ItsTheBlog™

The Boston Red Sox had an 8:00 pm game last night. It was Game 2 of the ALCS--pretty important by many standards. You very rarely (if ever) see an 8:00 pm start time on the West coast, because that would mean that those living on the East Coast wouldn't see the game until 11:00.

That said, 8:00 isn't too late, and it wasn't an awful choice. The problem? The Red Sox just take forever when they play.

While I wasn't watching the game, I remembered that the game was on at about 1:00 am. I checked to see who won. When I saw the box score that it was still going, I didn't really think about how late it was. Then, I realized that the game was being played about 2 miles from me, just across the Charles River at Fenway Park. I found that the game was on FOX and watched the top of the 11th.

If you're a baseball fan, you know the rest. Trot Nixon, former Boston fan favorite, singled in the go-ahead run, and was followed by an onslaught. 6 more would come around, capped off by a 3-run home run by Franklin Guttierez to break the game open, 13-6. By now, it was about 1:20 am.

Kids were long asleep, Boston turned cold(er), and the fans still in attendance were having their rides home threatened by the fact that the "T," the Boston subway system stops running about 1:30.

And there was still another half-inning to go.

Thankfully, it ended quickly, and Boston failed to score in the bottom of the 9th. But, this is just another awful example of East Coast sports gone bad. 1:30 in the morning, really? This game is supposed to be prime-time. Granted, I realize that this one just went ridiculously late, but come on. 5 hours and 14 minutes for only 11 innings? We all know the Red Sox take forever; start the game (at least) an hour earlier than that.

And then, of course, there are those games that happen on the West Coast and you have to watch them on the east coast. I'm not a fan of watching Laker games until 2:00 a.m. And it happens often. Games at 7:30 in Los Angeles start at 10:30 in Boston, and finish between 1-2 am. Not cool.

Even the newspapers are unable to report those scores the next morning, it's so late. That even happened last night here in Boston, with the Sunday Boston Globe headline saying simply that the Red Sox were "caught in another classic." No results. No score. Sad.

Undoubtedly, many fans were irritated this morning after falling asleep in front of the television a little after midnight only to find out that their beloved Sox had been ripped apart in the 11th by the Tribe. At least we've got a series again.

Labels: ALCS, Baseball, Beantown, East Coast, fans, Indians, Kevdog, Lakers, playoffs, Red Sox