Selig calls for shift

DETROIT -- It was 42 degrees when Kenny Rogers threw the first pitch of Game 3 of the American League Championship Series at Comerica Park at 4:31 p.m. yesterday. The game was originally scheduled to have been played last night at 8:19, but Major League Baseball moved up the starting time, claiming it was because of weather considerations. Conspiracy buffs put forth a theory that the game was changed in order to put the Mets and Cardinals in prime time. New York's rainout Wednesday resulted in the Cardinals and Mets playing last night when they were scheduled to be idle.

When commissioner Bud Selig was asked if the Tigers would have played last night if the Mets had been idle, he answered, ``That's a decision I wasn't forced to make, so I can't answer that."

Selig insisted the decision to move the Detroit start was because of weather.

``Having run a team for 25 years [in Milwaukee], I know what this is like," said Selig. ``You know it's going to be cold. We had a situation in New York and I had a sleepless night and I called everybody and there was complete agreement on this. We wanted to do what made the most common sense. It was a decision based on weather and here we're having the coldest weather for this time of year in 88 years. October is October, but this is unprecedented. Once you have a rainout, you have to make whatever adjustments possible. In this case, the clubs made it easy. It was unanimous to do it this way. It turned out to be an easier decision than others I have made."

Selig also took questions regarding baseball's parity: ``In terms of parity, we don't have to take a back seat to any sport."; the wild card: ``We're thinking of making it more difficult for the wild-card team in the future."; and the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement at the end of this year: ``No news is good news. Since I've asked everyone else to stay quiet, I think I'll do the same thing."

Tigers second baseman Placido Polanco had two hits and has hit in eight straight postseason games . . . Oakland designated hitter Frank Thomas is 0 for 11 in the series. The Big Hurt was hit by a pitch and said he thought it was on purpose, but Rogers said, ``If I'm going to hit Frank, I'm going to do it on 0 and 0, not on 0 and 2." . . . Oakland infielder Mark Kiger made his major league debut, playing second base in the eighth. He is the first player in history to make his big league debut in postseason play . . . If the A's rally and make it to the World Series, they have permission from MLB to open the third deck at McAfee Coliseum. That would add 11,406 seats to the old gray bowl.

Dan Shaughnessy can be reached at dshaughnessy@globe.com.