Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2007 | 7:28 a.m.
Major League Baseball could make history this year with the first "snowout" in World Series history, and that might be a fitting end for a season that began with the Cleveland Indians' snowed-out home opener in early April.
Fans' attention has turned to the weather with the entry of the Colorado Rockies, whose stadium was covered Sunday with a thin layer of snow. But don't blame Mother Nature for any problems with the weather. Blame Major League Baseball, which scheduled the Series for such a late start. If the Series, which opens tonight, goes the full seven games, it will end Nov. 1. The only Series to have been played later was in 2001, when the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 interrupted the baseball season, pushing the final three games into November.
The Fall Classic used to start in early October, but league officials have added to the season by extending the playoffs and eliminating doubleheaders, which had shortened the schedule. The baseball season opened this year as early as ever - April 1 - leading to the snowed-out games in Cleveland, which also hosted a World Series game on Oct. 23, 1997, highlighted by snow flurries and a low of 38 degrees - 18 degrees with the wind chill.
The length of the season has been dictated in part by television. Baseball officials pushed the opener of this year's Series back four days from its traditional Saturday in an effort to boost flagging television ratings.
"Starting the World Series in the middle of the week, when television viewership is historically higher, will provide more fans with the opportunity to watch the games," said Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating officer, adding that the schedule would somehow "protect against poor weather."
With the lateness of this Series the league is only inviting more bad weather and tiring the fans by the length of the seasons. Baseball also risks losing fans who might want to watch something more appropriate, such as football - or ice hockey.
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