Cubs' Crane Kenney reiterates postponement was purely weather-related

Cubs president of business operations Crane Kenney said Wednesday that the postponement of Tuesday’s game at Wrigley Field was “entirely weather-related.”

The Cubs and Cardinals were supposed to play Tuesday night but the game was canceled in the early afternoon because forecasts showed inclement weather headed toward the North Side.

The premature postponement was met with skepticism after Sunday’s opening night debacle, which included malfunctioning toilets and fans urinating into cups.

Kenney dismissed the skeptics on “Kap & Haugh” Wednesday morning.

“It’s entirely weather-related,” Kenney told the WGN+ radio hosts. “No different than any other game that we’ve called. Theo [Epstein], Carl [Rice] and I hooked up around 12:30, talked about the forecast and then started talking about alternative dates. There’s a little math that goes into the schedule.

“There was a 40 percent chance of rain at 6 p.m. and with wind chills below freezing, we thought rather than have our fans come sit through a rain delay, we thought we’d let them know early. It’s really no different than decisions we’ve made in the past.”

The delay works in the Cubs’ favor in more ways than one. The rescheduled game will come later in the summer when the bleachers are up and open, meaning greater ticket and concessions revenue. It also means prized prospect Kris Bryant will be with the team for a makeup game against the Cardinals — the NL Central favorites.

“You guys are watching too much CSI,” Kenney said when asked about the skepticism. “Absolutely nothing to do with it. As you all reported, all the porta-potties were dropped off in the morning and were all installed by 11 o’clock. There’s no work going on today to change the ballpark so we were ready to go with our temporary restroom solution by 11, and so that had nothing to do with it. it was cold and rainy yesterday.”

Despite the Tuesday forecasts and the premature cancellation, rain didn’t fall Tuesday night around Wrigley.