Bits of Baseball

Sorry about the lack of a post yesterday, the post-wedding jet-lag hangover was acute. I've got just a couple hardball items to hit on.

WORLD SERIES SCHEDULE MLB and Fox announced that they're starting the World Series on a Wednesday this year, October 24 I believe. This is, of course, designed to revive the anemic ratings of the last few seasons.

What I like about the move: I'm going to watch the Series regardless, unless it conflicts with games played by the Denver Broncos (and then I'll TiVo/surf). But setting the WS up to avoid conflicts with college and football has its advantages. There's nothing on sportswise on Wednesdays and Thursdays other than a crappy NCAA game, so baseball can get more eyeballs for Games 1 and 2 (and possibly 6 and 7). And the possibility exists (although Fox hasn't committed to it) to play a World Series game on a Saturday afternoon, which hasn't happened since Lincoln was president.

What I don't like about the move: Baseball already manipulates the postseason far too much in the name of TV. The ratings suck now for several reasons (lame/short recent Series, no Yankees, steroid backlash, and the fact that you've completely blown off a generation of fans) that this decision doesn't address. Some may say that pushing the WS into November--which is now possible with a seven-gamer--invites cold weather disaster, but a couple more days aren't going to matter.

What really bugs me is No. 1, the idea that you have to get out of the NFL and college football's way, and No. 2, that manipulating the schedule is going to bring back the "casual fan." I hate the casual fan. He can eat a backpack full of dicks. Other than the NFL fan, every single sport is a niche. Hockey fans watch hockey, UFC fans watch UFC, and what few remaining baseball fans are left watch our pathetic, boring sport.

I no longer really care about the NBA. I pay attention, but I don't make it a point to watch games, even ones I really should. But I've noticed that the NBA is making a concerted effort to gerrymander the postseason schedule to maximize ratings. The Suns and Spurs had four days of between Games 2 and 3 of their series, which is complete horseshit. I am a "casual" NBA fan, and I wouldn't watch one minute of the Jersey/Cleveland series with a gun to my head. Give the hardcore fans that are left what they want, and don't worry about the half ass dudes.

DICE Daisuke Matsuzaka pitched a gem last night, going the distance and beating the Tigers 7-1. The Red Sox have the best record in baseball and blah, blah, blah.

I'm not going to break down the Sox, at least not yet, the way I did with the Brewers a couple weeks back. Nobody except me wants to hear it, and besides, this is what they're supposed to do--their payroll and expectations are both massive.

What I will say is that last night is probably as close to what I expected out of Matsuzaka as he's going to get. He didn't blow anybody away (he only struck out five). But he was balanced and confident and nasty all night. Unlike his last half-dozen outings, he didn't walk anybody. He induced a ton of groundouts (16, to six flyouts) and was throwing this ridiculous splitter with sideways rotation that had Jerry Remy in seizures (or, as Jerry might say, seege-ahs). After a few mediocre outings, any Dice start is back up there as must-watch TV.

DAY BASEBALL I am very, very committed to wasting time at my job, and my favorite way to do so from April to September is by listening to/watching baseball played in broad daylight. I've got the XM radio, the Extra Innings package, a subscription to MLB.TV and even a Slingbox I've yet to unpack. Every day I have to scramble and find out if there are any day games to witness (and set my fantasy lineups for). I've always wanted a consistent Interwebs heads-up on this, and since I haven't found one I'm going to try and just do it myself.

So, of course, the day I start this there are no day games, nor are there tomorrow. Thursday has the requisite slate of getaway games, and the Cubs are home this weekend, which means a Friday nooner (in the Mountain time zone) from the Friendly Confines.