I have changed my stance. Previously, I thought there was something special about important October baseball games during the day on Monday through Friday. Old school.
This year, though, I came to a realization: I never can watch those weekday games.
I work during the day, as do most of you (when you’re not reading Sherman Report). Yesterday, I wasn’t able to tune in to the Boston-Detroit game until 6 p.m. Central. By then, the game was in the eighth inning. The same probably will be true for this afternoon’s St. Louis-LA game.
There’s a reason why Major League Baseball finally shifted World Series games to night in 1971: That’s when people are home to watch them.
It really doesn’t make sense to play your most important games of the year on weekdays. Imagine the NBA or NHL airing conference final playoff games on weekdays.
The day playoff games aren’t about serving the fans; it’s about serving the networks. MLB obviously doesn’t want to have the two LCS games competing against each other on Fox and TBS in primetime.
However, in the process, the set-up limits the audience for the weekday game, especially on the West coast.
I’m a channel flipper. I would love nothing more than to spend the evening bouncing around between two playoff games. Baseball moves at such a slow pace, you wouldn’t miss much from either game.
The concept of airing multiple playoff games at the same time has lifted the Stanley Cup playoffs on NBC’s multiple platforms. It pulled me in, given all the great finishes in hockey. Baseball should take notice.
Here’s a suggestion: MLB should begin the early game at 5:30-6 p.m. ET, instead of 4 p.m. Then push back the late game from 7 p.m. ET to 7:30. Sure, there would be some overlap, but most people still would be able to see the bulk of both games.
The one plus of afternoon playoff baseball is that allows young kids with early bedtimes to watch the games. I’ve made the argument for years that baseball has lost a generation of young fans with the late starts for the World Series. At the very least, the weekend World Series games definitely should begin earlier.
However, I’m not sure the kids are watching anyway. If they are, if LCS games started at 5:30-6 p.m. ET, those young fans still would be able to see plenty of baseball.
MLB, though, likely won’t make any changes to the format. Too much hassle with the networks.
That means more afternoon playoff games that I and many other baseball fans won’t be able to see.
Strongly disagree Ed. Most people today have some sort of DVR or ‘time shifting’ device. There’s no real issue to having games played in the afternoon then watching them when you get home from work.
But playing games in the afternoon ESPECIALLY in colder weather cities, means temperatures might be better, fans and players may not freeze at night and the product on the field should be better.
Obviously Ed you never tried hitting a cut fastball in 40 degree weather!
Who watches baseball on DVR? Can’t flip channels that way. Good point about weather. However, not a big concern for baseball.
Baseball is suicidal Ed. They do so many stupid things that is just killing the sport. Airing only 1 playoff game on each of the last 2 Sundays is another example.
I agree with this piece. Overlapping games can work and of course, you can update on the other game during a telecast. Sometimes, rainouts cause overlaps as well. Go back to 10 years ago when Yankees-Red Sox and Marlins-Cubs were on the same day at about the same times on FOX and FX. Why can’t Turner start one game on TBS and the other on TNT? It will never happen, but Game 5 on 1:00 local time in LA is just a weird time for a playoff game, especially a potential clinching game.
As an east coast resident, here’s what I want, and I believe what baseball needs: earlier start times so that 9 inning games end by 1030-11 instead of 1130-12, and even earlier start times so that my young kids can watch more than two innings on any night. This is why I love afternoon post-season baseball, even if it means that I’m going to miss some or all of the games.
That said, I am all for your suggested start times, and would gladly sacrifice the 4pm game for a 5:30 one.
Ed, luv ya babe, but you’re a real Baseball Grouch lately.
You’re asking me to imagine NHL or NBA daytime games in the middle of the week??? On which planet? Baseball, however, has a longstanding tradition of these games during the regular season.
Strange how the fans at the ballpark are able to make these games. If your team is in the hunt, you’ll find a way to catch the action, day or night, at the park or on the tube or on the radio or on some sort of futuristic handheld device. If not, there’s the DVR. For someone whose team is not in the hunt, MLB Network and Baseball Tonight are also adequate catch-alls. And again, there’s the DVR.
I don’t know who told you that a true baseball fan needs to watch every single pitch of every single game live and in color in order to be a baseball fan … but that person is a liar.
All I know is my boys were in bed and not watching when Ortiz hit his grand salami in ALCS Game 2 (night game). They were safely ahead of bedtime and watching when Napoli hit his HR in Game 3 (day game).
Daytime weekend World Series games would be nice. But these issues you bring up have been out of the fans’ control going on close to 50 years now …