In baseball, a rain check is a ticket issued to spectators which admits them to the ballpark at a later date at no additional cost to the ticket holder. It is issued if a game is cancelled due to rain or other inclement weather, or if a game has been started but suspended due to inclement weather prior to the point of becoming an official game (five innings in regular season Major League Baseball games or at any time during the postseason). Depending on the home team/league policy and the rescheduling of the game, the rain check may admit the ticket holder to watch the rained out game or the continuation of a suspended game only on the rescheduled date, or it may allow the ticket holder to exchange the tickets for tickets of equal value to another game within a specified time frame.
Rain checks were originally separate tickets issued by the home team to spectators as they left the ballpark following a rainout. In modern times, the ticket to the rained out game serves as the rain check. The practice has been recorded since the 1870s [1] [2] – though it did not become generally established until the 20th century [2] – and today the term "rain check" is used idiomatically to refer to any deferred promise.
The institution of issuing tickets for games canceled due to rain dates at least to 1870, [3] [1] while the term rain check dates to at least 1877; in the National League it was pioneered by the St. Louis Brown Stockings: [4] [2] [5]
The St. Louis club is the only nine in the league which gives its patrons the right to see a full game or no pay. In Chicago and other cities, after the first inning is interrupted by rain the spectators are supposed to have received their money's worth. In St. Louis 'rain checks' are issued in such cases.
Originally a rain check for a canceled game was simply a ticket valid for a future game – in lieu of a refund – not specifically for a makeup game. Further, at the time clubs would sell reusable hard cardboard tickets, which were turned in at the admissions gate, then resold at the box office at the conclusion of the game. Originally rain checks were issued to spectators as they exited, but this resulted in severe losses to clubs, due to free-riders and fence-climbers also getting tickets. This was solved by Abner Powell circa 1889 by using a stub on the original ticket as rain check. Powell is thus often incorrectly credited with inventing rain checks, while in fact he instead refined an existing practice. [2] [6] [1]
National League Park, commonly referred to as the Baker Bowl after 1923, was a baseball stadium and home to the Philadelphia Phillies from 1887 until 1938, and first home field of the Philadelphia Eagles from 1933 to 1935. It opened in 1887 with a capacity of 12,500, burned down in 1894, and was rebuilt in 1895 as the first ballpark constructed primarily of steel and brick, and first with a cantilevered upper deck.
Mile High Stadium was an outdoor multi-purpose stadium located in Denver, Colorado, from 1948 to 2001.
Messer Street Grounds, also known as Messer Park or Messer Field, was a former baseball park located in Providence, Rhode Island. It was home to the Providence Grays of the National League from 1878 to 1885 and of the minor league Providence Grays of the Eastern League in 1886.
Sulphur Dell, formerly known as Sulphur Spring Park and Athletic Park, was a baseball park in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. It was located just north of the Tennessee State Capitol building in the block bounded by modern-day Jackson Street, Fourth Avenue North, Harrison Street, and Fifth Avenue North. The ballpark was home to the city's minor league baseball teams from 1885 to 1963. The facility was demolished in 1969.
Doubleday Field is a baseball stadium in Cooperstown, New York named for Abner Doubleday and located two village blocks from the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum.
A ballpark, or baseball park, is a type of sports venue where baseball is played. The playing field is divided into two field sections called the infield and the outfield. The infield is an area whose dimensions are rigidly defined in part based on the placement of bases, and the outfield is where dimensions can vary widely from ballpark to ballpark. A larger ballpark may also be called a baseball stadium because it shares characteristics of other stadiums.
121 Financial Ballpark is a baseball park in Jacksonville, Florida. It is the home stadium of the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp Minor League Baseball team, who play in the International League. The facility opened in 2003.
The Major League Baseball (MLB) season schedule consists of 162 games for each of the 30 teams in the American League (AL) and National League (NL), played over approximately six months – a total of 2,430 games, plus the postseason. The regular season runs from late March/early April to late September/early October, followed by the postseason which can run to early November. The season begins with the official Opening Day, and, as of 2018, runs 26½ weeks through the last Sunday of September or first Sunday of October. One or more International Opener games may be scheduled outside the United States or Canada before the official Opening Day. It is possible for a given team to play a maximum of 22 games in the postseason in a given year, provided the team is a wild card and advances to each of the Division Series, Championship Series, and World Series with each series going the distance.
In minor league baseball promotion, the Knothole Gang is a special ticket package for children sold in an effort to bring more families out to games.
Rainout, washout, rain delay, and rain stopped play are terms regarding an outdoor event, generally a sporting event, delayed or canceled due to rain, or the threat of rain. It is not to be confused with a type of out in baseball, though a baseball game can be rained out. Delays due to other forms of weather are named "snow delay", "lightning delay", "thunderstorm delay", or "fog delay", while there are many other effects of weather on sport. Also, a night game can be delayed if the floodlight system fails. Often spectators will be issued a ticket for a make up event, known as a "rain check".
In the sport of baseball, a doubleheader is a set of two games played between the same two teams on the same day. Historically, doubleheaders have been played in immediate succession, in front of the same crowd. Contemporarily, the term is also used to refer to two games played between two teams in a single day in front of different crowds and not in immediate succession.
Abner Charles Powell was an American Major League Baseball player who was a member of the Washington Nationals of the Union Association in 1884.
In baseball, an official game is a game where nine innings have been played, except when the game is scheduled with fewer innings, extra innings are required to determine a winner, or the game must be stopped before nine innings have been played, e.g. due to inclement weather. The term "official game" is mainly used in the context of a game that is stopped before nine innings have been played, though it has been used for other promotional purposes.
The term "behind closed doors" is used in several sports to describe matches played where spectators are not allowed in the stadium or venue to watch. The reasons for this may include punishment for a team found guilty of a certain act in the past, stadium safety problems, public health concerns, or to prevent potentially dangerous clashes between rival supporters.
Rain check may refer to:
The MLB Little League Classic is an annual Major League Baseball (MLB) specialty game held in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, during the Little League World Series, first contested during the 2017 edition of that event. The series is part of MLB's effort to get more children interested in and involved with baseball at a younger age.
Grant Field was a baseball stadium located in Dunedin, Florida. It was the longtime home of Dunedin amateur baseball and the first spring training home of the Toronto Blue Jays, as well as home to the Dunedin Blue Jays of the Class A Florida State League. It was closed in 1989 and replaced with TD Ballpark built on the same site.
The MLB London Series is an arrangement for Major League Baseball (MLB) to play select regular season games at London Stadium in London, England. The arrangement was initially for two years, 2019 and 2020, which was sponsored by Mitel and branded as Mitel & MLB Present London Series. The 2019 games were the first MLB contests ever played in Europe, and featured the Boston Red Sox hosting two games against the New York Yankees. Two games planned for 2020 between the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago Cubs were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, the arrangement between MLB and Greater London was renewed for games in 2023, 2024 and 2026. Beginning with the 2023 season, the series is branded as the MLB World Tour: London Series, reflecting the new "MLB World Tour" name applied to games played outside the U.S. and Canada.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused disruption to baseball around the world, mirroring its impact across all sports. Leagues around the world experienced delayed starts, cancelled seasons, limited or no fan attendance, game postponements, and other restrictions in 2020 and 2021. Most leagues, including Major League Baseball, began to transition back to a normal schedule with fan attendance in 2021. Since then, few leagues have widespread restrictions in place, but players may still miss time if they contract the virus.