Nothing like checking the group text during lunch and finding out there were sports going on and realizing you had no clue.
This was the position I found myself in Sept. 29, learning that MLB had kicked off the postseason in glorious style—with a 1 p.m. EST first pitch.
Not just any first pitch. A first pitch to start a series between two hated division rivals, the Atlanta Braves and the Philadelphia Phillies.
I had to do a double take.
There was no way the offices of Major League Baseball made this decision, right? This had to be a weather delay?
Not at all. Planned from the start.
And the first two games of that series were electric. High-tension. Came down to the wire.
Too bad the majority of us were sitting in meetings while it was going on.
And the Braves-Phillies scheduling fiasco is just small sample of how jacked up the MLB playoffs are this year.
We have too many teams. We have too few games in the first rounds. We have a convoluted playoff bracket structure. And have TV partners making bad calls on when to show games.
On no planet should a Braves-Phillies playoff series be 1.) only three games, 2.) played during late lunch.
I can flip on BravesVision or PhilliesHub or whatever the money grab broadcast plan is now in July and catch a 1 p.m. game. I should never have to do that when a season is on the line.
I don’t think every game should be played at night; we need the analogy of summer turning to fall in the form of day giving way to night midway through a game for an artistic touch. But we sure don’t need the game to be over before the school day ends.
And if we’re going to compress the game with pitch clocks and lack of substitutions—another column for another day—then we definitely don’t need 1 p.m. starts in the postseason.
You’re putting the Braves at a disadvantage the first two games, because let’s be honest: it’s hard to justify skipping a day of the family trip next year to spend only about two-and-a-half hours. Especially when you know these tickets ain’t matinee prices.
Also, who’s attending this in person? You’re asking the paying customer to take PTO to come watch a game. And you aren’t going to have kids—you know, the main demographic you need to grow your sports—in the seats, because most parents are not letting their kids skip class to go.
The bottom line is this: If the postseason is what every team strives for, and the World Series the crowns jewel, then MLB needs to act like it.
No more 1 p.m. playoff games. And definitely not a series like this.
We all deserve better.
