Time Has Come Today

I can’t wait for the World Series to start on Tuesday. No, what I should say is I better expect to wait and watch as every game that drags on interminably. The Rays-Astros’ ALCS went seven games and averaged 3:33 in length, with three games clocking in at 3:50 or more. The Braves-Dodgers’ NLCS was worse, or longer, going seven games and averaging a mind-numbing 3:45, with two games breaking the 4:12 mark. Now, for some perspective. The Yankees-Pirates World Series also went seven games, averaging 2:40 a game. The Dodgers’ 15-3 win took 4:15 to play vs. 3:14 for the Yankees’ 16-3 victory in game two. Not one game in either championship series clocked in at under three hours while three of the World Series’ contests managed to finish in 2:32 or under and five in 2:38 or under. The Pirates 10-9 game-seven win, one of the greatest games in baseball history, took all of 2:36 to play. Television and mound visits are killing baseball. I watch one after another infield convention on the mound, everyone talking behind their gloves, and wonder what kind of bizarre ritual I’ve stumbled onto. Worse yet, the commercials are spilling over into the actual game. Baseball is playing with fire, a minute at a time. Once the game reaches a certain time threshold, it’ll be destroyed in a flash. How sad.