AL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: RED SOX v YANKEES

October 15, 2004

Sandy Alderson

SANDY ALDERSON: Just quickly, we of course postponed the game at about 8:00 tonight. The forecast that we had was not encouraging at all. We expected even heavier rain than we have currently, starting at about 9:00 or 9:30. We waited as long as we did in order to test the forecast, and the forecast for the period through 7:00, the period through 8:00 was very consistent with what we were experiencing. So, as time went on, I think we had more and more confidence in the ultimate forecast. Obviously in the post-season, when we start a game, we want to be able to go nine innings and finish a complete game and not get into abbreviated games and so forth. So we really had no window whatsoever. A very different situation from last night in St. Louis where we had a very different forecast, a very different playing surface in terms of drainage and what have you. And so ultimately, we made the decision, the Commissioner made the decision to cancel the game, and reschedule it for Monday tentatively at I believe 5:10 in the afternoon.

SANDY ALDERSON: Well, we've had I think this post-season, we've only had one game under three -- we've had a couple of games under three hours. But I think realistically, and thought about that this afternoon, we probably need a window of about three and a half hours. So realistically, if we had been able to start at 8:20, you know, we were looking -- we needed a window of about three and a half hours. And considering what we think is coming in that would put us out to 1:00 or 2:00 in the morning, we didn't think it was going to be productive to go forward at 8:20.

SANDY ALDERSON: Yes, it will slide to 8:20, I believe, 8:19 if the National League is no longer playing.

SANDY ALDERSON: Yes, we started meeting periodically at about 6:00 and had representatives of both teams. We had representatives of broadcasting, the groundskeeper, umpiring, all of the constituencies that would have a direct interest in the game. So the teams were kept fully apprised as time went on. Thank you very much.