GARY | When RailCats players started arriving at The Steel Yard for batting practice Saturday afternoon, they looked, they stared and then they pulled out their camera phones.
They were taking pictures of the flooded field with water ankle-high around the warning tracks. They were taking pictures of the dugouts flooded to field level with rainwater and bases, cans and cabinets floating on top. Then they were taking pictures of the left field sinkhole, which looked like a mini-crater.
"I never expected to walk into this," RailCats general manager Bill Terlecky said. "I thought the only thing that could stop us today is more rain."
The Northern League Championship Series Game 3 between the RailCats and Kansas City T-Bones was called a little after 11:30 Saturday morning. It was moved to 2 p.m. today with Game 4 at 6 p.m. Monday. If a Game 5 is necessary, it will be played at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
The pumps that move the water off of the field and into the city waste system were overloaded and stopped working during the night on Friday. Nearly 36 hours of rain in Gary was too much for the pump system, leaving the water no place to go and it stood on the field. The runoff from the stadium stairs went into both dugouts.
One pump had returned to working order by 3 p.m., but that was also around the time the rain that had held off all day, began to fall.
When the T-Bones arrived at the park after 4, the water had only settled on the warning tracks and the dugouts had been drained.
"You hate to see it canceled that early, but when we got here and took a look at it, it makes sense," T-Bones manager Andy McCauley said. "It's unfortunate because we want to play as much as the fans want to see a game. It doesn't look like we're going to get a break any time soon."
By the time RailCats pitcher Brian Forystek throws today, he will have had a week off from his last start on Sept. 6 in Winnipeg. If the game is called again today, manager Greg Tagert said he might have to reconsider the pitching rotation for the next two to three games.
"Now we're getting into an abnormal amount of rest," Tagert said. "We have to decide at what point they're all ready to go."
