The post-Opening Day buffer day is terrible.

[Brock Beauchamp]

How terrible is it?

[Tom Froemming]

WORST EVER  Is it too late to reschedule a double header today?

 

[Mill1634]

And then a 12:10 start on a Wednesday for the 2nd game of the year? Terrible! Some people have work or school!

[Squirrel]

It's just a HUUUUUUGE let down, to put it mildly.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

It's just a HUUUUUUGE let down, to put it mildly.

I understand the desire to protect the Opening Day series but they can play two and then take a day off. That way, at least we get two days of baseball before the letdown.

[ThejacKmp]

 

And then a 12:10 start on a Wednesday for the 2nd game of the year? Terrible! Some people have work or school!

That likely has a bit to do with weather. It's cold in MN in April and its warmest from noon to three. Seven to ten could be prohibitively cold.

[ThejacKmp]

And this day is the worst every year. And every year it sneaks up on me because i forgot how awful it is. It's awful if you lost because you can't get the taste out of your mouth. It's awful if you won because you wanna keep Uncle Mo going.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

I understand the desire to protect the Opening Day series but they can play two and then take a day off. That way, at least we get two days of baseball before the letdown.

I hate it too, but teams don't want scheduled game 1 postponed until after scheduled game 2.  They charge a premium for scheduled game 1.

[spinowner]

 

I understand the desire to protect the Opening Day series but they can play two and then take a day off. That way, at least we get two days of baseball before the letdown.

I know the logistics of this would be difficult but it would be nice if they could set aside four days for the first three games and then decide based on the weather which three days to use.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

I hate it too, but teams don't want scheduled game 1 postponed until after scheduled game 2.  They charge a premium for scheduled game 1.

I know but it's a small sacrifice for the betterment of the game. I let lots of crap slide... I don't care that the caps now have New Era logos on them. I don't care about lots of stuff.

 

But this seems bad for the game. All the excitement of Opening Day, followed by nothing.

[Respy]

I'm fine with it because it allows Molitor to use Belisle and Kintzler again Wednesday if he wants.  I was wondering yesterday whether, if we had another game Tuesday, Molitor would have opted to use lesser bullpen arms in the 8th and 9th being up 6 runs, which could have caused a terribly disappointing implosion.

[Mike Sixel]

the game thread was the 68th best part of my day, give or take. And I'm not getting sushi and pie today. And I'm not getting 60 some bday wishes on FB. I need the thread, man. 

[spinowner]

 

And then a 12:10 start on a Wednesday for the 2nd game of the year? Terrible! Some people have work or school!

 

 

That likely has a bit to do with weather. It's cold in MN in April and its warmest from noon to three. Seven to ten could be prohibitively cold.

Not just MN. All three games we play in Detroit next week have a 1:10 PM local time start. I didn't take the time to research this but I'm sure it's similar all across the northern tier of teams.

[spinowner]

 

I know but it's a small sacrifice for the betterment of the game. I let lots of crap slide... I don't care that the caps now have New Era logos on them. I don't care about lots of stuff.

 

But this seems bad for the game. All the excitement of Opening Day, followed by nothing.

I don't think it's any worse than the excitement of Opening Day being tainted by game 2 becoming game 1. I think having the day after Opening Day being used as a contingency in case of bad weather is a small sacrifice for the betterment of the game.

[Otto von Ballpark]

I just looked it up, and this is a relatively new phenomenon too.  Somehow the Twins got by playing consecutive days to open the season through 2012.  2013 seems to be when they added this scheduled day off.

 

Of course, they used to often begin the season on a Friday, and they wouldn't want a Saturday off day.  Now they try to begin on a Monday, and they obviously don't care about an open date on a Tuesday.

 

Maybe they should just schedule the Monday game for noon, and the Tuesday game for 7 PM, which would allow them to postpone the Monday game but keep it "opening day" and make a Tuesday split doubleheader if necessary?  Honestly the odds of an opening day postponement aren't that high, and teams seem to resist the possibility even with the open date.

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

I don't think it's any worse than the excitement of Opening Day being tainted by game 2 becoming game 1. I think having the day after Opening Day being used as a contingency in case of bad weather is a small sacrifice for the betterment of the game.

How is it tainted, though? The same players would play, the same ceremonies would happen, it'd just be a different crowd in the stands... And the hundreds of thousands of home viewers would have the identical experience.

 

It seems a strange concession to an in-house crowd that is an extreme minority in the modern age of sports.

