By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor 
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Forecasted weather conditions pushed up the second game of the World Series between the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians by one hour Wednesday evening at Progressive Field.
The game took four hours and four minutes to complete as the Cubs won 5-1 to even the series at one. It was the Cubs' first World Series victory in over 70 years. While both teams played through damp conditions, predicted heavy rain never came.
Having previously managed a World Series contest affected by rain with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2008, Joe Maddon recalled his memories of Game 5 as the Philadelphia Phillies went on to win both the game and series.
"Yeah, it was interrupted by the Philly fans. We finally found a hotel. We had already checked out to go back to Tampa, regardless of the result of that game," Maddon said Wednesday in a pre-game press conference, one day before the eight-year anniversary of the first suspended World Series game in league history.
"So the game ends up in a suspension. Ziggy (Jeff Zeigler) had already checked us out, so we didn't have a hotel. Did not have a hotel. Everybody's bags were in the truck or whatever."
Maddon went on to say that the Rays eventually found a hotel at 1 a.m., the du Pont in Wilmington, Delaware. But, it was actions of Phillies fans, according to the 13-year manager, that made the Rays' long night that much more difficult.
The Philly fans, they knew we were there somehow. Five o'clock in the morning they're driving around the hotel blowing the horn, trying to wake everybody up at 5:00 in the morning, 6:00 in the morning. So like you said, a week later it eventually resumes and (Geoff) Jenkins hits that double against Grant. And I was able to pitch Grant Balfour in that moment, and of course, they went on to win the game.
But you have to be able to conclude or complete a World Series game. I think at that time there was actually no built-in mechanism for that. It was really probably a nervous moment for a lot of people, and thankfully B.J. gets on, steals and scores on a base hit, in spite of a good throw by Pat Burrell.
So, yeah, you want to play the game all the way through. It's a little bit different right now. But that's my recollection. It was really an awkward moment, not knowing exactly what was going to happen, had we not scored that run in the top of the fifth inning. But the weather conditions were extreme. But it's still one of my better memories in baseball.
As it turned out, behind a dominating performance from right-hander Jake Arrieta, Game 2 ended much more in favor of Maddon and Ben Zobrist than did Game 5 eight years prior.
The World Series will resume Friday evening at the historic Wrigley Field.
