At 3:15 p.m. Thursday, the time originally scheduled for first pitch, the temperature was in the 50s, the sky was as gray as someone born in the ’50s. In the stands, the empty stadium was peaceful, the drips dropping into puddles, making a quiet clapping sound with each splash. The white tarp sprawled across the infield, covering ground like Ozzie would. Behind the center field wall, “Freese’s Lawn,” accustomed to pelting from a home run ball, absorbed the rainfall like an old pro.
Earlier in the afternoon, two Cardinals played catch, carefully, on the wet grass in shallow right field.