The Dodgers’ 13-inning victory over the Brewers in Game 4 of the NLCS finished after 2:00am ETgetty images
The Red Sox beat the Astros in Game 5 of the ALCS Thursday night to advance to the World Series, but the end of Game 4 came at 1:14am (all times ET) Thursday morning, which is "yet another major-league playoff game where diehard fans missed some of the most exciting and important plays of the season," according to Kevin McNamara of the PROVIDENCE JOURNAL. The late October finishes also are one of the "biggest reasons why baseball is dying" (PROVIDENCEJOURNAL.com, 10/18). In Norfolk, Bob Molinaro wonders "what good does it do baseball’s national profile" when games like Red Sox-Astros end after 1:00am or when the Dodgers’ 13-inning victory over the Brewers in Game 4 of the NLCS finishes after 2:00am. It is "absurd that baseball executives allow cable networks to dictate to them, rather than the other way around" (Norfolk VIRGINIAN-PILOT, 10/19). In N.Y., Joel Sherman notes despite the length, TBS' ratings for ALCS Game 4 were "still good (the most watched show on all of cable Wednesday) -- but that has much to do with mammoth numbers in Boston and Houston." Elsewhere, "devilish decisions between sleep or not on a work night were undertaken" as the game went later (N.Y. POST, 10/19).
WHO IS GOING TO WATCH? MLB Network's Chris Russo said of the late start for the LCS games, "This is ridiculous. Why? Because of FS1 and TBS? ... TBS wants to have their part of the game leak into primetime so they can't start at 3:00 in Houston for Game 3. Nonsense, who cares what TBS thinks! Put the game on so we all can watch it, every part of the country." Russo also said, "Does Championship Sunday in the NFL have the first game begin at 7:00 and then the Rams play at 10:00? No, it doesn't because the NFL controls the message, they control their television. They tell the networks what time the game is on." Russo added Brewers fans in Wisconsin "went to bed" at 1:25am local time on a school night watching Game 4 of the NLCS ("Mad Dog Unleashed," Sirius XM, 10/17). SNY's Jon Hein said a problem is that MLB has "fantastic endings like the Boston-Houston game ending well after midnight." Young fans are "not going to stay up to watch these games." SNY's Marc Malusis said he has "no understanding" as to why MLB, if it is trying to "cultivate younger fans, are playing these games later and later where you know pace-of-play is an issue." East coast fans who are not fans of the Red Sox or Astros are not "staying up," and it is the "worst thing" for baseball ("Loud Mouths," SNY, 10/18).
CATCHING A BREAK: A potential NLCS Game 7 will start at 8:09pm ET on Saturday, an "hour earlier" than originally scheduled. The game was moved up after the Red Sox "clinched the ALCS on Thursday night" (JSONLINE.com, 10/19). In Michigan, Evan Woodbery wrote when playoff games are "averaging about four hours," starting a game at 8:39pm "seems increasingly misguided." However, with the length of playoff games "shows no sign of decreasing," there needs to be some concessions like "never starting a game after" 8:00pm (MLIVE.com, 10/18).
FORGET ABOUT SHORTENING THE GAME: In Houston, David Barron notes MLB is "committed to reducing game lengths, but events continue to conspire against it, particularly as the playoffs grind slowly, albeit dramatically, toward midnight and, occasionally, beyond." Astros games during the regular season "averaged three hours and four minutes," but the team's shortest playoff game was 3:12 in ALDS Game 2. Entering Game 5, Astros playoff games were "averaging 3:52" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 10/19). THE RINGER's Ben Lindbergh notes the average playoff game across MLB this postseason has "taken 3:45 to complete, a new record even by October’s bloated standards." Part of the problem, "as always, is longer commercials." The time between innings has "been about 40 seconds longer than it was during the regular season" (THERINGER.com, 10/19).
