Baltimore Orioles Reveal Major Change to 2024 Schedule
As is usually the case, the MLB offseason has gotten off to a slow start, especially for Baltimore Orioles fans. Things won't really pick up until the Winter Meetings begin in early December, so late November is definitely the calm before the storm.
There hasn't been much major news for Orioles fans recently, as their team has yet to swing any big trades or sign any major free agents. Hopefully that comes soon enough.
In the meantime, the team did make a pretty major announcement on Tuesday regarding their schedule for the upcoming season.
Baltimore revealed that its games will have different start times in 2024.
The biggest change is all weeknight games starting at 6:35 p.m. ET, which is about half an hour earlier than the previous 7:05 - 7:10 start times. With the average game lasting around 2 hours and 40 minutes last season thanks to the pitch clock, the goal is to have weeknight games end a little after 9 p.m. ET, which will enable fans to see more (if not all) of the game before they need to go home on a school/work night.
Similarly, most Saturday games will kick off at 4:05 p.m. ET, essentially eliminating 1 p.m. and 7 p.m. start times for those games. Friday games will begin at 7:05 p.m. ET, while Sunday games will be 1:35 p.m. matinees.
Overall, the shift towards earlier start times is definitely a positive. Not only is it more fan-friendly, but it also enables more games to be played during daylight, which is how the sport is meant to be played!
This may not be the most exciting news for Orioles fans, but it's still a welcome development nevertheless.
