2006 Postseason Schedule

[HahnSolo]

Find a place with an outdoor swim-up bar and a TV. It's perfect. She gets the outdoors, you get the Mets.

[stevejrogers]

BTW, first time since 1973 that the Mets will have home field in the NLCS, obviously first time the Mets shall ever have home field in the NLDS!

69-93 both NLCS and ALCS had the same alternating crap that the World Series still had up to 2002, that was re-set when instead of a 5 game 2-3 series it turned into a 7 game 2-3-2 series in 1985, both 1969 and 1985 kicked off with the NL East having home field.

Since 1995, all DS and LCS series have followed the best record (divison winner wise) formats

[Gwreck]

Updating this with new information. Assumption is that the Mets will have Homefield advantage throughout. As of this writing, the Magic Number to Clinch that is 2.

NLDS

Series 1- if the Phillies win the Wild Card and the Mets play a division winner
Game 1 Tuesday, October 3
Game 2 Thursday, October 5
Game 3 Saturday October 7
Game 4 Sunday, October 8 (if necessary)
Game 5 Monday, October 9 (if necessary)

Series 2 - if a team outside the East is the Wild Card winner, and therefore the Mets opponent
Game 1 Wednesday, October 4
Game 2 Thursday, October 5
Game 3 Saturday October 7
Game 4 Sunday, October 8 (if necessary)
Game 5 Monday, October 9 (if necessary)


NLCS
Game 1 Wednesday, October 11
Game 2 Thursday, October 12, 8:00 PM
Game 3 Saturday, October 14
Game 4 Sunday, October 15
Game 5 Monday, October 16, 8:00 PM (if necessary)
Game 6 Wednesday, October 18, (if necessary)
Game 7 Thursday, October 19, 8:00 PM (if necessary)

World Series
Game 1 Saturday October 21, 7:30 PM
Game 2 Sunday October 22, 7:30 PM
Game 3 Tuesday, October 24, 8:00 PM
Game 4 Wednesday, October 25, 8:00 PM
Game 5 Thursday, October 26, 8:00 PM (if necessary)
Game 6 Saturday, October 28, 7:30 PM (if necessary)
Game 7 Sunday, October 29, 7:30 PM (if necessary)

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

Thanks, Gwreck.

Have you found a site that lists the AL schedule for the Division Series? I'm especially curious to know how many overall games will be played on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

[Frayed Knot]

The way they generally work it out is that there'll be 3 games each day (Tues, Wed, Thurs) which is why they have the one series with extra off-day.

General consensus seems to be that - out of games 1 & 2 - the Mets will have a 4:00 game on the day they conflict w/the Yanx and a 8:00 game on the MFY off day.
Which order those will be in is the remaining question and won't be determined until all opponents are known.

[Gwreck]

Mets NLDS Game 1 (regardless of the Mets' opponent) will be on the same day of a Yankees NLDS game.

There are some potential Mets/Yankees overlap days for the ALCS/NLCS too. NLCS games 1, 3, 4 and 6 overlap to ALCS games 2, 4, 5, and 7.

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

Let's see...

I'm guessing that NLCS games 1, 3, 4, and 6 would be played on Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday, and Wednesday?

[Frayed Knot]

It's also possible that if a weekday Met game falls on the same day as a MFY game AND a home west coast game (the A's likely won't earn home-field edge but the Dodgers/Pads could nose out the Cards) then it could push a NYM game into the 1:00 slot since the left coast game can't be put there.

[Gwreck]

Yancy Street Gang wrote: Let's see... I'm guessing that NLCS games 1, 3, 4, and 6 would be played on Wednesday, Saturday, Sunday, and Wednesday?

No need to guess; those dates are correct.

I should correct that the overlaps can only really happen during NLCS games 1 and 6 (ie. the Met home games), and that's assuming the Yankees would retain homefield advantage for the ALCS (likely but not guaranteed).

