I didn't catch a minute of the Philadelphia-Colorado game last night. By the time it started (and the Yankees-Minnesota game was over) it was 9:30 Central time, and we were in bed -- my wife, Karen, is not really a baseball fan (that's putting it mildly), so I didn't want to put it on the television. And either WMVP radio (ESPN's radio station in Chicago) signed off of baseball after the previous game or turned down its power, because I couldn't pick up the game on the radio at all. Unfortunately, I missed a good game (not that I would have listened to all of it anyway); more unfortunately, another blown call played an important part in the game (more on that in a bit).
Here's my question: what genius at MLB decided starting the game at 10:07 PM Eastern Time would be a good idea? Especially when an east coast team like Philadelphia is involved; this means that virtually nobody under age 10 saw any of the game. And before anybody says, "But the kids should have the day off, since it's Columbus Day the next day," that assumes people actually have the day off (not everybody does -- I'm writing this from the office), and that parents will let their kids stay up much later for that purpose (I wouldn't; my six-year-old has lights out at 8 PM). If MLB is thinking this is the way to garner new fans, they couldn't be more wrong. (I suppose they're getting slightly smarter; when the League Championship Series first started in 1969, on at least one occasion the AL and NL games started at the same time, leaving NBC to decide which to broadcast.)
So, I propose to MLB the following:
- No more than three games on any weekday (this seems to be the rule anyway).
- No start time later than 8:30 PM Eastern. This may mean some games may overlap, but they did last night anyway, so what difference does it make?
- Game times have to be flexible. I understand the logic for yesterday -- Boston vs. Angels had to start at 1 PM because the New England Patriots were playing the 4 PM game; New Englanders don't want to be paralyzed by the choices and the big, bad NFL will never move a game themselves unless they start getting negative press. And, understandably, the Red Sox were getting sick of being the 10 PM Eastern start when they were in California. So that was locked in. Likewise, the Philadelphia-Colorado game had to be the late game because the Denver Broncos was playing against the Patriots in that same 4 PM game. But did the Yankees-Minnesota have to start at 7 Eastern? It's Sunday night, everybody's at home watching sports anyway, the New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings both played 1 PM games and the Jets play tonight (oh, and if the Twins had won yesterday, you can bet a Yankees-Minnesota Game 4 would have run right up against the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins). The Yankees-Minnesota game should have started at 5:30 Eastern last night, which would have allowed the Philadelphia-Colorado game to start at 8:30, allowing the kids to at least catch the first three innings or so.
If TBS doesn't like this, well, they're hereby invited to bite me. Another network that understands the game a bit better (ahem, ESPN) can take over.
*****
Hated to see the Twins go out that way, but they're probably very happy they made it to the postseason in the first place without Justin Morneau and with Jason Kubel going 0-for-13 with nine strikeouts. Without the two of them, they had virtually no power (Joe Mauer's an outstanding hitter, but he's not a slugger).
The baserunning gaffes in Games 2 and 3 didn't help, although neither could be defined as a gamebreaker. The Game 2 goof came earlier in the game, and showed that Carlos Gomez will never be the five-tool player Minnesota may have hoped (note to Mets fans: with Phil Humber stuck in AAA and the other two pitchers not in the majors, it's looking like the Johan Santana trade will be as much of a win as the Rick Aguilera and Kevin Tapani for a fading Frank Viola was a loss). On the other hand, Nick Punto is a smart baseball player, but he had a major brain cramp last night; he ran through a stop sign by his third base coach (which took me about five replays to see, until it occurred to someone at TBS to get rid of the ALDS logo that was blocking our view).
Next year the Twins will be playing outdoors again (hey, that ought to be fun in early April, huh?). I wonder if they'll still be wearing the Carl Pohlad arm patches -- I'm sure some in the city and with the team genuinely mourned his death, but Pohlad's seeming indifference toward his team (remember he offered up the Twins for contraction?) also carries some weight.
*****
So far we've had several games directly affected by the umpires blowing calls, to the point where folks are calling for instant replay in baseball as it is in football. Some of the calls were debatable (in the Detroit-Minnesota play-in game where a pitch grazed batter Brandon Inge's shirt, the home plate umpire was screened out), some were just plain blown (Phil Cuzzi completely and utterly missed the "foul" ball in Game 2 of the Yankees-Minnesota series even though he had an unobstructed view from 15 feet away; after he rang up a Twins hitter on a very questionable check swing yesterday, Chip Carey noted on TBS he's going to have a hard time reserving a table a restaurant in Minnesota for awhile). I didn't see last night's Philadelphia-Colorado game, so I can't judge that one.
I can see the logic of instant replay (I'm not a purist, I like getting the calls right), but the problem I can see is the slowdowns in the game (a pitcher doesn't want to be standing on the mound for five minutes doing nothing while a replay official stares at eight angles) and that no equivalent giveback to a timeout if "replay challenge" is instituted like it is in football. Suggestions welcome.
