Hello Fans,
In just a few short hours, the 108th World Series will begin between the Detroit Tigers and San Francisco Giants. Can you believe the Classic is upon us? If you said no, I don’t understand why. It is the 24th of October you know. The games can only run longer into October with the changes over the last twenty-five or so years that made the League Championship Series seven games versus five, the added best-of-five Division Series in 1995, and finally, this year, with the ‘built-in’ game sevens in each league due to a second Wild Card team. I loved each of the changes as they were made. It was more baseball and more fun. However, in the last few years, I have had a problem with the schedule makers that cause a potential Game 7 of the Classic to be played on or after November 1st before any outside-the-schedule problems (i.e. rain, playoff games, etc.).
The regular season always used to end on a Sunday somewhere right before of just after October 1st. The playoffs would then start on Tuesday and Wednesday. Now, the season ends on that SAME Wednesday. We’re losing a minimum of three days just because. ‘Because why?’, I ask. Well, the season always started on about the first Monday in April, and in the last decade or so even had a showcase game on Sunday night, on the eve of half of the teams playing on Opening Day followed by the remainder of the teams on Tuesday. Well, now it’s starts on the Wednesday and Thursday of that same week. There is your lost time or what I call ‘LT‘. It really is lost time. Well, I hate it. Plain and simple. One reason is how the season ends on that Wednesday, a school night, instead of on the weekend where kids and families have a chance to go the parks where some ‘meaningless games’ are being played in the afternoon to close out the season. The biggest reason, though, is due to the impact on the World Series. The last game or two of a 7-game Series is scheduled to be in November. PLUS, the schedule in the 2-3-2 home game format with two travel days between the three sets of games dictates that the Series starts on another Wednesday and ends on a Thursday when it goes the distance. In the previous format, it started on a PRIMETIME Saturday night, they played on Sunday night, skipped Monday and didn’t mess with Monday Night Football, played Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and Games 6 and 7 were on the next Saturday and Sunday nights when all could watch. It WAS the BEST lineup. Please, MLB, bring it back, and oh, while you’re at it changing the schedules, always open the season in North America too. Save the pre-season games for other continents, and not regular season games.
The Giants have the home field advantage thanks to their own suspended and dis-owned Melky Cabrera, who was the All-Star Game MVP. Justin Verlander was your All-Star losing pitcher and Matt Cain was the winner. A bit of irony I’d say. Verlander is hotter than hot with a 0.74 ERA and 0.62 WHIP in the playoffs. I’m looking for him to grab two wins as the Tigers win a competitive and fun to watch six game series that ends in October on Halloween. I’m not sure anyone is going to hit the cover off the ball as both pitching staffs have been dealing, including even Triple Crown Winner Miguel Cabrera and red-hot Marco Scutaro, your NLCS MVP, who hit .500 in that series and became the first guy to have 6 multiple hit games in a series. With that being said, Verlander is your MVP, due to the lack of slugging and his W’s. PLAY BALL!!
Later Fans.