The NLDS and ALDS matchups will begin today, with the first game being scheduled for 1:07 p.m. Eastern Time.
That will be Game 1 of the NLDS between the Philadelphia Phillies and Atlanta Braves.
But as MLB announces start times for these games, fans are left puzzled.
For the Wild Card Series, Games 1 and 2 between the Cleveland Guardians and Tampa Bay Rays began at 12 p.m. Eastern Time, and Game 1 between the Phillies and the St. Louis Cardinals got underway at 2 p.m. Eastern Time.
On Twitter, Philadelphia sports analyst Devan Kaney criticized MLB for saying they need to appeal to the younger generation of fans, yet at the same time, starting a playoff series at 1 p.m. on a Tuesday.
love that the MLB is like “we need younger fans” then schedules a playoff game for 1pm on a Tuesday
— Devan Kaney (@Devan_Kaney) October 11, 2022
MLB Posed With Scheduling Problem
These points are certainly valid.
If baseball wants to appeal to a younger generation, then they’ll have some work to do in the future when concerning how they schedule start times for their playoff games.
Granted, the postseason schedule this year is truncated thanks in large part to the lockout that put the sport on hold for three months and pushed back Opening Day.
At the same time, it’s odd that they would schedule games so early in the day.
Also, if tiebreaker games at the end of the regular season are no longer in effect, then what harm would it have been to have started the postseason the day after the regular season ended?
That way, they could’ve avoided some of this extra hoopla surrounding early start times and not had to worry so much about cramming games in.
But we don’t make the rules here.
Still, baseball could have gone several different avenues when concerning these start times and considering how to draw more younger fans to the game.
