Baseball on hold as hurricane closes in on Florida

• Recommend0
• Tweet0
• Comments0
• Email
• Print

MIAMI -- The Florida Marlins postponed Sunday's game against the Chicago Cubs as Hurricane Frances crept ashore on Florida's east coast.

The Category 2 hurricane already had forced the first two games of the three-game series to be delayed.

"Life and death and safety of your team and the people in Florida who live in Florida, that's No. 1," Cubs manager Dusty Baker said Saturday as his team went through a workout at Wrigley Field. "That supersedes baseball every time."

The series was not immediately rescheduled, but there's a chance the teams will make up one of the postponed games when the teams meet at Wrigley Field this weekend. They could play a doubleheader either Friday or Saturday.

That means the Marlins would give up a home game, but the defending World Series champions could be allowed to bat last in one of those games to help offset the disadvantage.

"I don't have any objection to that," Cubs president and CEO Andy MacPhail. "Whatever is determined to be fair."

The other two games might be played in Miami as a doubleheader Sept. 20, the only common day off for the clubs.

Making up a game Oct. 4, the day after the regular season ends, is a long shot because it might be needed for a wild card playoff.

The Marlins trail the Cubs by 2½ games in the race for the NL wild card.

The Cubs open a three-game series against the Montreal Expos on Monday. The Marlins are off Monday before hosting the New York Mets for three games.

Both clubs were going to use Friday's planned starters -- Chicago's Carlos Zambrano and Florida's A.J. Burnett -- for their next games.

Forecasters expected the storm with 105-mph winds to come ashore late Saturday or early Sunday.

"I think the main thing and the most important thing is everyone is safe and concerned about what's really going to happen," Cubs pitcher Mark Prior said. "The game of baseball, it'll move on and it'll go on, but a lot of people's lives are going to be changed as a result of this weekend."

Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press

• Recommend0
• Tweet0
• Comments0
• Email
• Print
• Subscribe