Set back baseball’s October alarm clock
The time is now for baseball fans to unite and let their voices be heard. Baseball is reaching its prime time of the year, but millions will snore through it because of the TV networks stranglehold on the clock. Nobody in their right mind wants the pinnacle of the baseball season to occur at 1:22 in the morning, as was the case last year. By far the most compelling game of 2004 was Boston defeating NY in game four on David Ortiz’s walk off home run. If only it took place 3 hours earlier, how many more people would have witnessed it live? FOX and ESPN don’t quite see the logic in having the most exciting time of the year on at a time when fans could stay awake and see all the action. The optimum time to start MLB games is 6:18 P.M. Football understands this, and that is when they start the Super Bowl. More people should watch the post-game, than the pre-game, but baseball does not recognize this fact. I challenge any TV executive to tell me more people want baseball on after midnight in October. Last year was an unbelievable year for any fan of the Red Sox, but even the late games took a toll on me. One of the leaders of the team wrote me before game 7 in NY and asked me if I wanted any tickets. I turned down tickets to game 7 of the ALCS, because I was too exhausted. On that Monday morning after going to game 4, I reached my home at 3:45 in the morning, and was on the road by 6:30 to travel an hour to my teaching job. Two days later I was still sleepless, and didn’t think I could drive down and back to NY. Most people have lives outside of baseball, and you need some sleep in order to function in a normal behavior.
Baseball is a passion to many people, not just those of Red Sox Nation. There should be a baseball fan rule that says, “Any team in the playoffs will never begin a game past 7 P.M. local time.” It isn’t only the kids that go to bed before it is over and baseball needs to open their eyes, before everyone else’s are closed tight, because they are sound asleep.
I am
The Fan’s Commish
Rick Swanson