The Playoffs and Questions Nobody Is Asking.

Visits: 1

When the NLDS ended early for both teams, why wait for five days to start the LCS? Scheduling flexibility should be no problem. Sooner or later baseball needs to dictate to the networks its desires rather than vice versa. This is another example of how the greedy grab for money dilutes the excitement of the game.

Why are the games the Yankees are playing in so dreadfully long? Each game in the ALCS has run well beyond three hours and last night’s blowout by the Rangers went nearly four hours!  One observation is that the Yankees’ hitters take an awful lot of pitches but there must be some stats head out there who can come up with a verifiable reason.

Why, for the most part, has the starting pitching been so dominant? So far we have seen:

A No-Hitter: Roy Halladay

Six 2- Hitters:

Tim Lincecum   Complete Game shutout

Jonathan Sanchez  1 run over 7 1/3 inn

Derek Lowe  over 6 1/3 inn

CJ Wilson  shutout over 8 1/3 inn

Matt Cain  shutout over 7 inn

Cliff Lee  shutout over 8 inn

A 3 hitter

Roy Oswalt  1 run over  8 inn

Two Complete Game Shutouts

Matt Cain

Cole Hamels

And what about Cliff Lee?

His line so far has been amazing: 3-0 0.75 ERA 24 innings, 13 hits, 2 runs, 1 WALK!, 34 K

Oh and the Yankees $53 million starting rotation? Their line over seven starts:

41 IP, 38 H, 24 ER, 15 BB, 30 K and 5.26 ERA.

Could this be the reason they are one game from elimination?

Tampa Bay does not deserve to be a major league area. The Rays are one of the best teams yet barely draw during the season. Then when they reach the playoffs, everyone jumps on the bandwagon.

Is it me or does Ernie Johnson try too hard to be “Buck-like”? Ron Darling was a decent pitcher but keep him out of the booth. John Smoltz is much better.

Why can’t one find a game on the radio? Driving to Madison last Saturday afternoon, I couldn’t find one station carrying the game. On-line I found one station, KMOX, that carried one game. None of the ESPN talk stations broadcast a game! If this were the NFL we would be saturated with coverage. Thank goodness for XM radio.

Why don’t we have more in- game interviews with the managers and coaches? This is good insight.

How many more times must we watch the annoying Nissan ad, the Blackberry ad with the bizarre background music, the loquacious yet still weird gecko, the Conan O’Brien blimp! Then, last night a full two minute trailer for the Hereafter. My first thought was that the sales department has taken over. Why do we need to see this during a playoff telecast?I will say, though, that the Foster’s ads and the Geico woodchucks are great.