It’s quite warm outside. It’s the sort of day where it would be nice to find air conditioned shelter in a licensed establishment with chilled air, a couple of good cold IPAs on draft, and large-screen televisions tuned to the Red Sox.
Unfortunately, the televisions tuned to the Red Sox are in short supply, as our beloved (and happily surging) team is spending ten days in the wilderness, wandering up and down the Pacific Coast, on a trip that is ripe with starting times past 10 p.m. on the clocks of the Hub of the Universe.
Last night’s game in Anaheim was one of the most entertaining games of the year. It started with a really good pitchers’ duel, lots of Sox left on base, and a couple of costly Angels errors. The Sox broke it open in the eighth, when with no outs and a runner on second, the Angels chose to pitch to pinch-hitter David Ortiz. The second pitch to Ortiz landed in the right field stands, and the biggest error of the night went to Angels manager Mike Scioscia for not sending Papi to first with an intentional walk. Papi’s dinger landed at about 1:00 a.m. in the Time Zone of the Hub of the Universe, which meant that it was lost to all but the sleepless, DVR devotees, and those who consume their baseball by watching Sox in Two.
To quote the Honorable Governor William J. Le Petomane, “Harrumph! Harrumph! Harrumph!”
One doesn’t need to spend much time listening to sports radio, or reading the baseball columns of American newspapers, before you hear righteous indignation about inter-league play. Somehow, an occasional series across league lines is a moral travesty, in which the White Sox versus the Cubs, the Mets versus the Yankees, or any other mixed mating of American and National League teams is contrary to the will of the Baseball Gods.
Why? Why is a Red Sox road trip to a convenient, east coast, tourist friendly city an anathema to the Baseball Gods, while a 10:05 p.m. start in territory that should have been left to the Pacific Coast League is of no concern?
Now that the movement of the Houston Astros into the American League has created two 15 team leagues, which require at least one inter-league game every day to balance the schedule, we should come to grips with the fact that inter-league play is a necessary element in the baseball schedule. We should also come to grips with the fact that the 10:05 p.m. start is the real affront to the Baseball Gods and all that is wholesome and pure in the Time Zone of the Hub of the Universe.
Fortunately, I have a series of reforms that will solve most of these problems. I hereby urge the Commissioner of Baseball, and those with temporary custody of our National Pastime, to quickly adopt these rules in order to respectfully eliminate the lack of harmony caused by the current baseball schedule and alignment.
1. The 8:30 rule. Under this new scheduling rule, a game may not start later that 8:30 p.m. in the visiting team’s time zone. If a Pacific Coast team is hosting a team from the TIme Zone of the Hub of the Universe, the game can’t start any later than 5:30 p.m. Pacific Time. A west coast game against a Central Time team could not start any later than 6:30 p.m. Pacific Time. Under this rule, East Coast fans can watch their beloved teams, and Pacific Coast fans could hit the restaurants and bars after the game.
2. Green Scheduling. Under the current schedule, you play 18 games against each of your divisional rivals. It’s an interesting rivalry for the American League East, with four out of five teams above .500, but consider that every American League Central team now gets to fatten up on 18 games with the Houston Astros. A little more balance is in order, but that balance shouldn’t come three time zones away. Let’s reduce the number of games on the opposite coast, and schedule more games closer to home. I would happily trade in games in Oakland, Anaheim, and Seattle for games in Flushing, Philadelphia, and Washington. A green schedule would mean the Red Sox would play more games against the N.L. East, fewer games against the A.L. West. Given that the Seattle Mariners have the worst travel schedule in Major League Baseball, the prospects of more games in San Francisco and Los Angeles would be great news for fans and team management alike.
3. The Designated Hitter Problem. I’m not much of a fan of the DH, though I love David Ortiz. The Red Sox offense is built around the DH, which is not the trend outside Boston. Many teams have abandoned the concept of a permanent DH, instead using the position to give a position player a day off from the field.
My solution is a modified inter-league DH rule. When American League and National League teams play each other, regardless of the city, a modified DH rule would be in effect. Under the modified inter-league rule, the DH would be in the game as long as the starting pitcher is in the game. When the starting pitcher is replaced, the DH could replace a player on the field or would leave the game. This gives you a DH well into the game, but also gives you the fun of double-switches and other managerial strategy once the starting pitcher is removed from the game.
So, my friends, let’s put an end to the long string of late night games, and let’s bring meaningful reforms to the baseball schedule that will bring joy to eastern baseball fans and pay proper tribute to the Baseball Gods.
The objectionable string of West Coast Red Sox Baseball in 2013:
Friday, July 5 10:05 p.m. @ Anaheim
Saturday, July 6 10:05 p.m. @ Anaheim (Whatever happened to weekend day games?)
Sunday, July 7 8:05 p.m. @ Anaheim
Monday, July 8 10:10 p.m. @ Seattle
Tuesday, July 9 10:10 p.m. @ Seattle
Wednesday, July 10 10:10 p.m. @ Seattle
Thursday, July 11 3:40 p.m. @ Seattle
Friday, July 12 10:05 p.m. @ Oakland
Saturday, July 13 10:05 p.m. @ Oakland (Whatever happened to weekend day games?)
Sunday, July 14 4:05 p.m. @ Oakland
The Red Sox also play six inter-league games against the N.L. West Giants (August 19-21) and Dodgers (August 23-25).
What about night people in Seattle who face a 10 AM start time to watch their team on visits to the East Coast?
