Baseball Mandates Midnight Mavens

When the Boston Red Sox came back to erase a 7-0 lead in Game Five of the ALCS, many of the fans of the Sox and Bleacher Report reporters did not even view the march to a thrilling 8-7 Red Sox victory.

Why?

Because with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, the score was 7-0 Rays. I guarantee you the time was near 11 p.m. When Matt Stairs hit his game-winning eighth-inning home run against the Dodgers in a 7-5 Phillies victory in Game Five of the NLCS, it was 11:30 p.m. How do I know? My buddy sent me a text about the home run at 11:31 p.m. on Oct. 13.

Who can forget New York Yankee Aaron Boone's 11th inning home run off Boston's Tim Wakefield in Game Seven of the ALCS for the Yankees in 2003? That must have been near 1 a.m.

I am a lifelong Phillies fan and I finally found out who my team will be playing: the Tampa Bay Rays. One thing I found out a few days ago: The World Series starts on Wednesday and the earliest start time is 8:29 p.m. Games three and four are in Philly on Saturday and Sunday. Why can't the Saturday game be held at 4 p.m.? College football. And Sunday belongs to the NFL.

Freaking network TV. What the Frank Caliendo is going on here? I can remember running home from school in 1969 to catch the New York Mets against the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series. If I were a kid today? My daughter goes to bed at 9:30 p.m. That's probably about the third inning, if there are a lot of runs scored, or at best, it is the fifth inning. It's still 7-0 Rays at Game Five of the ALCS in my daughter's world.

I know: What, have I been asleep since the networks switched the games to nighttime? No. It's just that my team, the Phillies, are in the World Series for the first time since 1993. And I am going to stay up for every single, solitary pitch. And the way these teams score runs I am looking at a 12:30 a.m. finish most nights.

That being said, I think the formula to a Phillies victory is solid pitching, great defense and low-scoring games. Cole Hamels pitches Game One and works fast. If he gives up one run and the Phils score two or three, I might be lucky and go to bed at 11:15 p.m.

Nah.

Welcome to the a.m. all you working class stiffs in Philadelphia and Tampa Bay.