After the rest of Saturday’s game between the New York Mets and Washington Nationals was rescheduled following a four-hour rain delay, the Mets broadcasting booth could not contain their disgust over the situation.
Their annoyance came from the fact that, during the delay, there was little to no communication made to the fans, who were only informed of the decision after waiting four hours in the stadium. Given the extended wait involved, coupled with the eventual news that would be handed down so late in the day, the SNY crew had no qualms laying into Major League Baseball over its seeming lack of concern over fan concerns.
Official: Mets-Nationals has been suspended in the top of the third after a rain delay of nearly four hours.
They'll play a split admission doubleheader tomorrow. The first game will resume at 12:35 p.m., the regularly scheduled game at 4:35 p.m.
— Tim Healey (@timbhealey) May 14, 2023
Their issue was exacerbated by the fact that the league’s eventual decision was to complete Saturday’s game as part of a “split double-header” on Sunday, which means that while fans would be able to return for this game at 12:35 p.m., they would not be allowed to remain in the park for the previously scheduled Sunday game, which had now been bumped to 4:35 p.m.
After a four-hour rain delay Saturday's Mets vs. Nationals game was postponed and will be resumed tomorrow as part of a split doubleheader.
SNY's Keith Hernandez called it "unconscionable" while Gary Cohen said it was "shameful."pic.twitter.com/Y3CE6dmGL9
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 14, 2023
“We just got this information that this game will be suspended and a part of a split-doubleheader tomorrow. That is unprecedented to have the completion of a suspended game as part of a split-doubleheader,” Cohen said. “What I’m assuming is that for the last half hour, that was the communication between the Nationals, Mets, and Major League Baseball to get permission to do this, which as far as I’m concerned has never been done before, that you’re giving a piece of a game to the fans as part of a split doubleheader as opposed to playing straight through and making it a single-admission.”
“For me, to take this long to come to a decision. To make these people wait out here without any clue. I don’t know. That to me is just unconscionable,” said analyst Keith Hernandez.
“It’s really a shameful episode on the part of Major League Baseball to permit this to happen and then to come to this kind of a resolution, to charge fans twice tomorrow rather than play straight through with the completion of the suspended game,” added announcer Gary Cohen.
“The big issue really is the no communication. You’ve got these poor fans that are just sitting here wanting some kind of information that they’re getting now on the screen,” said analyst Ron Darling.
The Nats making fans wait four hours and then choosing to play a split admission doubleheader with a suspended game tomorrow, bumping the previously scheduled game to 4:35 but not honoring fans’ tickets for the earlier game, is awful and inconsiderate, especially on Mother’s Day.
— Patrick Kennedy (@PLKDC) May 14, 2023
It was a bummer of a situation for fans who waiting around for hours. Good on the Mets announcers for calling it as it is, rather than toeing the company line.
