MLB, ESPN Move Yankees-Red Sox From Yom Kippur Eve

NEW YORK -- Yankees vs. Red Sox is almost as much a part of ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball as Joe Morgan.

If the blood feud from the Northeast is being played out over a weekend, you can be sure that ESPN will choose Boston-New York for its showcase game.

Except maybe on Sept. 27.

Major League Baseball and ESPN have decided to move that day's game at Yankee Stadium back to 1 PM ET after it had been switched to 8 PM, because it is the day before Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar.

Jewish holidays begin at sundown the night before, so if the Yankees and Red Sox play the night of Sept. 27, observant Jews won't be able to attend or watch the game. (Sunset in New York that night, according to the U.S. Naval Observatory, is 6:44 PM)

But as the NFL did a few months ago, MLB paid heed to the large Jewish population in the New York area.

When the NFL schedule came out in April, the Jets were originally scheduled to play a 4:15 PM home game on Sept. 27, against the Titans -- a game that would have run past sundown. A U.S. Congressman from New York sent a letter to commissioner Roger Goodell as the Jets asked the NFL to change kickoff to 1 PM, and the league cooperated.

ESPN will still have exclusive rights to the Sept. 27 Yankees-Sox game.

"I am pleased we were able to resolve this sensitive issue that impacted many baseball fans and are able to move the game at Yankee Stadium to 1:00 PM," MLB commissioner Bud Selig said in a prepared statement. "I want to thank our broadcast partners at ESPN, especially ESPN President George Bodenheimer, for their support and for working with us to adjust the timing of this game which has allowed us to solve this conflict."

Tags: espn

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

9-01-2009 @ 7:38PM

Queen Esther said...

God said Redschem (POS) is going to die a slow and torturous death The stench emanating from his rotting liver will attract all the maggots which will crawl into his corpse through all of his orafices and liquefy from being boiled inside of your body.

And Ronny, thank you for your respectful difference of opinion from ESPN. They're just scared they're gonna lose a bunch of ad revenue.

9-01-2009 @ 8:02PM

Lakergregg said...

I'm a Jew and I say this, is anyone else outside of New York and New England sick of what seems like every single Sunday Night Baseball game featuring the Yankees vs. Red SOx?
Seriously, how many times a season do these two teams play each other?
Personally, myself, I'm an Angels fan.
The Angels, Hashem's team.

9-01-2009 @ 11:09PM

Ali said...

Yeah, cause "Angels" are such a huge part of Judaism!!

Dork.

9-01-2009 @ 11:45PM

Bracha Tova said...

Nope, not bored of watching them at all.
And they meet 6 times each year.

9-01-2009 @ 8:29PM

boderekisa5now said...

I don't care for either team but at least Boston plays for the championships,the Yanks and their 2 billion dollar payrolls buy theirs.

9-01-2009 @ 8:42PM

Samuel said...

So the Red Sox players are doing volunteer work and not taking a paycheck from Boston? How nice of them to play for free! I thought they were being paid the same as Yankee players are being paid. Every player in the majors is paid. Every team buys their championship. Your comments show that your choice to drop out in first grade may have been a good one. What a first rate dumb***.

9-02-2009 @ 1:33AM

kerryann1072 said...

There are 9 teams in MLB that have payroll over $100 million.... Yankees $201,449,189 ;
Mets $149,373,987 ; Cubs $134,809,000 ;
Red Sox $121,745,999 ; Tigers $115,085,145 ; Angels $113,709,000 ; Phillies $113,004,046 ; Astros $102,996,414 ; Dodgers $100,414,592

and right now 5 of these teams are leading their divisions....looks like Yankees are not the only ones buying winning teams!

