Discussion: Late Start Times Bad For Baseball

By On October 8, 2010 · 12 Comments · In Uncategorized

When writers such as the media pundits in the Daily News and New York Post used to bemoan late MLB playoff starting times, I would roll my eyes at their complaints. They came off as crotchety old men who were out of touch with the bulk of the fanbase. Baseball games starting in prime time seemed natural to me, and if they ended late at night, so be it. Now, as these playoffs begin and I see another 3 games starting after 8PM slated for this ALDS, I cringe and wonder whether those writers were right after all.

I am a night owl, and will frequently be up until 1 or 2 am on a weeknight. Yet, with school and 3 kids exhausting me during the day and the kids certain to wake me up early the next morning, I find myself tiring much earlier than I have in the past. I was thrilled to see last night’s 6pm game on the schedule, and it was in fact a much better experience than the 8:37 start from the night before. For the first time, I could envision a situation 5, maybe 10, years down the road where I would actually be forced to go to sleep in middle of a playoff game so that I could function as an employee, husband, and father the next day. I am starting to gain an understanding of what those writers were complaining about, and I can only imagine that there are others who have a similar problem. Another issue is that later games are preventing children from watching playoff games. Essentially, MLB has carved out a playoff audience from ages 15-40 or so, and is limiting itself to partial game viewers in other age brackets.

I wanted to ask whether I am just being a whiny fool here, or whether others feel that this is a legitimate problem. Do you think MLB should have earlier start times for East Coast playoff games? Or are you just fine with the way things are?

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12 Responses to Discussion: Late Start Times Bad For Baseball

  1. T.O. Chris H says:
    October 8, 2010 at 5:16 pm

    The problem is how many people are going to be home to watch a game at noon on a Thursday? People work and it’s really hard to try and find a time that is reasonable for how busy peoples lives have become, better to start them late then miss them all together I say.

    Reply
    • Moshe Mandel says:
      October 8, 2010 at 5:41 pm

      I’m ot talking noon. I’m talking 6 or 7 rather than 8 or 830.

      Reply
      • T.O. Chris H says:
        October 8, 2010 at 6:18 pm

        Well today the “double header” of games started at 5:00 PM so that is exactly what you are talking about but as PaulF addressed below me 3 games in one day isn’t going to allow for every single person to be happy.

        Reply
  2. PaulF says:
    October 8, 2010 at 5:42 pm

    As long as there are 3 games in a day, there’s nothing you can really do. The other two games were being played in the eastern time zone, while the Yankees started at 7:30 local time. When they had a west coast game last night they started that one at 9:30. That sucks for braves fans, but what can you do? However I do wish that they would start Sunday night and World Series games at 7:00 instead of 8:00 or 8:30.

    Reply
  3. the other Steve S. says:
    October 8, 2010 at 5:43 pm

    Welcome to a bigger world. Wisdom does come with age, sometimes.

    Reply
  4. Hannah says:
    October 8, 2010 at 5:51 pm

    Those late night starts for you are primetime stats for me in California.

    Reply
  5. bg90027 says:
    October 8, 2010 at 6:09 pm

    I wouldn’t call you a whiny old fool but I would call you east coast centric. At least you have the option of watching it live without taking time off of work. If you don’t feel like staying up, do what those of us on the west coast are forced to do with ALL the games, record it and watch later.

    Reply
  6. Disco says:
    October 8, 2010 at 6:50 pm

    I don’t see the problem with 7pm starts like in the regular season.

    Reply
  7. Theboogiedown says:
    October 9, 2010 at 3:06 am

    I agree with Disco. But as a father of two myself it is a little strange that this is a new revelation for you. How do you get your 10 year old dialed into a 8:35 start for a game on a Weds., put him to bed @ 12pm and get him up again by 6:30am? Seems like a hard way for MLB to grow a fan base to me. I too loved the 6pm start. Never mind the fact that I work hard, 5.5 or 6 hrs. of sleep just doesn’t get it done (ive missed a few great post season victories sacked out in my Man Chair).
    While we’re at it, with technology being what it is, why can’t we somehow get an audio feed of either local radio or TV that can be concurrently synched with TBS’s etc. video feed so we don’t have to listen to the national broadcasters who know less about the NYY than most of us viewers. I’d pay for that.

    Reply
  8. bornwithpinstripes says:
    October 9, 2010 at 9:30 am

    what is the reason for the NL playing alternate days?

    Reply
  9. says:
    October 9, 2010 at 9:31 am

    Since I’m now living in Germany, it doesn’t make a big difference whether the games start at 6pm ET or 8pm ET. 6pm games are just startig when I’m going to bed, and 8pm games are even harder to watch. If I wake up early enough I still get to see the late innings of a West Coast game. I’ve already noticed that it’s pretty hard beeing a Yankee fan in Europe.
    Not a real contribution to the discussion, but I wanted to share my “sad story” with other baseball fans, who are the only ones who could understand how bad one feels when he knows he’s gonna have to miss a CC Sabathia vs. Cliff Lee duel later this postseason because of work, school, et cetera… =(

    Reply
  10. Marcus says:
    October 11, 2010 at 6:16 pm

    There is no way I could stay up late to watch games on the East Coast. Esp Yanks/Sox 5 hr games. My fave part about living in California is the early start time and finish (also no snow and wearing shorts/flip flops in Dec).
    :-)

    Reply

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