| World Series could finish in November |
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| Written by Admin |
| Monday, 14 May 2007 11:37 |
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NEW YORK (AP) -Call it the November Classic. The start of the World Series is being pushed back an extra day to Oct. 24, meaning Game 7 is scheduled for November for the first time. Because of extra off-days during the postseason, a team sweeping the NL championship series would have eight days off before its World Series opener. Major League Baseball announced last summer that the Series would start on a Tuesday beginning in 2007 under the sport's new network television contracts. In recent months, the decision was made to push it back an extra day to Wednesday. ``Starting the World Series in the middle of the week, when television viewership is historically higher, will provide more fans with the opportunity to watch the games,'' Bob DuPuy, baseball's chief operating office, said Monday. ``The additional off-days throughout the postseason will give us greater flexibility to facilitate travel and protect against poor weather.'' The only time World Series games have gone into November was in 2001, when terrorist attacks caused the entire postseason to be delayed a week. The World Series has been scheduled to start on a Saturday since 1985, when the league championship series expanded to best-of-seven. Because of the schedule changes, there will be an extra day off between the end of the regular season and the postseason openers on Oct. 3, and there will be three additional days off during the postseason. One will be between Games 4 and 5 of the division series, when teams had complained about playing without a travel day. An extra day off is being added between Games 4 and 5 of each league championship series. Barring rainouts, that means that pitchers who start LCS openers won't be able to make their next starts on four days' rest - teams will have to choose between short rest and extra rest. In addition, there is an extra off day between the LCS and the World Series. |
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