9-03-2009 @ 10:11PM

waaaaazuuuuup said...

how can a team buy a world series???? you have to be a redsox fan.. that is a tipical redsox fan comment... dont get mad because ny got the money and the balls to go out and get top talent.. if boston could you would do the same.. 86 years ago boston sold babe ruth to ny . big mistake.. now boston buckles when it comes to purchasing number 1 talent. boston went after mark T AND GOT OUT BID BY 1 MILLION DOLLARS BY THE YANKEES.. i million more and you guys would have gotten him... like i said no balls and cheap... no team can buy the world series:::::: if that was so yankees would have won it for the last 10 years... SOOOOOO PLEASE SHUT THE HELL UP WITH THESE STUPID BOSTON FAN REDICULOUS COMMENTS... WRITE A LETTER TO YOUR TEAM TELL THEM TO GROW SOME NUTS AND SPEND A LITTLE MORE...

9-08-2009 @ 1:54AM

freddy said...

again i read this comment and it looks as dum today than it did yesterday... ohhh and the yankees just bought 2 more games today...lolololololol the redsox i guess didnt want to shell out any money so they lost...again... lololol

9-01-2009 @ 9:01PM

jm4279 said...

Sorry Samuel. Yanks ALWAYS BUY their titles!!

9-03-2009 @ 10:40PM

so you yankee haters claim that the yankees bought all there titles? so that means that all of major leauge baseball including the players have help them with this feat? i suppose all the teams gave them easy homers? free walks? they all eror on purpouse? empires also in on it aswell? manegers too? this is the dumbest comment on this site. the yankees are hated because they have won more world series in baseball history.. in fact they have won more championships in sports history.. thats any sport. most of these idiotic comments come from boston fans.. i can understand it a little. being that boston has suffered in the hands of the yankees more than any team they have faced for 86 years. so thos wins in 2004 and 2007 must have been great for them.. being able to expierience what the yankees have had for all those years.. and being that not long ago this year boston has given up first place to the yankees i can see how boston fans feel the pain of this.. boston is a great team but so are the yankees. all the boston stars are defecting from boston so that must make you a little mad aswell. the comments posted about ny yankees are pure envy.. you wish your team had the success the yankees has hadand will have again and again.. ny is great. the city is the greatest.. even the imagrants know it. go to any country in the world and ask any person there if they came to the united states where would they live.... they wont say boston,,,, they wont say california... they wont say saint louis,, 99 percent say NYC...

9-01-2009 @ 9:03PM

Piker21 said...

David ortiz does STEROIDS!!!!

9-01-2009 @ 10:19PM

Hello Robby Ed said...

How many observant Jews who watch baseball can there be? Yeah 2 outta 3 New Yorkers are Jewish but most dont observe the 100 Jewish holidays. Thats been my experience and I have a Jewish uncle.

9-01-2009 @ 11:11PM

They've had a $2M + payroll for a while now. How many Championships has it bought them?

9-01-2009 @ 11:12PM

A-rod does steroids and wears purple lipstick and Jeter is bow legged, what's your point?

9-01-2009 @ 11:47PM

And most religious jews wouldn't be going to a baseball game the day before Yom Kippur anyhow.

9-02-2009 @ 2:24AM

Neon said...

Hey Robby Ed! You must be old enough to have been one of the bigots in the crowd when Hank Greenberg played, with your "experience" as you called it (more accurately "obvious lack of"). How many observant Jews who watch baseball can there be??????? Two out of three New Yorkers are Jewish???? MOst DON'T observe the 100 holidays???? And you know all of this misinformation because you have a Jewish Uncle??? And, I'm sure several of your best friends are Black. You're lucky you still have your Geico commercials.

9-02-2009 @ 8:22AM

joe$ said...

The NFL plays on Christmas day. So does the NBA. The NBA and NHL also play on Easter. Whatever happened to the separation between church and sports? MLB needs to change a regular season baseball game because some people don't want to miss 1 out of 162 games? If you're that "observant", don't watch. Isn't sacrifice part of religion? If you're not willing to sacrifice one regular season game for your religion, you're probably not that religious.

9-02-2009 @ 12:11PM

hubba hubba said...

Yeah, I'm sick of seeing these two teams and their creepy fans. I'd rather watch the Nats vs. Astros. It may not be great baseball but at least I don't have to watch those bombastic turds.