After falling behind 4-0 in the first inning, the Houston Astros rose off the mat and drubbed the Braves 9-5 to keep their season alive and send the World Series back to Minute Maid Park. The Braves' bullpen, which had been very good throughout the Series so far, was pounded by an Astros attack that scored nine runs without a single homer. The Braves had used their bullpen pretty heavily in winning Games Three (2-0) and Four (3-2), and once the Astros got going, Atlanta just couldn't do much about it. Houston seems to have a certain number of games where they score three runs or less, but in all the other games they seem to score seven runs or more. Once they get going, it's all over.
So everyone takes a day off, which means that tomorrow's game will be the first time I can remember a World Series game coinciding with Election Night.
Here are the end times for the five games in this World Series so far (all times Central):
ReplyDeleteGame One: 11:15 P.M.
Game Two: 10:20 P.M.
Game Three: 10:33 P.M.
Game Four: 10:54 P.M.
Game Five: 11:15 P.M.
Now when you consider that for most people in the Central Time Zone, 10:30 P.M. is really late, these are absurd times to be finishing your baseball games. Each of the last 29 games in the World Series has ended after 10 PM Central, and 11 of those ended after 11 PM Central. And that's a big part of why people don't watch.
Every World Series game played during the week should begin at 6 PM Central, no matter where it is played. Every World Series game played on Saturday or Sunday should begin at 1 PM local time. (The World Series should also move to CBS, but that's a topic for a different day.)
ReplyDeleteAverage time of World Series game ending (all times Central):
ReplyDelete1970's: 6:57 P.M.
1980's: 9:26 P.M.
1990's: 10:29 P.M.
2000's: 10:54 P.M.
2010's: 10:43 P.M.
2020's: 10:46 P.M.
At some point, I'm going to discuss the fact that this World Series marks the end of an era in baseball history that began in 1995. In many ways it was a great era, and I enjoyed almost all of it. But I really regret the decision to play the World Series -- which should be the best event in American sports -- in the middle of the night.
ReplyDeleteKey elements of baseball in the 1995-2021 era:
ReplyDelete1. Wild cards
2. Yankees/Red Sox on ESPN
3. Moneyball
4. Defensive shifts
5. Lots of home runs and strikeouts
6. World Series games in the middle of the night
Also:
Delete7. Pitchers. Lots and lots of pitchers.
8. Joe Buck. Lots and lots of Joe Buck.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, it's time for Game Six in Houston. For the third year in a row, the MLB season will end in Texas.
ReplyDeleteSoler!
ReplyDeleteHURRAH! HURRAH!
ReplyDelete