BOSTON — Steve Adelman, a former resident of Watertown now based in Phoenix and a lawyer specializing in venue safety and security, said Friday midday that there's no way the Red Sox could play for logistical reasons.
BOSTON — Friday night's Red Sox game at Fenway Park was supposed to be a show of solidarity as the team's first game back in Boston since Monday's explosions.
The manhunt that began early Friday morning for one of the two suspected Marathon bombers, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, remained ongoing at 3 p.m. when the club announced the scheduled 7:10 p.m. game with the Royals was postponed.
No make-up date was announced and no word on whether the next day's 1:10 p.m. game could be played was released either.
"For everyone asking, we haven't heard anything on the game," third baseman Will Middlebrooks wrote on Twitter at 11:07 a.m. "It's based off of the city officials. Waiting to hear."
Steve Adelman, a former resident of Watertown now based in Phoenix and a lawyer specializing in venue safety and security, said Friday midday that there's no way the Red Sox could play for logistical reasons.
"The city's in lockdown in right now," Adelman said. "The T is shut down. Commuter rail is shut down, everybody in Middlesex county is being told stay in your houses. There's no public event going to happen in Eastern Massachusetts today. Going to Star Market is not happening today."
Said Harold Hansen, a director at the Academy for Venue Safety and Security: "The risk assessment and the political side, which may mean as much as anything — God, it just doesn't make sense to say, 'Yeah, it's all out there in Watertown, let's not worry about it, come downtown.'"
If Tsarnaev were to be brought into custody in short order Friday afternoon, with enough lead time before the game, Adelman and Hansen said that still should not allow the Red Sox to play because of the possibility there are co-conspirators or other undiscovered explosive devices.
The Red Sox have a quick turnaround for Saturday's game, 1:10 p.m. Adelman said there's "no way to know" if that game would be playable either.
Linda Pizzuti, wife of Red Sox owner John Henry, wrote on Twitter that she was paralyzed and horrified at the events.
Watertown is the epicenter of the manhunt, and the Red Sox's television network, NESN, is based there. NESN employees said on Twitter they were evacuated.
No word yet on tonight's game as of 1:00pm. We are taking the lead from our state and local officials.
— Boston Red Sox (@RedSox) April 19, 2013
Scariest 10+ hours of my life, but incredibly proud of my brave coworkers at @nesn. Everyone remained calm and got out safe. Thanks to BPD!
— Jamison Coyle (@JamisonCoyle) April 19, 2013
For everyone asking, we haven't heard anything on the game. It's based off of the the city officials. Waiting to hear.
— Will Middlebrooks (@middlebrooks) April 19, 2013
A city on lockdown. Paralyzed. Horrified. Watching.
— Linda Pizzuti (@Linda_Pizzuti) April 19, 2013
I'm really worried about when they find this kid... Probably isn't going down without a fight... #prayers
— Will Middlebrooks (@middlebrooks) April 19, 2013
I hope this ends without any other law enforcement or innocent civilians getting injured! This kid has lost his mind #Prayers
— Shane Victorino (@ShaneVictorino) April 19, 2013
Follow MassLive.com Red Sox beat writer @EvanDrellich on Twitter. He can be reached by email at evan.drellich@masslive.com.