Postseason Baseball Delivers Drama, If You Can See It, Find It -- Or Stay Awake for It

A friend called Monday night, knowing I was a big Phillies fan, to share in the joy of Philadelphia's bottom-of-the-ninth, two-out comeback victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers, right after Jimmy Rollins hit the game-winning two-run double. The phone call woke me up. I'd passed out on the couch the inning before, after a long teaching day...

Thanks goodness for TiVo, which let me rewind instantly and see the dramatic victory, albeit without the live-action drama.

TiVo also allowed me, since I had that evening's House on my Record list, to catch the final overtime innings of Fox's coverage of Monday's New York Yankees-Los Angeles Angels Game 3. That afternoon game had gone 13 innings -- long enough for the final 45 minutes to play in prime time. Next week, when the weekly ratings are released, that'll be a big unexpected boost for Fox.

It also meant both the American and National League games, for more than a half hour, were televised simultaneously, a definite TV rarity. Of course, the Phillies-Dodgers game was on TBS, available only to cable subscribers, which some of my Philadelphia friends have grumbled about.

But tonight at 8 ET on TBS is Game 5, which could send the Phillies to the World Series, and tomorrow night at 8 ET on Fox is the Yankees-Angels Game 5, which could do the same for the Yankees. Those and any subsequent games in both division series, except for a Saturday afternoon AL game should a sixth game be necessary, will have the same 8 p.m. ET starts, making for late nights, bleary eyes -- and, for me, maybe another unexpected but welcome wake-up call.