Southern California rarity: Angels game rained out for first time in 20 years
The Southern California region was hit hard by some inclement weather on Sunday, and its power was strong enough to do something that hasn't been seen in two decades.
The Los Angeles Angels and Boston Red Sox were supposed to do battle on ESPN Sunday Night Baseball at Angel Stadium, but the rain clouds had other plans. After a rain delay of a few hours, the game was officially postponed around 8 o'clock Pacific Time.
Just how rare is an Angel Stadium rainout? Well, here are a pair of tweets putting it all in context:
This is the 1st rainout for the Angels since June 16, 1995. That was the day "Batman Forever" was released. pic.twitter.com/E9UNn5kExM
— Baseball Tonight (@BBTN) July 20, 2015
And wait, there's more! With the San Diego Padres' game at Petco Park ALSO being rained out on Sunday, the night's events reached even rarer territory all-time:
The issue at Angel Stadium had to do with drainage. While the grounds crew tried to see if the field was in 'playable' condition, the soaked outfield grass was a big road block to anything happening on Sunday. Said manager Mike Scioscia to the O.C. Register's Jeff Fletcher: “Unfortunately you never really know how your drainage system works until you get enough water. There is so much standing water in that outfield it has nowhere to go… The field was unplayable with no way to remedy it.”
On Monday, the two clubs will play a split doubleheader with the first game beginning at 2 p.m. and the second at 7 p.m. Pacific Time. Even that has historical significance to the Halos, as it will be the first doubleheader at Angel Stadium since 2003. Hector Santiago will pitch the first game and Andrew Heaney the second.
Sunday night's weather weirdness - a pair of baseball game rainouts in Southern California in July - is the sort of circumstance for which Twitter accounts such as @CantPredictBall exist.
While those in other states and climates may scoff at a little rain causing such chaos, for Southern California this qualifies as a pretty odd Sunday...
(h/t OC Register, Twitter)
