Baltimore Unplayable for Angels

A Camden Yards parking lot was filled with fire trucks, hazardous-material cleanup equipment, police cars and assorted emergency vehicles. Several roads near the stadium were blocked. Sirens blared throughout the afternoon and evening around the Inner Harbor.

There was no baseball in Baltimore again Friday. A persistent fire aboard a derailed freight train that included several cars carrying hydrochloric acid forced postponement of Friday night’s game between the Angels and Baltimore Orioles.

The game, the first of a four-game series, was rescheduled as part of a day-night doubleheader Sunday. The Angels and Orioles are scheduled to play tonight, but there’s a chance that game also could be postponed, which could force the teams into back-to-back doubleheaders Sunday and Monday.

If all four games are postponed--a remote possibility, but not out of the question--Oriole Chief Executive Officer Joe Foss said rescheduling games for next weekend in Anaheim, where the Orioles play Friday through Sunday, “is a very viable alternative.”

The Orioles also are scrambling to reschedule two games against Texas that were postponed Wednesday and Thursday because of the accident, which occurred Wednesday afternoon in a tunnel less than a mile from the stadium.

“I’ve been rained out, snowed out, and earthquaked out in Seattle once in 1996,” said Oriole Manager Mike Hargrove, who played 12 years in the big leagues. “I’ve never been chemicaled out, though there were a few times I couldn’t play because I took too many chemicals.”

The Angels have been part of some strange cancellations. In May 1997, a game against the White Sox in Chicago was called some five hours before game time because of cold weather and the threat of snow. It turned out to be a clear, crisp evening, on the cool side but comfortable for baseball.

In April 1998, the first two games of a three-game series in New York were called off after a 500-pound chunk of concrete from the bottom of the upper deck of Yankee Stadium fell onto the middle deck.

The stadium was empty at the time and no one was hurt, but city officials wouldn’t allow games to be played there until the stadium was inspected for structural defects. The Angels and Yankees were able to play one game in Shea Stadium, home of the Mets.

“Other than the old minor league flood, when a field would be covered with water for some mysterious reason, this is the oddest cancellation I’ve seen,” said Angel Manager Mike Scioscia, a former Dodger catcher. “But one time we got rained out in L.A. in May. That might have been odder than this.”

The Angels took a four-game winning streak to Baltimore, but a loss of momentum could be offset by a much-needed day of rest for the bullpen.

Closer Troy Percival threw 104 pitches in six games during a 10-day period ending Thursday, and Al Levine, Shigetoshi Hasegawa, Mike Holtz and Ben Weber made numerous appearances this past week.

“It’s good for the pitchers to catch a breather because they’ve been running on fumes, but we’re going to pay a price for it,” Scioscia said. “There could be a major increase in workload for the bullpen, because we’ll have three games in a 27-hour period and four games in a 44-hour period. That’s a lot of baseball.”

Scioscia might recall an extra pitcher from triple-A Salt Lake City today, “but with a split doubleheader, we need a lot of position players too,” he said. “The day off [Friday] will help, but the doubleheader won’t. That’s going to put a strain on us.”

The postponement put a mental strain on Angel right fielder Tim Salmon, who joined the team Friday after a 15-day stint on the disabled list and was eager to improve on his .206 average.

“For two weeks I’ve been looking forward to getting into a game, so this doesn’t exactly sit well right now,” Salmon said. “I’ve been real anxious about getting back out there. To wait another night is tough.”

But Salmon, the Angels and Orioles--who lose up to $1.5 million in revenue per game if games are not made up--have no choice. They’re at the mercy of public safety officials, who want the hazardous materials and the fires out of the tunnel before baseball resumes.

“It’s a complex situation given the magnitude of the disaster, and [firefighters] have to make adjustments as they go,” Foss said. “The heat and smoke are very intense, and they don’t know what they’re going to find until they get in there. . . .

“This is a very, very serious accident. There are concerns about chemical spills, fires and the integrity of the tunnel. They don’t think the area is safe for fans to come back.”