The amazing thing is that all WS games have been night games for the last 30 years. Many are scheduled so they run way past the bedtime of little kids, on school nights. The WS used to be a huge shared experience in the American culture, all glued to their radios on each pitch.
@Ron The problem has always been the west coast, you could start the games at 7 PM EST, but is a little to early for the west coast market.
@Ron I was going to mention that if you started earlier than that you would run into work hours for those who live on the west coast or commute time but @frankm beat me too it. I looked up the 1970 World Series and most of its games started at 1 pm which meant that kids were either listening to the game at school, or missing school altogether, so I don’t think there is an easy answer to what time you schedule a game. However I do agree that the post season is way too long, I would be fine if they went back to only five games for the NLCS and the ALCS, but I am not holding my breath
@frankm I lived on the west coast for 50 years. I never minded a broadcast of an east coast game in any sport starting at 4 pm, especially if the game is available on the radio. You could always turn on the radio at work and/or while driving home. I never heard anyone on the west coast complain about such things. My preference would be to time things so the game ends at a reasonable hour and especially so the kids could see the game.
@klandwehr Yes, day games, exactly! Of course when I was a kid ALL baseball games were day games. It was the summer sport. Growing up we listened to Harry Caray and his "Holy Cow" home run calls every single Cardinal game on the radio (KMOX) , whether we were outside painting the house, or mowing the lawn, or inside reading a book, or whatever. In early October, we'd get updates on the school PA system, or from kids with their hidden pocket radios. And I recall one Game 7 when we went to the school auditorium and listened to the game there, just like we did for the first NASA launch of Explorer 1. Baseball was the only game that every single kid had some memories of playing themselves in the neighborhood. I think it brought some cohesion to the country, experience everyone shared and everyone loved. And we all saw or listened to the games in the moment, in real time. When a WS game ended, you could call your buddy down the street and ask, "Did you hear that one?!!" knowing damn well the answer was gonna be, "Yes, sure did!!" People liked different teams, but everyone loved the game. It was called the National Pastime after all. Does MLB dare to make such a claim now? Now they worry it is too slow & football has become more popular, in spite of all its brain injuries. But I think MLB discovered they could make a fortune with post season ball, so now the WS may run until late at night on Halloween, maybe even finishing in November! Egad! ⚾
@vasta Of course the modern solution is to record the games & watch them the next day, skipping over the commercials. But I much prefer watching games in real time, even with the ads.
@vasta @Ron Day games have always been a special part of baseball, for me. I’m also saddened that they’ve all but disappeared. ⚾️
@grayareas I think baseball on TV pretty much started in 1953 with the Sat afternoon baseball Game of the Week, which became a tradition for a very long time. But no TV for homes within 50 miles of the ball park!
@Ron I think it is same for all the sports with live crowd and is telecast. They want to maximize the revenue via ad views - at least that is the case with sporsts I follow (cricket).
@Ron The Cubs might still have the most day games. Most Friday games are in the afternoon and there is a city ordinance limiting the number of night games they can have each season. There has been talk, though, of eliminating that ordinance.
@frankm Yes, I think I remember when Wrigley Field didn't even have lights, long after other ball parks had started playing night games. It was like "who would want to play baseball at night?!!" Were they just cheap, or was this a stand based upon a principle about the game?
@frankm Keep the ordinance! And were/are the ticket prices such that kids could afford to go watch a ball game?
@vasta @Ron recording sports is tricky. I don't have the self control not to check the scores and by that point it feels pointless knowing what's going to happen. NBA League Pass has condensed replays breaking a game down to about 15 minutes. Would be nice to see this across all sports, although I think I'd prefer ~25 minutes.
@Ron Wrigley Field is right in the middle of a residential neighborhood, so basically the residents fought night games via city hall. An ordinance had to be passed to allow the lights to be built. Wrigley is a registered historical landmark so any changes need to be approved. In the end, the Cubs got the night games due to pressure by MLB, who at that time did not like the idea of all playoff games needing to be during the day. Further there was the belief the Cubs were at a disadvantage for having all home games during the hot summer days contributing to their playoff woes. At the end of the day threats were made to move the Cubs out of Chicago and that resulted in the lights being built. While 8/8/88 was the official first day, the game was postponed due to rain, so the firrst official game was a day later. I remember watching both. You can probably see the Bill Murray/Harry Caray open on YouTube.