The Boston Red Sox aren’t thrilled with the Detroit Tigers over their refusal to reschedule Thursday’s series opener.
According to John Tomase of WEEI, the Red Sox believe the Tigers “manipulated” the schedule to get back at former general manager Dave Dombrowski. Thursday’s game has a 1 P.M. start time, which is just over 12 hours after Boston’s series in Baltimore. The Red Sox organization reportedly requested MLB change the matchup to a night game, which was approved, but the Tigers didn’t agree to the proposal.
Red Sox third baseman Travis Shaw voiced his concern over scheduling on Twitter.
UPDATE: we still haven't left Baltimore…. And the game tomorrow is at 1:10? Awesome 👍🏻 #MLB #RedSox
— Travis Shaw (@travis_shaw21) August 18, 2016
Red Sox players clearly aren’t enthused. But, Tigers general manager Al Avila told MLB Network Radio the change was made because the popularity of 1 P.M. Thursday’s start times. He’s right. There’s evidence to suggest the Tigers aren’t just being difficult. All of Detroit’s Thursday’s home openers have been early games. The Detroit Lions are also scheduled to play a preseason game at 7 P.M. Scheduling a game earlier shuts down any potential conflicts since Comerica Park and Ford Field are right next to each other.
According to Tomase, the Tigers aren’t exactly playing fair, however.
“But here’s where the popularity argument loses all credibility. Three times since 2012, the Tigers have played a road finale on a Wednesday night, and all three times they’ve returned to Detroit to play … night games. In other words, they’re asking the Red Sox to play at a time they wouldn’t schedule for themselves.”
Boston is one game back of the American League East and on a six-game winning streak. Scheduling a game 12 hours after the completion of a previous game is somewhat cruel. However, these are professional athletes who make millions, so it’s hard to feel truly sorry for them.
Detroit could be sticking it to their former GM – but there’s no certainty that’s the case. The best thing the Red Sox can do today to make sure the Tigers play fair going forward is handily beat them and send the message no matter what time they’re scheduled, they’re ready to play.
[theScore]
