Super Storm brings back memories of Hurricane Ike

Hurricane Sandy and the Frankenstorm have devastated the entire East Coast. Parts of Lower Manhattan and the Jersey Shore are underwater. The Subway system has taken a beating and more than 3 million customers are without electricity. Hundreds of thousands have been evacuated and the storm continues to bring heavy wind and rain inland. Five storm-related deaths were reported in New York state Friday night. Four more were reported in New Jersey.

A marina on the North River near Scituate, MA. gets flooded by the storm surge from Hurricane Sandy. (Greg M. Cooper-US PRESSWIRE)

Baltimore is another area that has suffered severe flooding. Higher elevation areas in West Virginia have experienced blizzard conditions that have led to power outages as well. The storm has been as bad as expected and the devastation is expected to continue for the next 48 hours. Early effects of the storm could be seen at Sunday night’s World Series game in Detroit when a gust of wind blew a fly ball by Miguel Cabrera over the rightfield wall. By Monday people were surfing four foot waves in Lake Michigan.

While our thoughts and prayers are with those in the storm’s path, one has to wonder what sort of action MLB would have taken if the Yankees or Orioles were hosting a World Series game Monday night. I can’t help but think back to September of 2008 when Hurricane Ike tore through the Houston area.

MLB (Bud Selig and Drayton McLane in particular) made some poor decisions that time around. Astros players were forced to leave their families behind, many of them without power, and travel to Milwaukee for a pair of “home” games against the Cubs. Exhausted and worried for the safety of their loved ones, Houston players were unable to focus on their job and provided no competition for the Cubs. The Astros patented late season playoff push came to an abrupt end. For an outstanding account of the entire MLB ordeal related to Hurricane Ike take a look at this post at Astros County.