major League Baseball FINALLY decided to call off Game 3 on Monday, my whole outlook changed. For three games at Citizens Bank Park, the Phillies will now be able to throw their top three pitchers at the Astros (disregard Rob Thomson’s sill talk of Noah Syndergaard starting Game 5) in Suarez, Aaron Nola and Zack Wheeler. That, to me, changes everything – to the point that sweeping these three games at home isn’t out of my thought process.
I said before the Series that I thought the Phillies would win in 7. Who would have thought that a rainout would change my prediction, but it has. Phillies in 6.
