Dear Sir:

As an avid fan of Major League Baseball, I would like to share with you my concerns for the state of the game in light of the post-season we just witnessed.  This has nothing to do with the quality of play, any accusations of doping, or any other current topic which has affected the sport in recent years.  My concern is that someone, such as me, with an 8-5 PM job cannot possibly watch a post-season ball game given the current broadcast parameters.  The games simply start too late, and end too late.

In a recent article by Mark Bradley of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, he stated that game 1 of the 1972 World Series between the Cincinnati Reds and Oakland Athletics took only 2 hours and 18 minutes to complete.  Part of that, perhaps, was the quality of pitching of the era.  Batters weren't constantly stepping out of the box, pitchers were not as prone to delay.  And, NBC had a very concise and methodical way of broadcasting ball games in 1972.  It would be wise, in my humble opinion, to revisit this.

Any game, no matter the significance, that takes over 4 hours to complete and will not end until after midnight during a work week will lose a major segment of its audience during the broadcast.  Some people will not bother to tune-in at all.  

It can be argued that the match-ups during the post season were, perhaps, not compelling enough.  I disagree and argue that baseball lovers will watch good baseball regardless of the teams competing against each other.  However, the games start too late and end too late.  The broadcasts themselves are too full of fluff pieces and "personalities" vying for face time; there is too much peripheral material.  This is not a dig at Fox or TBS during the post season per se.  I realize its entertainment.  But what is getting lost in all the marketing, the conversation between analysts and the packaged fluff pieces is the game itself.

MLB needs to realize that many Americans cannot watch the sport anymore unless they endure it.  At that point, it has ceased to be enjoyable and this is the where I think we are.  

Thank you for your attention to my concerns.

Most Sincerely,

Chin Music
(I really used my real name here)