[Gwreck]

Frayed Knot wrote: It's also possible that if a weekday Met game falls on the same day as a MFY game AND a home west coast game (the A's likely won't earn home-field edge but the Dodgers/Pads could nose out the Cards) then it could push a NYM game into the 1:00 slot since the left coast game can't be put there.

That situation can only happen if the A's get homefield advantage over the AL Central Winner. The two NLDS series start on different days, so there's no situation in which the Mets, Yankees, and a third NLDS game will be played on the same weekday. It might happen on a Sunday, but gamtimes matter a bit less then I think.

[HahnSolo]

SteveJRogers wrote: BTW, first time since 1973 that the Mets will have home field in the NLCS, obviously first time the Mets shall ever have home field in the NLDS! 69-93 both NLCS and ALCS had the same alternating crap that the World Series still had up to 2002, that was re-set when instead of a 5 game 2-3 series it turned into a 7 game 2-3-2 series in 1985, both 1969 and 1985 kicked off with the NL East having home field.

The Mets were supposed to have home field for the 1986 LCS. Remember that the Dogders had home field for the 85 LCS, so the East winner should have had home field the following year. But because of the Oilers (remember them?) having a home game that weekend, the league was forced to switch games 1 and 2 to the Dome. I know I wasn't the only one upset about this.

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

Using TiVo, I was able to peek ahead at the TV baseball schedule for the opening week of the playoffs, through the afternoon of Friday, October 6.

Here's what I found:

Tuesday, October 3:
1 p.m., ESPN
4 p.m., ESPN
8 p.m., FOX

Wednesday, October 4:
4 p.m., ESPN
7 p.m., ESPN
10 p.m., FOX

Thursday, October 5:
4 p.m., ESPN
8 p.m., FOX

Friday, October 6:
4 p.m., ESPN


I assume that there will also be a night game on Friday. And I think that both Thursday games will be National League games. And there will be two AL games on both Tuesday and Wednesday.

The 10 p.m. game on Wednesday is the one that most concerns me. The Mets will be at home for the first two games of the NLDS. Would they schedule a 10 p.m. start for a game in New York? I'd hope not. But if the Mets were playing the Dodgers or Padres it would be in prime time for the visiting team. And if a game is being played in San Diego, or Los Angeles, or Oakland that day, that would be the obvious 10 p.m. choice.

But it's possible that none of the four series will open on the West Coast. We know the Mets will be in New York, and the Yankees probably will too. But the other NL game could be in St. Louis, and the other AL game could be in Minnesota or Detroit.

[Gwreck]

No game will start at 10 PM in New York.

That 10 PM start would be if one of the West Coast teams was hosting the Phillies in the first round.

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

Yes, but what if no games are being played on the west coast?

Hopefully they'd at least make it a 9 p.m. local start time for a team in the Central time zone. (Minnesota or St. Louis.)

[Gwreck]

="Yancy Street Gang"]Yes, but what if no games are being played on the west coast? Hopefully they'd at least make it a 9 p.m. local start time for a team in the Central time zone. (Minnesota or St. Louis.)

Then they'd alter the TV schedule. There's no chance that a game played in New York would start at 10 PM EDT. None whatsoever.

[Gwreck]

Also, re: Division Series Game 1: Mets vs. Padres or Dodgers will bump the Yankees to the 4:00 game.

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

I have less faith in the reasonableness of TV networks than you do.

They'll schedule the games when they think they'll get the most viewers/revenue. They won't care about the fans in the park.

[Gwreck]

Yancy Street Gang wrote: They'll schedule the games when they think they'll get the most viewers/revenue. They won't care about the fans in the park.

Right. But some things take precedence over that. The NYPD won't allow a playoff game starting at 10 PM.

[Gwreck]

Updating this again.
The Mets have clinched Home-field Advantage for the first two rounds.

