Imagine if your dentist called you at 10 AM and said, “Actually, your root canal is at 4 AM tomorrow, but check Instagram later.” That’s how MLB schedule-makers operate. The Red Sox are slaves to national TV, which can bump a game from day to night faster than you can say “Mookie Betts.” One day you’re settling in for a lazy afternoon, the next you’re watching a 10:10 PM start because some network in California decided the whole country needs to see Boston play the A’s.
And let’s not forget the doubleheader—baseball’s cruelest prank. You think you’re getting one game? Surprise! It’s a seven-inning doubleheader that starts at 1:35 PM, which is a sneaky way of saying, “Clear your whole Saturday or weep.” It’s like the baseball gods are holding a yard sale and everything must go, including your afternoon.
The Great Rumor Mill of “Maybe”
I once spent three hours refreshing a weather app because a game was “delayed due to potential drizzle.” The official time was listed as “TBD,” which in Boston-speak means, “We’ll start when the seagulls tell us.” There is no prayer, no offering to the crab gods, no frantic call to NESN that will give you a straight answer. The only reliable source is the team’s official Twitter account, which often tweets the start time at the exact moment you were supposed to be sitting down.
But here’s a surprising fact: the Red Sox have one of the most consistent start-time patterns in baseball—if you ignore the weekend. Weeknights are usually 7:10 PM, but Sunday games are a whole circus act. They can start at 1:35, 4:05, or even 7:08 PM if ESPN is feeling spicy. Why 7:08? Because TV executives love the illusion of precision while laughing at your confusion.
