Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl
Hurricane Irene already is leaving its mark on the sports world even before coming ashore.
Professional baseball games, the NFL, tennis, golf and Major League Soccer games are being rescheduled as the hurricane creeps up the East Coast.
Major League Baseball announced Thursday that it moved Sunday’s game between the Florida Marlins and Phillies in Philadelphia to 1:05 p.m. ET Saturday, followed by the regular 7:05 p.m. ET game.
The Boston Red Sox also will play two games Saturday at Fenway Park, at noon ET and 5 p.m. ET against the Oakland Athletics.
“We felt it was necessary and prudent to move the Sunday game to Saturday,” Red Sox president and CEO Larry Lucchino said Thursday. “This will not only give us the best opportunity to play the scheduled games, but also help to ensure that traveling conditions are safer for our fans.”
The New York Giants and Jets moved up the starting time of their Saturday preseason game by five hours to 2 p.m. ET. Giants president and CEO John Mara said Thursday the game was rescheduled so fans would be able to get home safely after the game.
Tennis
The New Haven Open, the final WTA tuneup before the U.S. Open, which starts Monday, moved up its championship match to 1 p.m. ET Saturday, rather than the scheduled 5 p.m. ET.
“Right now it looks like the hurricane is not going to hit until early Sunday morning,” said Anne Worcester, the tournament’s director. “But, it’s not just the actual playing time of the final, but our staff has to break down the site, so it has a lot to do with their safety.”
The U.S. Open itself already has been affected. Non-hurricane related rain Thursday forced postponement of the tournament’s qualifying rounds, and action was scheduled to resume at 10 a.m. ET Friday.
The tournament will try to have winners play a second match Friday in hopes of wrapping up the qualifying that day so as to avoid having to play Saturday. If the qualifying isn’t completed before then, matches could be moved offsite to an indoor facility.
The U.S. Tennis Association also canceled Saturday’s Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day.
Soccer
Major League Soccer’s Philadelphia Union rescheduled Sunday’s game against New England for 8 p.m. ET Sept. 7 at PPL Park in Pennsylvania, and the New York Red Bulls moved Sunday’s game against the L.A. Galaxy to 8 p.m. ET Oct. 4 at Red Bull Arena.
D.C. United, scheduled to host the Portland Timbers at 2 p.m. ET Saturday, decided to postpone their game as well. No makeup game has been announced. The Timbers made arrangements to return to Portland Friday.
Golf
The PGA Tour on Friday reduced its first playoff event, The Barclays, to 54 holes because of the rain and potential damage expected. New Jersey already is under a hurricane warning, and officials feared up to 10 inches of rain could fall on Sunday.
The plan is to finish 36 holes Friday and start the third round first thing Saturday morning, with hopes of getting in a 54-hole event before the rain arrives.
If they can’t finish Saturday, the tournament would become a 36-hole tournament, but left unclear was whether a 36-hole tournament would count as an official win.
–ESPN