A 10:00 a.m. start (PT) start doesn’t present problems for viewers that a 10:00 p.m. (ET) start does for fans of east coast teams. This would also present a problem for the early start of our Patriots’ Day game.
Do you think a 1:00 p.m. start adversely effects west coast athletes?
I think it just stinks for West Coast fans who don’t want to get up early to see a game. Same on football, yes.
Even on the worst of days, I can usually suck down a cup or two of caffeine and engage the television remote before 10:00 a.m.
No game can start before 5:30pm Mon-Fri in a visiting teams time zome… People usually cannot watch a game at work…
So any game in Boston that is against a Calif team cannot start before 8:30pm.
Imagine the angst around 1060 West Addison Street in Chicago.
Maybe it’s the NL Central fans I interact with out here, but it definitely makes a big difference and forces teams to allow hitters to become valued above fielders and all around smart ball players. It values brawn over brain. Jackie Bradley was one of our more entertaining players to watch early on the season, Ellsbury is a smart player too. Not to bash Big Papi (it’s his name on my Red Sox shirt after all!), but it makes a fairer and better game.
These inter league reforms are reasonable and would give Boston fans a chance to see more of the NL East. I also think our former cross town rival in the Braves (gramps might have been the only one sad to see them leave town in the 50s) should come up here more and vice a versa.
Most AL teams don’t have a permanent DH any more, the Red Sox being the notable exception. The traditional thinking is that the players’ association would object to eliminating the DH because it costs members a job at the end of their careers. The compromise might be to expand the major league roster to 26 players in exchange for eliminating the DH. Failing that, my modified DH rule would be a reasonable compromise between leagues.
I grew up a National League fan, and I love the strategies surrounding lifting the pitcher when his turn at bat rolls around. I love double switches, I love second guessing the need for a pinch hitter versus keeping the pitcher in another inning.
Perhaps the most interesting game I have ever watched is the Mets versus the Reds on July 22, 1986. Here’s a description excerpted from Memorable Mets Moments:
Of course, this game went into extra innings, and things got really interesting in the bottom of the 10th.
From this point until the game ended afdter 14 innings, Roger McDowell moved between the pitchers’ mound, left field, and right field, Mookie Wilson moved back and forth between left field and right field, and Jesse Orosco moved back and forth between right field and the pitchers mound. Orosco scored in the top of the 14th on a Howard Johnson 3-run homer, and McDowell recorded the win. See baseball-reference.com for all the juicy statistics.
Sure, there were ejections and strange circumstances, but I can’t imagine anything like this in a game with the designated hitter.
Hate National League baseball. Grew up in an AL city in the DH era and I’ve never been able to get used to the pitcher hitting. I actually don’t like the strategy involved and the tradeoff of a pitcher doing a good job against the need for runs. The AL I find a cleaner game and it has more offense, year after year.
You need folks in the stands to make MLB work. A 5:30 pm game doesn’t get it done. Keep in mind that our 7pm game starts on the East Coast are awful for West Coasters, as they miss the first hour in work, and the second hour during their commute. And, the teams in the AL:&NL Central are all on Central or Eastern time zones, so the West Coast fans suffer by missing (parts of) games because they start too early far more often than East Coast fans suffer because they miss games which start late. In short: it’s a non-problem. A few games which are sub-optimal for the majority are OK; they’re better for a small minority and that’s perfectly OK.
As for the DH rule: just banish it. So long as there is a DH rule, NL baseball will always be better baseball than AL baseball. The DH destroys a tremendous amount of creativity within a game, and that’s really a shame. Home runs are pretty, but the challenge of how to pitch to (and who should bat) when the pitcher is on deck in the 6th and the team batting is down two runs but has a batter on second with one out is a beautiful in the National League. In the AL, it’s “pitch/swing away”.
If God had intended Major League Baseball to be played on the west coast, he wouldn’t have put the Dodgers in Brooklyn. If God had intended the Red Sox to play on the west coast, he wouldn’t have created the Pacific Coast League.
Seriously, let the Pacific Coast teams play each other more often, severely limit opposite coast games, and replace California trips with road games in Queens, Philadelphia, and Washington.
I pretty much agree with stomv above.
Regarding the 8:30 rule:
1) Welcome to the woes of a Detroit Red Wings fan for the last umpteen years, as the only (or recently, with the addition of Columbus, one of two) “west” team in the eastern time zone. This has been a big issue come playoff time, where your team spent the first three rounds – if you got that far – wandering four times zones. Meanwhile, the entire Eastern Conference played in the same time zone through the conference final. In any case, that is moot now, at least for us Wings fans, with the realignment that takes effect this fall.
2) It ain’t gonna happen. Follow the money. Do you think the Red Sox would sit idly by as their TV and gate revenues for a three game mid-week series diminish because all of the games have to start at 5:30? The situation is even worse for most other teams that do not routinely fill their parks.
The DH: The fact that the disparity between the leagues has gone on for so long should be embarrassing for MLB. Pick one and go with it (I prefer no DH, but DH in both leagues is better than different rules).
Detroit 42.3° N, 83.0° W, and the entire state of Michigan, belong in the Central time zone.
But for now they get the late-evening sunshine all summer long.
and became nostalgic for the waning daylight after 9:30. I can remember vacations in the U.P. fishing until it got dark at 11!
Had my first bike ride around Mackinac, quite fun. And I finally have some insight into what Romney was trying to say about the trees-they are definitely more beautiful and taller than those in surrounding states. And I get why the UP wanted to secede to Canada-everyone sounds Canadian, loves hockey and drinks Labatt.