Angels to play 20 games in a row after rainout

ANAHEIM -- Angels left-hander Andrew Heaney, the club’s union representative, said Angels players were fine with the decision to postpone Wednesday’s scheduled game with the Twins because of unplayable field conditions, but that they wanted to have the makeup rescheduled for Aug. 26 instead of Thursday.

Heaney said the outfield didn’t drain properly and it wouldn’t have been safe to play, so the players understood why they had to go through just their third rainout at Angel Stadium dating back to 1995 despite sunny conditions at game time. But with the game on Thursday, it means the Angels will now play a stretch of 20 games in a row without a day off, including 26 straight days of showing up at the park.

“First off, ideally we would have all loved to play yesterday,” Heaney said. “The grounds crew worked really hard to get the field going. It just wasn’t playable. It wasn’t safe for anybody on their team or our team. Second, we were trying to discuss dates moving forward that would have worked for both teams. Obviously, that’s a mutual off-day. Today was a mutual off-day and there’s another on the 26th of August that we were trying to move it towards. For us, this is going to be 26 straight days at the field. Technically, yesterday was an off-day because we didn’t play a game so it doesn’t violate our CBA, but for us, it’s 26 straight games. I’m here to represent the team and to look out for our guys’ safety.”

The Angels and Twins both have a mutual off-day on Aug. 26, which is when the Angels wanted to play. They would be coming off a series in Houston before hosting the Rangers for a two-game set from Aug. 27-28. However, the Twins would be wrapping up a series in Minnesota, and then would have to head to Chicago for a three-game series that begins on Aug. 27.

The Twins didn’t want to go through with that kind of travel for the makeup game, though the Angels noted they have a similar situation coming up at the end of the month.

“We have a situation where we play in Seattle, go to play a makeup game in Chicago, and our off-day and then come back here to play Oakland at home,” Heaney said. “Not the greatest travel. So I think a lot of guys on our side didn’t feel a ton of sympathy for them having to go on the 26th from Minnesota, to here and then back to Chicago. It’s sort of a similar travel plan as to what we have.”

Ultimately, the decision was not up to the players, as Major League Baseball and the clubs are involved in the scheduling process. If the Angels had been scheduled for more than 20 games in a row, the players would’ve had final say, according to the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

“Because it didn’t violate the CBA, we don’t really have the hammer,” Heaney said. “If it did, then we ultimately have the final say, but because it’s considered an off-day that breaks it up and it’s not 26 straight games, we don’t have the final say.”