14 May 2023 , 16:00
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Baseball fans were left raging after Major League Baseball made an "unconscionable" and "unprecedented" decision as the Washington Nationals' clash with the New York Mets was suspended.
Saturday's game at Nationals Park started in the rain and conditions worsened, forcing a delay with the hosts leading 1-0 at the top of the third inning.
But the scenes that followed were farcical as fans endured a near-four hour delay without communication as grounds staff tried in vain to make the field playable before an announcement was belatedly shown on the big screen.
Boos rang out from the stands as fans learned they had waited for nothing, with the game rescheduled to Sunday lunchtime, with the second game in the three-game stand to follow at 4.35pm.
And to rub salt into the wound, the organisers announced it would be a split admission, meaning fans will have to pay twice to attend both games, with the stadium being emptied after the remainder of the suspended game is completed.
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SNY broadcaster Gary Cohen was full of sympathy for the fans who were on the receiving end of what he called an "unprecedented" decision from Major League Baseball and the Nationals.
He said: "After a galling four hours of waiting, including the last half hour when nothing was happening in terms of trying to get the field ready, now they make the decision to play a split doubleheader tomorrow.
"As far as I'm concerned, this has never been done before that you are giving a piece of a game to the fans as part of a split doubleheader as opposed to playing straight through and making it a single admission.
"It really is a shameful episode on the part of Major League Baseball to permit this to happen and then to come to this kind of resolution to charge fans twice tomorrow rather than playing straight through with the completion of the suspended game."
A statement from the Nationals on social media confirmed tickets and parking passes from Saturday's game would only be honoured for the 12.35pm game on Sunday, with no information on refunds for fans that will be unable to attend, of which there will be many given it is Mother's Day in the United States.
Former Mets stars Keith Hernandez and Ron Darling were alongside Cohen in the commentary booth, with the former describing the decision as "unconscionable".
Darling added: "The field when they were playing on it in the first two innings was unplayable, so these high-payroll teams were out there and there was more risk at the beginning of the game than there is with the field now.
"We've got to really thank the grounds crew and how hard they worked to put this field back, but once they put a tarp over a muddy field, it stayed muddy and it made it almost impossible.
"But the big issue, really, is the no communication and you've got these poor fans sitting here wanting some kind of information.
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"A piece of a game has now become a full game for the fans that choose to attend; I've never heard of anything like this happening, and to wait for hours for the folks, you saw the boos."