Pardon us for discussing the unthinkable, but there's a distinct possibility that the Detroit Tigers' Opening Day at Comerica Park gets rained out.
It would truly be raining on the parade since Opening Day is an unofficial holiday in Michigan where people take off work, head downtown, tailgate and then go to the game.
Much of that plan is up in the air since Thursday's forecast calls for a 90 percent chance of rain, beginning around 9 a.m. and continuing throughout the afternoon and evening.
Seasoned baseball fans know the drill on this one: According to MLB's rules, "the home team is the sole judge as to conditions of the playing field, prior to the start of the game. The umpire-in-chief shall be the sole judge as to whether and when play shall be suspended during the game because of unsuitable weather conditions or the unfit condition of the playing field; as to whether and when the play shall be resumed after such suspension; and as to whether and when a game shall be terminated after such suspension."
It's also at that umpire's discretion as to whether a game remains suspended. And a game can't be postponed until at least 30 minutes after play is suspended.
What this means: the Tigers are in control of determining if the game can start. Once that game does start, it's up to the ump.
Let's say the game never starts on Thursday or at least five innings are not played (or 4 1/2 if the Tigers lead). Here's what could happen:
• If the game is rescheduled to a mutually open date or a part of a day/night doubleheader, the original ticket will be valid for the rescheduled game, except for when the game is moved to a date in that same home stand. At that point, the ticket can be used for the rescheduled game or exchanged for any future similar or lesser priced regular season game within the next 12 months, except for the next Opening Day.
• If, for some reason, the game is tied and postponed to, say, Saturday or Sunday, as the continuation of Game 1 before the rest of the schedule game, the tickets to Thursday's game become invalid and the tickets for that day's originally scheduled game are for both games.
• If the canceled game is not rescheduled, the ticket may be exchanged for any future regular season game over the next 12 months at the same value. This would be based on availability and service charges or differences in value or not refundable.
Also, parking is not refundable if the game is postponed or canceled.
All that said, let's hope they get the game in, eh?
Contact Kirkland Crawford: kcrawford@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @HiKirkHere.
