Cubs' extra toil worth the trouble.(Chicago Tribune)

Byline: Mike Downey

CHICAGO _ A 4-hour-17-minute rain delay Monday turned a holiday baseball game into a Labor Day marathon, one that seemed just a few hours shorter than a Jerry Lewis telethon.

Cubs and Cardinals fans from near and far held the fort for as long as they could, many of them passing the hours by offering a prayer to Saint Louis, god of frosty cold brews.

Meanwhile, a hard-working crew of groundskeepers and tarp tuggers did everything humanly possible to keep the playing field from turning into Wrigley Swamp.

With a day-night double-header already on tap for Tuesday, these teams were probably one more downpour or two away from back-to-back, back-breaking, pennant-race twin bills.

(Unless somebody was in the mood to propose Major League Baseball's first morning-noon-night triple-header.)

Luckily, a game scheduled for 1:20 p.m. finally got under way at 5:37, with Sammy Sosa doing his traditional dash to his position in right field. If he had slipped on wet grass, fallen and broken his ankle, Tribune Co. this morning would be up to the top of its tower in angry e-mail.