For this series, we’ll start with the most important question – Why are the games on Tuesday and Thursday being played an hour earlier than originally scheduled?
In case you missed it, the Boston Red Sox apparently sought permission to move the game times for those two games up one hour from the original 7:05 p.m. start. The Orioles sent out a press release on Monday, which stated that the move was made so the games won’t interfere with the NBA Finals. The Boston Celtics are playing against the Los Angeles Lakers and the games will begin at 9 p.m. each night.
Are the Red Sox worried about traffic problems being caused by two professional sports being played in the same city on the same night? No, that can’t be it since the basketball games are being played in Los Angeles on Tuesday and Thursday.
Could they be worried about the potential loss of ticket sales if fans decide they would rather stay home and watch the Celtics? Well, that’s probably not it either. According to this April 28 article from MLB.com, the Red Sox are on pace to break the record for most consecutive sellouts later this season. In other words, there is a pretty good chance that the games will be sold out even with the Celtics playing in the NBA Finals.
What exactly is the motivation behind this decision? I just don’t understand how they can change the time of two games – virtually at the last minute – and the only justification is that another professional team from that city is playing a game later that night on the other side of the country.
What if there were some Orioles fans with flight arrangements to Boston that would give them just enough time to get from the airport to the game for the 7:05 p.m. starting time? Now they’ll have to be late to the baseball game because it’s more important that Red Sox fans will be able to watch the Celtics and Lakers play on television.

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