KISSIMMEE, Fla. — Fans at Camden Yards, Dodger Stadium and Safeco Field might need to bring a few extra screens to the ballpark on the final day of the season.
Major League Baseball is tweaking this year’s schedule, hoping to create a huge playoff scramble by starting all 15 games on Oct. 4 at virtually the same time.
“Could add some drama,” Washington Nationals manager Matt Williams said before Friday’s exhibition against the Houston Astros.
Might make for tough choices, too.
If the Seattle Mariners hold a one-game lead over the Toronto Blue Jays for the second AL wild-card spot, do they start Felix Hernandez at home versus the Oakland Athletics or hold him for the playoff opener? They won’t be able to wait to see how the Blue Jays do against the Rays at Tampa Bay.
Another result — split attention spans. Try watching the field, the scoreboard, a smartphone and another mobile device, all at once.
“It might build the suspense,” Astros catcher Jason Castro said.
MLB chief operating officer Tony Petitti said every game will begin shortly after 3 p.m. ET. The original schedule announced in January had games in Baltimore, Atlanta, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia starting about a half-hour later than the rest.
The plan — the latest innovation under new commissioner Rob Manfred — was spurred by the last-day chase in 2011 when four teams dueled for two wild-card spots. The Rays and St. Louis Cardinals got in, while the Boston Red Sox and Atlanta Braves were eliminated.
“The idea originally came from remembering that great night that we had on a Wednesday … all those games in progress at the same time, coming down to a great dramatic finish,” Petitti said. “How do we capture that and take advantage of that situation when we get it? So the idea was, hey, we want all of our games to happen at the same time, so nobody’s in a position where a game that might have meant something doesn’t because of the way we sequenced the games.”
Thumbnail photo via Kim Klement/USA TODAY Sports Images
