PROBLEM: Baseball playoff games are ending at 11:30 p.m. (or later)

11:30 p.m. seems late, doesn't it?  Very late.


CAUSES:

* Baseball playoff games are starting at 8:07 p.m. (or later).

   This is because of TV networks.  If it was up to the team, these games would start at 7:05 p.m., as was the norm all season.

* Commercial breaks are long.

   TV networks again.

* The games are all lasting three and a half hours or thereabouts, an unusually long duration for a baseball game.

   You might think that this is a perfectly natural length for a game and conclude this is merely a baseball problem instead of a playoff baseball problem, but you'd be wrong.  The majority of baseball games all season were played in under three hours, most closer to 2:20 or 2:30 or 2:40 in length.

* The course of action is slower than usual.

   This is the same as the NBA, where a half-court style predominates in the postseason.  When each pitch (or possession, in basketball) could determine advance or elimination, each team understands that each moment counts.  Quality at-bats are valued more than ever.  Pitchers cannot simply groove fastballs; they have to focus more on every pitch they make.


BUT, ON THE BRIGHT SIDE...

* These games have been fantastic.  What a tremendous postseason of high-quality baseball!


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