Braves scared White Sox first base coach straight after unnecessary rain delay

Down nine runs in the bottom of the eighth inning when the Chicago White Sox resumed their game against the Atlanta Braves on Monday following a rain delay, was there really a point to playing this one out?

The improbability of a comeback was seen through, with the White Sox losing by that exact scoreline when the game got back going. As the two teams were looking to get restarted after a downpour moved through the Chicago area, everyone was ready. Both sides got their warmups in. Umpires were prepared to declare "play ball" again.

Everyone except for Sox first-base coach Jason Bourgeois, whose delay to get on the field kept the game from restarting.

White Sox first base coach was nowhere to be seen after Braves/Sox rain delay

Most of us learned in real-time Monday that there's a rule that you have to have a first-base coach on the field.

While it's to the offense's advantage to have a first-base coach on the field, one would think that if a team wanted to forego the role for some reason, they could.

Evidently not, as the rain delay was extended a bit longer by the White Sox not having a coach ready to go. After umpires pleaded with Chicago that they could throw, "anybody" out with a helmet to the first-base line, Bourgeois emerged from the dugout.

The reason for the delay? Who really knows. Maybe a long, erm, bathroom break. Perhaps Bourgeois assumed -- along with the rest of us -- that this game would certainly not pick back up and had changed out of his uniform entirely. Or maybe the length of the game had him scrambling to take care of real-life things he had planned for after the game.

Or, maybe the funniest explanation: Just scared to get back out there against the Braves? While that's certainly not it -- Bourgeois has seen enough pro baseball as a former player to not let a 9-0 scoreline on a rainy Monday in early April get to him like that -- it's hard not to draw that storyline in your head.

The Braves are good and looking to get back on track after a disappointing early postseason exit in 2023. This may not be the first coach or player who wishes to wave the white flag against them.