[Otto von Ballpark]

Honestly, how good would an opening day doubleheader be?  No regular season baseball for months, and then bam! Two games in one day!

[Brock Beauchamp]

 

I just looked it up, and this is a relatively new phenomenon too.  Somehow the Twins got by playing consecutive days to open the season through 2012.  2013 seems to be when they added this scheduled day off.

Yep, it only started a few years ago. I thought the practice predated Target Field but knew it happened in the past decade.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

How is it tainted, though? The same players would play, the same ceremonies would happen, it'd just be a different crowd in the stands... And the hundreds of thousands of home viewers would have the identical experience.

 

It seems a strange concession to an in-house crowd that is an extreme minority in the modern age of sports.

True.  Most of the high-rollers in attendance probably have full season ticket packages anyway, so it's no real skin off their back.

 

I guess they do schedule a ton of extra employees for opening day, but they treat/pay those employees pretty poorly anyway...

[Mike Sixel]

 

True.  Most of the high-rollers in attendance probably have full season ticket packages anyway, so it's no real skin off their back.

 

I guess they do schedule a ton of extra employees for opening day, but they treat/pay those employees pretty poorly anyway...

 

the employee thing, and the non-season ticket holder thing is a big deal for opening day for sure.

[Hosken Bombo Disco]

As a kid I seem to remember Mondays and the Reds always playing the first game and then agonizing over this gap day at least a couple times. Of course I might still be asleep as I type this. Maybe I will look it up later or someone with extra AOL dial up hours can do it now.

 

Get rid of the buffer day!

[spinowner]

 

How is it tainted, though? The same players would play, the same ceremonies would happen, it'd just be a different crowd in the stands... And the hundreds of thousands of home viewers would have the identical experience.

 

It seems a strange concession to an in-house crowd that is an extreme minority in the modern age of sports.

If ticket holders for Opening Day, small minority though they may be, want some sort of guarantee that they can attend game one then why is this a problem? If a team is only going to play 3 of the first 4 days anyway it matters very little which day is the day off.

[Vanimal46]

As a kid I seem to remember Mondays and the Reds always playing the first game and then agonizing over this gap day at least a couple times. Of course I might still be asleep as I type this. Maybe I will look it up later or someone with extra AOL dial up hours can do it now.

 

Get rid of the buffer day!

Ahh, AOL dial up... Get off the computer Disco, I need to make a phone call!

[USAFChief]

Awful.  Play ball, ferpetesakes.

 

And let's cancel winter too, while we're at it.

[nicksaviking]

So slightly related, but at the game yesterday instead of a shot of the guys in their uniforms, all the players profile pictures on the Jumbotron were of the guys wearing business casual wear standing in front of a fancy fireplace advertising for a menswear company which I will not name as I am not going to further their advertising goals (and also I forgot the name of the company).

 

Also, the grounds crew had to change some cap on the dirt rakes they would drag along the infield between innings because each cap was a different advertiser and I guess different advertisers now get different innings to be shown raking the dirt. Toro doesn't get to corner that market alone anymore it seems.

 

I'm guessing the weather-postponement contingency plan that is the off day is here to stay, big money to be made "opening day". Though I'm a bit skeptical it is actually worth the hassle considering the sections in the upper deck of right-center field looked about 1/3 full. If the team wants to learn any lesson from yesterday's sellout which was not a sellout, it's that putting a winning team together is going to be more important to filling the stadium than gimmicks and the novelties of "opening day".

[Doomtints]

It's there in case bad weather kills day one.

 

This is also why these are mostly day games.

[USAFChief]

Upon further reflection, it's another day at the top o' the ALC.  Gahr-own-teed.

 

EDIT:  False.  Not gahr-own-teed.  Stupid Cleveland plays tonight.

[SheboyganBrats]

It would be nice if they played on the day following the opener, but I understand why they keep the day open, so I won't get my undies all twisted up about it.

 

I do wish MLB would quit scheduling their opening day games on the same day as the NCAA men's basketball final.  

[Oldgoat_MN]

 

As a kid I seem to remember Mondays and the Reds always playing the first game and then agonizing over this gap day at least a couple times. Of course I might still be asleep as I type this. Maybe I will look it up later or someone with extra AOL dial up hours can do it now.

Suddenly your posts make SO much more sense.

[USAFChief]

 

It would be nice if they played on the day following the opener, but I understand why they keep the day open, so I won't get my undies all twisted up about it.

 

I do wish MLB would quit scheduling their opening day games on the same day as the NCAA men's basketball final.  

I wish the NCAA would stop scheduling men's basketball on opening day.