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Postseason Baseball Delivers Drama, If You Can See It, Find It -- Or Stay Awake for It
October 21, 2009  | By David Bianculli  | 3 comments
 

Phillies-Game-4.jpgA 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.

 

4 Comments

 

Eileen said:

Maybe you guys are happy -- the gals, not so much!

I feel like every channel in NYC is covering the games. Fox, WOR-9, TBS...

My sister called in a tizzy on Monday when she realized she couldn't watch Law & Order Criminal Intent reruns on WOR-9, and the game was tied in the 9th inning. Even more peculiar, it was being broadcast in Spanish. Yes, Spanish. The game, the commercials, et al. I have nothing against Spanish, but I found this rather odd. Same thing on Tuesday night on WOR-9. If any readers of this blog know what the story is, I'm really curious. And since I am definitely not a baseball fan, the Spanish was kind of entertaining as I waited for the game to end and L&O to begin.

Comment posted on October 21, 2009 12:22 PM


Amy said:

I was rooting for the Dodgers, but Congratulations to the Phillies and I hope they win the world series.

Comment posted on October 22, 2009 2:01 PM


Neil said:

You might suggest to your sister that she check her TV. It's likely to have the audio set to the SAP channel.

Comment posted on October 22, 2009 3:58 PM


Mac said:

Neil Best's Oct. 16th column in Newsday notes that WWOR,Ch9 ,the Yankees flagship station during the regular season,is owned by New Corp.,parent of both WWOR and WNYW,Ch. 5. One can surmise that News Corp. thought that preempting a few reruns for live post season baseball would be economically feasible. Even here in the smaller scaled Lehigh Valley,Pa.(halfway between both NY and Philly and cable reflects both markets)the ever growing Spanish market has a couple of radio stations and a live newscast on the local independent TV station that not only is read entirely in Spanish,but has different stories covered by a dedicated news staff. Advertiser support is the key here.

Comment posted on October 23, 2009 5:46 AM
 
 
 
 
 
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