Miami Marlins fans were in an uproar Thursday night and technically Friday morning, as the Marlins and Mets game was rain delayed in the top of the 9th inning with 2 outs. The rain started to pour in mid-way through the top of the 9th inning and the Marlins comeback was complete when they delayed it. The Marlins had a man on second base and 2 outs and the umpires could have easily kept the game going, as there weren't many puddles or issues at that point.
The bigger question is does Major League Baseball really care about the small market Marlins team, many fans are asking that question the last 24 hours. Marlins faithful claim the MLB powers that be didn't really try to restart the game and just delayed it perpetually, not caring the Marlins had to fly out to Pittsburgh that night. Not only MLB but also the Mets organization was blamed to be incompetent with regards to field management.
Towards the end of the delay Skip Schumaker was seen arguing with Mets field managers about getting the field ready. Schumaker helped the tarp crew fold the tarp in the outfield to try and speed up the restart but then the field crew took their sweet time and didn't really seem to even make an effort to get the field in playing condition. Was there a lot of sitting water, yes, could they have at least tried to get it ready, yes!
The field crew was chided by the Marlins faithful for wasting a 25 minute window of no rain and shirking their duties. The crew then added salt to the wound by posing for a group picture after the game was called. Not a good look for the Mets organization, and the Marlins social media account took them to task subtly by changing their description to "we have a roof". Hilarious but obviously frustrated change by the Marlins, which really resonated with fans.
In the end the MLB should have called it early or should have been on the Mets organization to make every effort to play the game, which didn't happen. Either one would have been better than sitting in a ballpark for hours waiting for the rain to stop, and then letting that time pass by without a real effort to play again. The Marlins may have to return to New York to play those 4 outs, but lets hope they just take care of business and a trip isn't necessary.
I think the MLB was right in trying to play the game but wrong in not putting any pressure on the Mets organization to have all hands on deck to try and get the field ready. They could have been pushing water off it when rain was light to keep the field in the best shape possible, but they didn't do that and it showed. Lets hope that game has no relevance for the Marlins playoff hopes and we can just move on.