A series crumbles

The Wild Things, fresh off a series sweep of the Lake Erie Crushers, were supposed to play a doubleheader Saturday against the East Division-leading Oakland County Cruisers at something called Henry Ford Field in Livonia, Mich., in suburban Detroit.

The opening game lasted all of three pitches.

That was when the pitcher's mound began to crumble. According to WJPA Radio's Randy Gore and Wild Things pitcher Justin Edwards, the mound began to break apart under Oakland County pitcher Joe Rodriguez. The mound wasn't made of clay, like any good pitcher's mound. Instead, it was made of "crushed gravel" and dirt. There also was a piece of red plastic that could be seen poking through the dirt.

Some work was done on the mound but it didn't help. The umpires declared the mound unplayable, and as of this writing the game scheduled for Sunday on the same field was in jeopardy of being postponed. The Cruisers were looking for a place to host the game.

The Cruisers, who do not have a home field and have played only nine "home games," each at Eastern Michigan University, tried to sale this series to Washington. The Wild Things declined the offer because it would have given them 21 home games in 24 days, which was deemed too much for its operations staff. Thus, the Cruisers shopped around and found a home in Lovina. Henry Ford Field is part of a seven-field complex that hosts youth baseball and softball games.

UPDATE: The Wild Things and Cruisers will play a doubleheader Sunday at Eastern Michigan beginning at 3 p.m. The first game will be the completion of Saturday's suspended seven-inning contest. There is still debate between the league and teams as to the length of Sunday's second game. Based on past situations, the second game should be a seven-inning contest, though the league is trying to make the game nine innings.