Deluge of suggestions about that to do with postponed games

The New York Yankees were going to fight the Orioles' rescheduled date of Sept. 8 of a game that was postponed Saturday by Hurricane Irene. The Orioles and Yankees made up one game of the postponed Saturday doubleheader by playing two games Sunday, but the two teams, through their player representatives, management, Major League Baseball and the players' union, argued about when the second postponement should be played. The Yankees and manager Joe Girardi weren't interested in giving up their only day off on Sept. 8 to come to Baltimore and play a game before leaving to start a trip on the West Coast. The Orioles weren't about to give in to the Yankees and play a day-night doubleheader the next time they are up in the Bronx over Labor Day weekend. So what happened? The Yankees were planning to appeal to Major League Baseball to play the game, if needed, at the end of the season. In other words, it would have a provisional game, and that could have cost the Orioles a big gate. But between games Sunday, the Yankees' player representative, outfielder Curtis Granderson, talked to union representatives, who told him that the Yankees' case wasn't going to stick because the rules said that if the teams had a mutual day off, that's when the game had to be played. So the Yankees agreed. The next argument was what time to start the game. The Orioles wanted to play at night. The Yankees, since they were leaving on a road trip west, wanted to play in the afternoon. The Orioles compromised, and the game will be in the afternoon so that the Yankees can get an early start on their trip. * Interesting that the Los Angeles Angels used their two best pitchers, Ervin Santana and Jered Weaver, on three days of rest over the weekend in a series against Texas. Santana won and Weaver lost. That move, however, shows that the Angels don't have much faith in the back of their rotation, Joel Pineiro and Jerome Williams. * The Milwaukee Brewers are running away with the National League Central. How is this team different that in past seasons? For one, they have more big-time pitching with Shaun Marcum and Zack Greinke. But offensively, they do more than just club teams with home runs. They manufacture runs with smart baserunning, hitting behind the runner and being aggressive with double steals. * There's going to be plenty of debate in September about the American League Most Valuable Player. Should it be the pure run production of Toronto's Jose Bautista? How do voters determine who is more valuable among Boston's Adrian Gonzalez, Jacoby Ellsbury and Dustin Pedroia, and New York's Curtis Granderson. And, this year's unique wrinkle: Should Detroit's Justin Verlander, baseball's first 20-game winner, be considered in an MVP vote? * Best story about a hurricane upsetting travel plans beings to Tampa Bay from 2004. One day in September, they left the Tampa-St. Petersburg area late, arrived in New York a 5 p.m. and played a 7 p.m. game at Yankee Stadium. * If the season ended today, the postseason first-round matchups would be: Red Sox-Tigers and Rangers-Yankees. In the National League, it'd be the Phillies-Diamondbacks and Brewers-Braves.