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2008 World Series Game 5, and all the rain that delayed the Phillies' reign | Oral History

Bud Selig knew it didn’t look good.

For days, the commissioner of baseball studied forecasts — from three weather services, no less. He looked at models and listened to predictions. His mood never brightened. It was going to rain in South Philadelphia; that much was certain. And once it started, it wasn’t going to stop for a few days. It was shaping up to be a nightmare for Major League Baseball.

“Bud is a basket case,” a major-league official told the Washington Post that night.

But if ever there was a good time for Game 5 of the 104th World Series to begin, it was right now, 8:30 p.