BALTIMORE — It was a bad idea to switch the Yankees-Blue Jays game on July 8 in Toronto from the afternoon to a Sunday night ESPN tilt after the Yankees were already on the docket to play a doubleheader in Baltimore on July 9, but Aaron Boone isn’t betting on the game being moved back to the its original 1:05 p.m. time.
According to Boone, nobody from Major League Baseball or ESPN, his former employer, asked the Yankees before making the ill-advised switch — a decision that wasn’t made until after Thursday’s game at Camden Yards was postponed by rain, necessitating that July 9 twinbill.
All that was done to appease the Yankees was moving the start time for Game 1 of the doubleheader from 4:05 p.m. to 5:05 p.m., which is akin to applying scotch tape to a gunshot wound to the chest.
“Look, obviously that is not a good situation. Hopefully there is something that can be done that maybe changes that situation,’’ the manager said Saturday, prior to the Yankees’ 8-5 win over the Orioles.
“Any time you have the potential of a night game traveling into a doubleheader, the first thing I worry about is player safety and the product on the field and everything. Those things go into the decision-making process, and hopefully it’s not something that is necessarily over with.’’
The MLB Players Association is looking into the bizarre scheduling and is working toward getting it resolved, according to a person familiar with the situation.
Boone has been in contact with ESPN people, but where it goes from there isn’t known. And he wasn’t confident about a reversal.
“No, not necessarily,’’ Boone said when asked if he believed the start time in Toronto could be changed. “Hopefully, everybody behind the scenes is taking the product and player safety and all that into account.’’
Boone hopes he has a partner in MLB when it comes to worrying about the ramifications of asking players to play three games in a span of about 32 hours with a flight in between the first and second tilts.
“I hope so. I hope that is the case. I believe that is the case,’’ Boone said when asked if the league shares his worries. “Hopefully everyone is working behind the scenes to at least put all their efforts to concern themselves with ultimately the product.’’
Boone didn’t remember if ESPN televised a Sunday night game from Toronto when he worked for the network.
“It was surprising when it came up [Friday], when I heard the news,” the manager said. “Obviously, it’s something way out of our hands. Hopefully Major League Baseball and everybody involved is looking at this smartly.”
That the decision was made after the twinbill on July 9 was announced is a very big indication the situation wasn’t viewed smartly by those making the call.It wasn’t ideal before the dumb decision, but leaving it as a day game on July 8 made a lot more sense. After all, that’s what the Yankees are doing this Sunday and Monday. Sunday, they are scheduled to play a day game at Camden Yards and then fly to Detroit, where they are playing a split doubleheader Monday with games starting at 1:10 and 7:10 p.m.
In another case of avoiding a night game before traveling to a road city for two games the next day, the Yankees play the Rays at Yankee Stadium at 2:05 p.m. on Sunday, June 17, Old-Timer’s Day, and then move to Washington for a doubleheader of sorts against the Nationals. They first will resume a suspended game from May 15. They then will play a postponed contest from May 16, one half-hour after the suspended game concludes.