Major League Baseball Making Eastern Time Zone Teams Play At 10:10 PM On Opening Day Should Be A Criminal Offense
Greg Fiume. Getty Images.
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No, I'm not as excited as Tito. And I'm pretty sure Tito is not that excited either. And I KNOW the rest of Cleveland is absolutely pissed off. The fact that the Guardians first series of the year is in SEATTLE is absolutely ridiculous and the MLB should be ashamed of themselves for either A.) the careless oversight or B.) not caring about the people of Cleveland. Opening Day is one of the best days of the year. Let me know how it goes!
Unless you're a pyscho and keep up with a fantasy baseball league every single day, then you don't watch all 162 games. This isn't football where you watch every single second of every single game. But for baseball, EVERYONE watches game number one. Opening Day baseball and hot dogs is one of the few traditions that still bring this country together. In my opinion, all Opening Day games should be played in the afternoon, like our Founding Fathers clearly intended. However, I guess to make the TV people happy, you need a few night games here and there. But to make Cleveland's game number one on the west coast AND at night should be a criminal offense.
Am I crazy or this easily fixed? First of all, why can't Seattle play a day game like the rest of the league is…..? Start them at 1:05 their time, and it's only 4:05 in Ohio. Or even make it a 4:05 start out there, and it's a normal 7:05 first pitch here. I'm working myself up again typing this out, but I simply don't comprehend why Major League Baseball would send Cleveland out west AND make them play a night game on a day this ceremoniously important to the general population.
SECOND OF ALL, give me a piece of paper, a pencil, and like 20 minutes and I guarantee you I can match it up where no one is going multiple time zones away on the first weekend of the season. Have the Giants play the Mariners first and the Guardians open with the Yankees. Boom, problem solved. Don't try and make the point that scheduling is more complicated than that. This isn't some math problem on the white board in Good Will Hunting that's unsolvable. It's a baseball schedule that just takes a little effort and a little bit of brains to make. Unfortunately, it appears the MLB is lacking both these days.
And the worst part is, it's not just Game #1 that has this issue. It's 5 of the first 7 games of the year.
Tell me you don't give a shit about Cleveland without telling me you don't give a shit about Cleveland. To be clear: no one else in the Eastern Time Zone has this problem. Only Cleveland. Thanks, Manfred! Looking forward to next Friday's home opener in Cleveland where I get my first glimpse of this year's ball club!
**I am fully aware that I can (and will) stay up for tonight's game. But if you don't think this is an avoidable problem then you need to take that batting helmet you have on your nightstand and sleep with it on. Think about the kids and their bedtimes!