I got out of the newspaper business before baseball added the third round to the postseason. Boy, was I glad.
From 1988 to 1993, every October meant two-plus weeks waiting for the baseball game to end. Our press deadline was supposed to be 11:30 p.m., but deadlines meant nothing to baseball. Rarely was the 8 p.m. game done with time to spare.
The press room and mailroom guys would come upstairs and join us in the editor's office, where the TV was turned to the game. The ninth inning almost always seemed to last forever. Another sports guy was a Pirates' fan, and 1992 really killed him. I still remember his reaction when Sid Bream rolled around the bases to win Game 7 of that year's National League series.
TBS now does the first round, so newspapers can breath easier on deadlines. The first two days have games at 2:30, 6 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. You get two games on the sports page and mark the other one late. And you can relax and go home.
Instead of all Yankees at 8 p.m., this year it's Yankees at 6 p.m.
The Rockies visit the Phillies for afternoon games Wednesday and Thursday, while the Cardinals at Dodgers close out the first night and get the 6 p.m. game Thursday. The Yankees picked starting their series on Wednesday, giving the Twins very little time to recover from Tuesday's extra-inning win in the division-deciding game.
The Red Sox and Angels play the late games Thursday and Friday.
Game 3 of the National League series are Saturday, and schedules Sunday through next Wednesday depend on how the series go.
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