*****
Best line of the day: Dave Campbell, on ESPN radio, when a pitcher threw a breaking ball for strike three after a series of fastballs: "When you're looking for a 99-mile-an-hour pitch and you get Mr. Snappy instead…" Mr. Snappy. I'll have to remember that.
Here's my question: what genius at MLB decided starting the game at 10:07 PM Eastern Time would be a good idea? Especially when an east coast team like Philadelphia is involved; this means that virtually nobody under age 10 saw any of the game. And before anybody says, "But the kids should have the day off, since it's Columbus Day the next day," that assumes people actually have the day off (not everybody does -- I'm writing this from the office), and that parents will let their kids stay up much later for that purpose (I wouldn't; my six-year-old has lights out at 8 PM). If MLB is thinking this is the way to garner new fans, they couldn't be more wrong. (I suppose they're getting slightly smarter; when the League Championship Series first started in 1969, on at least one occasion the AL and NL games started at the same time, leaving NBC to decide which to broadcast.)
So, I propose to MLB the following:
- No more than three games on any weekday (this seems to be the rule anyway).
- No start time later than 8:30 PM Eastern. This may mean some games may overlap, but they did last night anyway, so what difference does it make?
- Game times have to be flexible. I understand the logic for yesterday -- Boston vs. Angels had to start at 1 PM because the New England Patriots were playing the 4 PM game; New Englanders don't want to be paralyzed by the choices and the big, bad NFL will never move a game themselves unless they start getting negative press. And, understandably, the Red Sox were getting sick of being the 10 PM Eastern start when they were in California. So that was locked in. Likewise, the Philadelphia-Colorado game had to be the late game because the Denver Broncos was playing against the Patriots in that same 4 PM game. But did the Yankees-Minnesota have to start at 7 Eastern? It's Sunday night, everybody's at home watching sports anyway, the New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings both played 1 PM games and the Jets play tonight (oh, and if the Twins had won yesterday, you can bet a Yankees-Minnesota Game 4 would have run right up against the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins). The Yankees-Minnesota game should have started at 5:30 Eastern last night, which would have allowed the Philadelphia-Colorado game to start at 8:30, allowing the kids to at least catch the first three innings or so.
If TBS doesn't like this, well, they're hereby invited to bite me. Another network that understands the game a bit better (ahem, ESPN) can take over.
*****
Hated to see the Twins go out that way, but they're probably very happy they made it to the postseason in the first place without Justin Morneau and with Jason Kubel going 0-for-13 with nine strikeouts. Without the two of them, they had virtually no power (Joe Mauer's an outstanding hitter, but he's not a slugger).
The baserunning gaffes in Games 2 and 3 didn't help, although neither could be defined as a gamebreaker. The Game 2 goof came earlier in the game, and showed that Carlos Gomez will never be the five-tool player Minnesota may have hoped (note to Mets fans: with Phil Humber stuck in AAA and the other two pitchers not in the majors, it's looking like the Johan Santana trade will be as much of a win as the Rick Aguilera and Kevin Tapani for a fading Frank Viola was a loss). On the other hand, Nick Punto is a smart baseball player, but he had a major brain cramp last night; he ran through a stop sign by his third base coach (which took me about five replays to see, until it occurred to someone at TBS to get rid of the ALDS logo that was blocking our view).
Next year the Twins will be playing outdoors again (hey, that ought to be fun in early April, huh?). I wonder if they'll still be wearing the Carl Pohlad arm patches -- I'm sure some in the city and with the team genuinely mourned his death, but Pohlad's seeming indifference toward his team (remember he offered up the Twins for contraction?) also carries some weight.
*****
So far we've had several games directly affected by the umpires blowing calls, to the point where folks are calling for instant replay in baseball as it is in football. Some of the calls were debatable (in the Detroit-Minnesota play-in game where a pitch grazed batter Brandon Inge's shirt, the home plate umpire was screened out), some were just plain blown (Phil Cuzzi completely and utterly missed the "foul" ball in Game 2 of the Yankees-Minnesota series even though he had an unobstructed view from 15 feet away; after he rang up a Twins hitter on a very questionable check swing yesterday, Chip Carey noted on TBS he's going to have a hard time reserving a table a restaurant in Minnesota for awhile). I didn't see last night's Philadelphia-Colorado game, so I can't judge that one.
I can see the logic of instant replay (I'm not a purist, I like getting the calls right), but the problem I can see is the slowdowns in the game (a pitcher doesn't want to be standing on the mound for five minutes doing nothing while a replay official stares at eight angles) and that no equivalent giveback to a timeout if "replay challenge" is instituted like it is in football. Suggestions welcome.
*****
Best line of the day: Dave Campbell, on ESPN radio, when a pitcher threw a breaking ball for strike three after a series of fastballs: "When you're looking for a 99-mile-an-hour pitch and you get Mr. Snappy instead…" Mr. Snappy. I'll have to remember that.
Credit: The above picture originally appeared in today's New York Daily News and was taken by Barbara Antonelli.
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