When is the last time there was a day off between the third, fourth and fifth games of baseball series? Wy now

Answer 1

I don't recall there ever being a space between the games when they are playing in the same city. They are obviously accustomed to working more than one day in a row.

It seems unfair to the winning team - if the Sox start winning - and this goes on close to the starting date for the World Series..........isn't it the 24?

It has to be about money............it always is.

Answer 2

The additional off day between Games 4 and 5 is a new twist this year, imposed by the television partner, Fox ("the more you watch, the less you know"). (TBS is new to postseason coverage and probably had minimal say in the matter.) If both LCS stretch to six or seven games, it allows all the games to be at night when ratings are better; the previous format could force a game to be played during the day, when ratings are lower.

The previous LCS schedule went thusly, in the 2-3-2 format with one travel day between cities: one series began on the Tuesday after the Division Series (or, previously, the season) ended, the other on Wednesday. Here's how it would run, having the NL start first.
T: NL Game 1
W: N2, A1
Th: A2
F: N3
St: N4, A3
Sn: N5, A4
M: A5
T: N6
W: N7, A6
Th: A7
F: off
St: World Series begins

Fox got tired of this for two reasons: Saturday night ratings suck, even for the World Series; and those (potential) double game days, even on the LCS weekend, are annoying, especially when Fox wants to cram in more football. So they slapped Seligula around a bit, and he caved, which he always does for money.

So, the new sked:
Th: N1
F: N2, A1
St: A2
Sn: N3
M: N4, A3
T: A4
W: N5
Th: A5
F: N6
St: N7, A6
Sn: A7

One fewer double game day (and since one is a potential seventh game/sixth game day, it isn't likely to happen anyway), the weekend unclogged, the World Series only runs through one weekend instead of potentially two, and pitching rotations don't have to be so cramped. There are upsides and downsides; I don't think it makes all that much difference, but no doubt network executives do, and they're all about the money so you know they don't give a damn about how it affects the teams playing.

Plus, make this tweak now and, when the Division Series gets expanded to 4-of-7 (probably in the next CBA, coming 2012), there's a couple of days easily recaptured so the World Series doesn't push even deeper into November.

Answer 3

there was no "day off" between games 3 and 4, but this is the first time they've had a scheduled "day off" between games 4 and 5. It is a new format and I have no idea why they started doing this.

Answer 4

Except for rain, never. It's a made for t.v. event to drag out the series even longer. They should go back to days off only for travel days.