Take me out to the. . .gym

I went to the gym after work today. I'm normally not a fan of the gym, but I have to admit, it's highly efficient when one doesn't have a lot of time (or it is dark out, and one doesn't want to go running alone). It's also a fascinating place to do some people-watching, as it is the epitome of the divided attention-span lifestyle that is so common in our (post?)modern society. You know, the one where we can't just do one thing at a time?

And so it was at this gym as well--dozens of people exercising, listening to music, reading and watching sports all at the same time, all tuned into their own little worlds, oblivious to everything else. The only things missing were laptops. (Just wait. It's only a matter of time.)

For 40 minutes, I joined this grand assembly line, where I got a 40-minute workout, listened to jazz, read the Smithsonian, and caught the last 40 minutes of the Phillies vs. Rays game.

I normally don't watch baseball, because most games bore me to tears. You watch guys stand and do nothing for extended lengths, until someone hits a ball.

At first, I kept flipping back and forth between the magazine and the game, but eventually, I couldn't take my eyes off the screen. The Phillies were leading 2-1, and then the Rays tied them, and just as things were getting exciting (and dripping wet), they called off the game. Very odd. In fact, there were so many things I didn't get about this game.
1. Both teams are east coast teams. They were playing till close to 11 p.m. EDT. I'd be groggy about this on a normal weeknight, but it was dumping buckets of rain to boot. They can't play at saner/warmer times?
And speaking of buckets of rain,
2. Why on earth do they make people play in torrential rains? It wasn't just raining; it was pouring. Visibility sucks in rain. In fact, if you wear glasses (though maybe baseball players don't wear glasses?), it's even worse. I don't even like running or biking with glasses in light rain, but in this kind of rain, I don't see how anyone can see a fast ball coming at him.
3. At one point, one of the Rays players got tagged just as he was sliding into home base. It was a very close call. It earned the Rays the critical point to tie the Phillies to keep them in the game, so I got that it was important. The first three times, it was really interesting to watch them replay this in slow motion. But then they proceeded to play this 6 or 7 more times. I got it the first three times around. Do people really need to have this replayed 10 times?
4. They ended up suspending the game. Talk about anti-climactic. Why didn't they just postpone the game in the first place?
What a strange sport.