Fred Bowen's "The Score" column,
October 20, 2000, Washington Post

Is the World Series on too late at night for kids?

Major League Baseball might as well hang a sign on the World Series that says: NO KIDS ALLOWED.

You see, all the World Series games are being played at night again this year. That means kids--baseball's future fans--are getting shut out.

Oh sure, kids can watch a couple of innings. But with all the hoopla, full counts and between-innings commercials, most games go until midnight. And plenty of the games are on school nights.

People say kids aren't interested in baseball the way they used to be. The game is too slow, too expensive, too long. Well, maybe one reason baseball is striking out with today's kids is because they never get a chance to see all nine innings of the really big games.

And it is not just young kids who miss out on nighttime games. Even my son, who is 16 and a true baseball fanatic, is usually asleep on the sofa by the seventh inning.

The World Series wasn't always played at night. I saw Bill Mazeroski's ninth-inning home run to beat the Yankees in Game 7. I saw Willie McCovey's scorching line drive (and the Giants' hopes for World Series glory) disappear into Bobby Richardson's mitt. I saw Hall of Fame legends Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Sandy Koufax and Bob Gibson play on baseball's biggest stage. I saw them on TV, in brilliant October sunshine and I still got to bed at a reasonable hour.

Maybe that's why I am a baseball fan today.

Don't you think the World Series games should start earlier so kids could watch? Maybe not every game, but at least a couple.

I know that Major League Baseball might lose some money because the networks couldn't charge as much for all those TV commercials. But baseball may lose more than money. Baseball may lose its future--a generation of kids who are more excited by the World Wrestling Federation than the World Series.

Because the kids can watch the wrestling.

© 2000 The Washington Post Company