The Angels had four straight night games in Boston on this road trip only to be followed by a night game in Oakland with no off day in between. The Halos flight left Boston just after Midnight local time, meaning the Halos will be lucky to be in their beds in San Francisco by 4 AM this morning - about twelve hours before they have to be at the park in Oakland.
Well that is just Bullshit, right? Right. It is something we as Angels fans should complain about. But to who whom?
Many Halo fans across social media are blaming the MLB schedule makers. But the baseball schedule has had many teams scheduled to play a game on one coast and a game on the opposite coast the next night. The problem here is that these games are often day games followed by night games.
Who decided that the Angels would play a night game at Fenway Park before traveling across country? Actually the MLB schedule makers had nothing to do with it. There are two entities who can set the time of a game: The home club and a national television network. Since Thursday's game was not nationally televised, we can place the blame squarely on the Red Sox, right?
Well, perhaps. The Red Sox did in fact schedule the game for a 7 PM start. Was this because a night game draws better and therefore generates much more revenue than day game? It was certainly a consideration, money always is in this day and age. But ask yourself this - have the Angels scheduled any getaway games that land midweek at a time convenient for the Red Sox? You needn't look that one up. The answer is no.
The next year's schedule gets released before the end of the year. With the players in mind, travel secretaries call and ask if accommodations can be made. Bargains are haggled for and deals are struck between some clubs. Others shrug at the plight of players checking into hotels at 4 AM for games the next day. Including their own, because teams around the MLB basically get s good as they give.
The Angels want to make money selling tickets. That is their right. Night games draw better than days games, especially midweek games. Our stadium operations front office squeezes out every nickel that it can, be it on billboards splashed on every square inch of the outfield wall or every possible ticket sold. And so the Angels routinely turn down polite requests by teams to help them out by scheduling midweek getaway games. Gotta make as much dough each game as possible.
And so if you notice your favorite player sleepwalking as a game begins, check the schedule and then check the suites above the diamond club that house our brain trust. Maybe they are vampires and they just cannot do day games in Anaheim. The team almost always has three midweek getaway games a year every year and not many – if any – more than that. These three midsummer midweek day games are an annual promotion to bring day-camp kids to the games. The Angels sell lots of tickets up front for light-drawing clubs like the Rays, Jays and A's. The Indians too. There are whole sections of upper deck seats occupied by kids all wearing the same fluorescent-colored shirts. That is a ton of pre-sale tickets. You see, it is always about money here. Even if it means more money for Starbucks and Red Bull prior to games for tired players.