OAKLAND, Calif. -- Sleep-deprived Red Sox fans: Bud Selig feels your pain.
Game 1 of the Red Sox-Oakland A's Division Series tomorrow night won't start until 10 p.m. Eastern time, and Selig, commissioner of Major League Baseball, has heard the complaints.
Fans are angry that the first Red Sox playoff game in four years won't conclude until after 1 a.m.
"Every year, for one day in the Division Series, because of all the games, we're faced with this," said Selig yesterday. "I don't like it and I share (the fans') sentiment. Unfortunately for us, there was just no other way. I don't like it and I understand their feelings. But I would emphasize that it's the one day in the playoffs we're faced with it -- one day."
"Scheduling in the first week is a problem. It's really a problem. And it's tough because you can't win. We have network commitments (to FOX and ESPN) and we're trying to please everyone."
Tomorrow night, ESPN will showcase the Cubs-Braves in prime-time, capitalizing on a rare postseason appearance by the Cubs and taking advantage of televising two teams with national followings enhanced by superstations -- the Cubs on WGN and the Braves on TBS.
That left two games from the Bay Area -- the San Francisco Giants are hosting the Florida Marlins in a National League Division Series at Pac Bell Park -- and only two slots in which to place them.
"Obviously, we understand the fans in Boston, or any East Coast city, aren't going to be happy with any 10 p.m. starts," said Bob DuPuy, MLB's president and chief operating officer. "We would prefer to have every team play in prime time in their respective time zones. But that's not always possible."
DuPuy pointed out that during the season, ESPN televises a doubleheader each Wednesday night in which the second game begins at 10 p.m in the East. He noted that ABC's Monday Night Football telelcasts routinely end well after midnight in the East.
"It's not perfect -- we understand that," DuPuy said. "But ESPN very much wanted the Chicago-Atlanta game, and obviously, we couldn't put that game on 10 p.m (from Atlanta). So we put Oakland and Boston there, realizing that there would be some who would be unhappy with it."
MLB could have had the two games played in the Bay Area begin at 1 p.m. EDT and 4 p.m. EDT.
"There was a discussion of that," said DuPuy. "But despite the inconvenience of starting one of the games at 10 p.m., more fans would see more of the games at 4 p.m., 7 p.m. and 10 p.m rather than at 1, 4 and 7."
