Long past time for MLB to wake up
LOS ANGELES – Spare me your excitement.
And please, no marveling over how the Dodgers beat the Red Sox 3-2 in Game 3 of the World Series.
That is, assuming you were one of the superhuman who managed to keep your eyes open until the game finally ended in the bottom of the 18th inning at 3:29 a.m. ET Saturday.
At 7 hours, 20 minutes, it was the longest game in MLB postseason history. That’s nothing to celebrate, either, for a sport that used to be known for the cry of “Play ball” but now requires a “Wake up!”
To be sure, the purists and caffeineinfused were rewarded for their uber patience. While much of America slept, this is part of what they saw:
Walker Buehler, the Dodgers starting pitcher, was brilliant. Nathan Eovaldi, who pitched in relief for the Red Sox, was magnificent. And the game ended as classics often do.
Max Muncy, the Dodgers first baseman, blasted Eovaldi’s last pitch over the left-field wall for the winning run.
Even if all of America had been awake for it, there would’ve been a serious problem for baseball.
As attention spans have shortened, the average duration of Major League Baseball game has lengthened — from 2 hours, 27 minutes in 1972 to 3 hours, 4 minutes in 2018. The marathon between the Dodgers and Red Sox only reinforced Major League Baseball’s albatross: long games, long season, longoverdue solutions unenacted.
Some have discussed putting a runner on second base when each team comes to bat in extra innings. Nate Silver, the noted statistician, took it one step further during Game 3 via Twitter:
“Instead of putting a runner on 2nd to expedite the resolution of extra innings, gradually expand the amount of fair territory until all 360 (degrees) are in play and baseball becomes cricket.”
No word if he was remotely serious or watching when Muncy hit the homer. But a game that ended when most of America was asleep better serve as baseball’s latest wake-up call.