Rainouts, schedule and trade talk

The last two days of interesting weather have provided some curious decisions for those involved in Wild Things games.

On Thursday, what had been a day-long rain prompted the Wild Things to cancel their game against Normal at Consol Energy Park. The decision was announced at about 5:30 p.m., or 90 minutes before the scheduled start time.

I don't think either team really wanted to play the game. It would have been a terrific pitching matchup as both teams were scheduled to throw their ace, Trevor Foss for Washington and Michael Schweiss for Normal. The weather forecast was for the rain to stop before game time but be back about 9 p.m. The thought of starting a game with your ace on the mound and then having it rained out after a few innings was what concerned both teams.

The CornBelters, I'm sure, were happy with the decision to bang the game. Not playing meant that if Normal and Washington tie for a wild-card playoff berth, then Normal wins the tiebreaker based on winning the season series, 3-2. The CornBelters also were happy to get out of town early because they were looking at a long bus ride back to Illinois and a home game Friday night against Lake Erie.

So what happened with the weather? It stopped raining about 6:30 p.m. and didn't start raining again until ... oh, more than 30 hours later. Not a drop fell Thursday ninth after 6;30 p.m.

The scenario reminded me about what I a professional baseball executive once said to me: "I'm not going to hold up the start of a game because it might rain. You know why? Because if might not rain."

The game should have been played Thursday night. Can a game really be rained out if it never rained during the three-hour window in which the game was scheduled? I guess so.

And wasn't synthetic turf at CEP supposed to eliminate situations like Thursday night?

On to Friday night in Florence and what happens to the Wild Things? They sent Foss to the mound and exactly what they were trying to avoid Thursday happened. They play into the fifth inning and rain causes the game to be suspended. No decision for Foss.

It seemed like a quick decision to suspend the game. I wasn't in Florence, Ky., Friday night but according the weather.com radar, it seemed that the rain stopped sometime around 10:15 p.m.

One thing I've noticed in 15 years of covering the Frontier League is that as soon as rain is spotted within 20 miles of a ballpark, everybody from the umpires to the players to the coaches to the event staff want to immediately go home. Either these people really don't like their jobs, have no patience or don't understand that it rains for an hour or so a lot in this part of the country.

Checking the schedule

With 10 teams either in or within eight games of a wild-card playoff spot, it's apparent the schedule might play a key role in who gains those two coveted wild-card berths come September.

Teams that play the majority of their remaining games at home, or don't have to play the powerful Southern Illinois Miners (43-20), should be thanking the schedulemaker. The following is a breakdown, entering Saturday's play, of remaining games on the road and games left against the Miners for each team except Southern Illinois. I might be off by a game for a team or two because of a doubleheader or suspended contest that I was not aware of when checking the schedules online.

Road Games Remaining:
21 -- Washington
18 -- Normal
17 -- Joliet
17 -- Traverse City
17 -- Windy City
16 -- Evansville
16 -- River City
16 -- Schaumburg
15 -- Lake Erie
12 -- Florence
12 -- Gateway

Games Remaining vs. Southern Illinois
6 -- Evansville
6 -- Gateway
4 -- Joliet
3-- Florence
3 -- Lake Erie
3 -- Normal
3 -- River City
2 -- Schaumburg
0 -- Traverse City
0 -- Washington
0 -- Windy City

Trade talk
With so many teams likely to be in the playoff hunt Aug. 15, which is the Frontier League's transactions deadline, don't expect many trades within the league. There won't be many sellers, like the Wild Things were last year, in 2013 and a bunch of years before that.

During the franchise's early years, when it was a playoff regular, the Wild Things usually were able to acquire a key player at the transaction deadline or earlier. There were good acquisitions like Jason Kane and Ryan Bethel, some OK pickups like Eric Fisher, a few forgettable ones like Gerard Haran and a real steal in Aaron Ledbetter.

This year, teams might have to go outside the league, to the American Association, Can-Am League, Pacific Association or (gulp!) the Pecos League to find an extra arm or bat.

"We've had offers," Washington manager Gregg Langbehn said. "You would think, with so many teams in wild-card contention, that it won't be easy to make a trade. It will take only two weeks of going 9-3 or 10-2 and you're right right back in it. It makes it fun. It's good for the league. Nobody is going to be lying down."

Washington started its nine-game road trip Friday night in Florence.

"This is going to be a big road trip on a number of levels," Langbehn said. "One is for us to see where we are at the (transactions) deadline."