A’s Melvin isn’t happy about early start times
Oakland A’s manager Bob Melvin isn’t terribly happy about his team having to play playoff games earlier than usual over the next two days.
Major League Baseball announced Sunday night that the first two games of the American League wild card series between the A’s and the Chicago White Sox at the Coliseum will start at noon, about an hour earlier than usual for most of Oakland’s day games this season. Game 1 is Tuesday and Game 2 is Wednesday.
Both games are being shown by ESPN, which is also scheduled to televise games 1 and 2 of the New York Yankees- Cleveland Indians series at 4 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Answering a question about the various challenges the A’s have faced his season, including a positive coronavirus test, playing in unhealthy air and five doubleheaders, Melvin said, “and we continue to get hurdles.
“I mean, we have 12 o’clock games, which means we’re (coronavirus) testing at 6:30 in the morning and taking batting practice at 9 o’clock. We don’t even do that in spring training. So there continue to be hurdles.
“Our guys are good about understanding that,
and they weren’t expecting anything to come easy. But we’re excited about getting through the season and
starting the postseason, which everybody was looking forward to.”
The A’s, per
a
team spokesman, complete coronavirus testing at their hotel before they leave for the ballpark. Per MLB protocol, players not allowed to arrive at the ballpark until five hours before first pitch, which would be 7 a.m. both Tuesday and Wednesday. Players have to be tested before they board a bus for the field.
No other A mer ic a n League schedule has a noon local start time for both games one and two. The series between the Minnesota Twins and the Houston Astros starts at 1 p.m. Central Time on Tuesday and noon on Wednesday.
The National League series between Cincinnati and Atlanta has a noon (EST) for Game 1, and the start time for Game 2 has not yet been announced.
The A’s played 31 day games this season, and had a noon start Sunday against the Seattle Mariners in their regular season finale. But these are playoff games where everything is on the line.
An email to MLB’s public relations department was not immediately returned.
“I don’t like it,” Melvin said Monday. “But again, it’s something that you just have to deal with. You talk about home field advantage, there’s no fans. You win your division, there’s no fans in the stands, and now you’re hitting at 9 o’clock in the morning...”