MLB Commissioner Bud Selig said Thursday the shift of the regular season's end to a Wednesday night from its traditional Sunday afternoon came from his Special Committee for On-Field Matters, with the new slating contributing heavily to the excitement generated and bullish TV ratings beyond the historic in-game drama itself. "The night was absolutely extraordinary," Selig said. "There's nothing that was even close to this." Selig said he watched the series of playoff-deciding games at home "like a fan" after returning from Rosh Hashanah services. "Only baseball could produce a night like this." The Wednesday slating for the end of the regular season will again be used in '12, with the final games scheduled for Oct. 3. But Selig declined comment on whether last night's events will influence ongoing discussions with the MLBPA on the creation of additional playoff spots (Eric Fisher, SportsBusiness Journal).
FALL CLASSIC: USA TODAY's Michael Hiestand writes, "Smart move by Major League Baseball to have its season end midweek, rather than the old way of ending on Sundays and its final-day buzz getting drowned out by the NFL" (USA TODAY, 9/30). In Palm Beach, Hal Habib writes, "Too often the term 'instant classic' gets slapped on today's sports." But Thursday, no one "dared dispute that the grand finale of these wild-card races not only was classic, but will be told and retold forevermore" (PALM BEACH POST, 9/30). USA TODAY's Mike Lopresti writes if MLB's "postseason can match Wednesday's midnight madness, Commissioner Selig should do a hula dance on top of a dugout." Lopresti: "Good thing the wild-card races came up with classic endings, since the divisional races had the drama of drying paint" (USA TODAY, 9/30). The GLOBE & MAIL's Bruce Dowbiggin writes MLB is increasingly "seen as a white, middle-class sport with no profile in the hip-hop or MMA cultures that dominate televised sports at the moment." Dowbiggin: "Those of us who've drifted away from baseball got a reminder this week of why we used to love it. But is one sensational night of baseball enough to make up for a season that was flatter than [a] panini? Until we see a second act for the sport, we're going to withhold approval of the game's rebirth" (GLOBE & MAIL, 9/30).
PRIME-TIME DRAMA: ESPN’s Tony Kornheiser said “everybody who saw” Wednesday night’s games “thought they were amazing, maybe the best night of regular season baseball ever. This is clearly due to baseball adding a wild-card playoff team in each league” (“PTI,” ESPN, 9/29). ESPN’s Dan Le Batard said it “was the best night ever in baseball” because this “was March Madness. It took baseball 161 games but they finally gave us what football gives us on Sunday. They gave us the Red Zone” (“Dan Le Batard Is Highly Questionable,” ESPN2, 9/29). ESPN’s Jim Rome: “Greatest night of baseball ever” (“Jim Rome Is Burning,” ESPN2, 9/29). MLB Network’s Kevin Millar: “It was the most remarkable night of baseball I’ve ever seen” (“Intentional Talk Live,” MLB Network, 9/29). Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic’s Ben Davis: “This is exactly why this is our national past-time” (“Washington Post Live,” Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic, 9/29).
PREVIEW OF WHAT'S TO COME? In S.F., Ron Kroichick writes under the header, "More MLB Elimination Games, Please." The "chance for an encore rises with one more wild card in each league." Kroichick: "Bring on those extra wild cards. ... Win and advance. Lose and go home. We need more games like that, no matter how it happens" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 9/30). But ESPN.com's Mark Kreidler wrote, "Just to be clear: Wednesday night, perhaps the most emotionally volatile night in regular-season baseball history, does not happen under the proposed new format" (ESPN.com, 9/29).