NLDS

Series 1- if the Phillies win the Wild Card and the Mets play a division winner
Game 1 Tuesday, October 3, 4:00 if Central; 8:00 PM if West
Game 2 Thursday, October 5, 8:00 PM
Game 3 Saturday October 7
Game 4 Sunday, October 8 (if necessary)
Game 5 Monday, October 9 (if necessary)

Series 2 - if a team outside the East is the Wild Card winner, and therefore the Mets opponent
Game 1 Wednesday, October 4, 7:00 PM
Game 2 Thursday, October 5, 8:00 PM
Game 3 Saturday October 7
Game 4 Sunday, October 8 (if necessary)
Game 5 Monday, October 9 (if necessary)


NLCS
Game 1 Wednesday, October 11, 8:00 PM
Game 2 Thursday, October 12, 8:00 PM
Game 3 Saturday, October 14, 4:00 PM
Game 4 Sunday, October 15, 7:30 PM
Game 5 Monday, October 16, 8:00 PM (if necessary)
Game 6 Wednesday, October 18, 4:00 PM/8:00 PM* (if necessary)
Game 7 Thursday, October 19, 8:00 PM (if necessary)

* 4:00 only if ALCS Game 7 is necessary.


World Series
Game 1 Saturday October 21, 7:30 PM
Game 2 Sunday October 22, 7:30 PM
Game 3 Tuesday, October 24, 8:00 PM
Game 4 Wednesday, October 25, 8:00 PM
Game 5 Thursday, October 26, 8:00 PM (if necessary)
Game 6 Saturday, October 28, 7:30 PM (if necessary)
Game 7 Sunday, October 29, 7:30 PM (if necessary)

[Gwreck]

Gametime for NLCS Game #1 should probably be moved back to "TBA."

The intention is to play at 8:00, but according to the Fox TV Schedule (courtesy Adam Rubin's blog), the plan is for a "split-national" broadcast with ALCS Game #2 at the same time.

There's one potential situation that will clearly dictate a time change, for TV and likely security reasons as well.

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

What does "split national" mean?

Would one game be on FOX and the other on ESPN or ESPN2?

[Guest cooby]

Anxious moment here. I'm gonna be blacked out, I know it...

[Frayed Knot]

A split FOX game means one game on FOX and the other on F/X

What I think they want to avoid is having the two NYC teams "against" each other TV-wise

[metirish]

] Would one game be on FOX and the other on ESPN or ESPN2?

Haven't they used the FX channel before in that situation?

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

I think they have. But some of the ALDS/NLDS games are going to be on ESPN and some on FOX. I'm not sure how they're divided up. I guess it would make sense for any head-to-head games would be on the same corporate entity though. If FOX is going to lose half its audience, it would rather lose it to F/X than to ESPN.

I also recall ESPN2 and F/X being used when games run long and the end of one game intrudes upon the beginning of another. (Practically inevitable when they only allot three hours for a game.) So the first couple of innings of the 4 p.m. game might be on the secondary channel when the 1 p.m. game runs past the three-hour mark.

[metirish]

Whatever channel the Mets are on I hope Lou Piniella is doing the other games.

[soupcan]

metirish wrote: Whatever channel the Mets are on I hope Lou Piniella is doing the other games.

Careful what you wish for - you never know when Fran Healy may show up again...

[Guest cooby]

That would be great! Do you think it could happen?

[Gwreck]

"Split National" means that the game shown on FOX (ie. over the air) is shown according to "market."

Example: A New York-Philadelphia NLCS game would be shown in the NY and Philadelphia markets and a Minnesota-Oakland ALCS game played at the same time would be shown in the Twin Cities and Bay Area markets.

The rest of the "markets" throughout the country would show one of the two games.

It's possible that the second game (whichever you weren't getting on FOX) would be on cable, presumably on F/X or (more likely) the local Fox Sports cable channel.

The split-national strategy presents a problem if teams from the same market (ie. the Mets and the MFYs) play at the same time, hence the possibility of a conflict for NLCS Game 1/ALCS game 2.

No LCS games would be on ESPN. ESPN only has the right to show Division Series games.

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

I would be mighty pissed if the Mets and Phillies were playing at the same time and I wasn't able to watch the Mets.

I would think that the "alternate" game would be moved to the F/X or ESPN2.