Fire the Flap Over Rescheduling a Yankees/Orioles Game

Buck doesn't hold back, even when wrong.

In most disputes, one side is right. Not so in the case of the Yankees' and Orioles' attempt to reschedule a game postponed by Hurricane Irene.

The game will be played September 8, one of two off days shared by both teams, but it took a lot of negotiating and even intervention by the MLB players union before a date was picked. Here's what happened, according to ESPN New York:

• The Yankees wanted to play the game during the Orioles' visit to the Bronx from Sept. 5-7, but MLB reportedly said no (annoying).
• The Yankees didn't want to play Sept. 15, an off day shared by both teams, because they will be on their way from Toronto to Seattle (totally reasonable).
• The Yankees really wanted to hold onto their Sept. 8 vacation day, but the players union eventually made it clear that the Yankees had to play that day or the 15th.

 The blame for this silliness could have rested entirely with the Yankees, except the Orioles decided to mouth off about it.

Orioles PR director Greg Bader said the Yankees shouldn't have put up a fight because Maryland was damaged by Irene. "We've just seen a hurricane come through this region which has caused millions to be without power, tens of millions of dollars in property damage and even several deaths. We've got people out there literally trying to put their lives back together and yet there are some still worrying about a rescheduled game time?" Bader is right that this issue should have been resolved quickly, but what does it have to do with the hurricane?

Then Orioles manager Buck Showalter chimed in because he can't pass on an opportunity to hate on the Yankees or Red Sox. The Orioles paid tribute to Mike Flanagan on Friday night, and Showalter decided that the negotiation for the makeup of Saturday's game somehow took away from the tribute. "I felt that some of the stuff was a little disrespectful to Flanny quite frankly. That didn't sit with me very well. I can tell you that." We fail to see how deciding when to make up the game is related in any way to a memorial for Flanagan.

The Yankees shouldn't have been so resistant to picking a date and the Orioles shouldn't have complained about irrelevant issues. The matter is settled, but both sides behaved badly and should be fired.