It’s hard to believe it’s been four years since I last wrote an article complaining about how late World Series games end. With the advent of the revolutionary pitch clock coming in 2023, this might, mercifully, be my last story on the subject. 

Before I link to all those previous stories loaded with facts and figures, let’s set the scene for this latest rant….. 

With the Astros and Phillies series knotted at two games apiece, Game Five was huge, with excellent story lines coming from both dugouts. 

I gave myself a pep talk, “Tonight you are going to dig deep, suck it up, and watch this entire baseball game. No excuses.” Unlike the Super Bowl - which starts and ends at a reasonable time (with all those huge ratings I might add) - watching a World Series game is similar to going on a serious hike in the mountains. It takes physical and mental preparation and if you complete the task, you are going to feel it the next day. 

I set up a cushy pillow and blanket on my sofa, some food & water and hunkered down for the long haul. Closing in on three hours with the Astros up 2- 1 in only the 6th inning, I cried uncle. I’m glad I did. The Astros eventually ended up winning a 3-2 game that ended after midnight EST. Yes, a 3-2 nine-inning game lasted 3:57 minutes.

Heck of a catch in the 9th, but the replay the next morning was a fair trade for the extra hour of sleep I got back and it spared my wife from hearing me whine constantly how they should start these games earlier.

The very good news is that the pitch clock sliced almost a half an hour off Triple AAA times this year with no impact on any other aspects of the game and is coming to MLB next year. I got to personally experience its impact at Columbus Clippers games this summer and it’s not hyperbole to say it has made my life so much better. The game is SO much more fun with a little pacing, like it used to be when it was more popular. This improvement will be extra important for the post-season when games slow to a snail’s pace in the later innings. Hopefully this leads to more folks (and kids) and most importantly, me, being awake to watch the best teams and biggest stars playing in the moments that really matter.

Then again, maybe MLB will probably push start times back to 9pm and I will still miss the ending of every World Series game. Ok baseball nerds, feast your eyeballs on my previous stories on this subject. 

I’m Begging MLB To Start Postseason Games Earlier (2018)

I Can Save The World Series (2015)

World Series Begins, Set DVRs for Midnight (2013)

Colin Gawel plays in solo and in the band Watershed and wrote this at Colin’s Coffee.

Bonus video! As a Reds fan my personal World Series highlight reel is pretty thin. This is my favorite……

Ah hell…here are the highlights from that whole post-season. Yes, I cried tears of joy after the final out to win the championship. It was a strange feeling.

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