Not to be pessimistic, but…

Posted Apr 3, 2008 by Marc Lancaster

Updated Apr 3, 2008 at 08:49 AM

BALTIMORE—The weather here is not pleasant at the moment—44 degrees, 39 with the wind chill—but baseball could be played in it. According to the nice folks at Weather.com, though, this may be as good as it gets today.

Their forecast for later today: “Increasing clouds with periods of showers this afternoon. ... Chance of rain 70%”

And for tonight: “Periods of rain. Rain becoming heavy at times overnight. ... Chance of rain 90%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected.”

Doesn’t sound real promising. That means we’ll hit the clubhouse at 3:30 today looking for a rainout story to cover us in case of postponement and everyone will be checking the calendar.

I’ve already taken a look at it, and unfortunately there isn’t much in the way of obvious makeup dates if this bad boy gets wiped out. The only one I could find would be Aug. 21. That’s an off day for the Rays just before a quick three-game road trip to Chicago, and an off day in the middle of a homestand for the Orioles. That would seem to make the most sense, since doubleheaders are a last-resort option these days because of the strain they put on pitching staffs.

But maybe I’m jumping the gun. Maybe there’s a window to get this one in. Guess we’ll see later on…