TBS did not "nix a request to move up the start time" of yesterday's scheduled late-afternoon Nationals-Cubs NLDS Game 4 to 1:00pm CT to "avoid approaching bad weather that ultimately led to its postponement despite reports to the contrary," according to sources cited by Phil Rosenthal of the CHICAGO TRIBUNE. Postseason scheduling is determined by MLB in consultation with its TV partners, so TBS could not have "unilaterally approved or vetoed a start time." Rosenthal notes considerations include "not only weather" but if there is "enough time to alert" ticket-holders and potential radio, TV and streaming audiences of change (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 10/11).
TIME KEEPS TICKING AWAY: In S.F., Bruce Jenkins writes MLB postseason games "run long." Game 4 of the Astros-Red Sox ALDS "checked in at 4:07." Jenkins: "But who’s complaining? That was taut, magnificent theater from start to finish." At its "most compelling, baseball has no use for a pitch clock -- and if it’s implemented next year, let it vanish in the postseason" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 10/11).
