Dodgers watching for dummies

You’ve pretty much ignored the incredible run the Dodgers have had this season. But now that it’s playoff time and the whole town is buzzing, you feel the need to at least look like you are excited about the team and are following all the action.

So for all you fair-weather fans and Johnny-come-latelies, here is a cheat sheet for finding and watching postseason baseball that will spare you some embarrassing questions that might reveal you for the phony that you are.

I can’t find the games, where are the games? During the regular season, the Dodgers games are televised on KCAL-TV and the cable network Prime Ticket. But postseason baseball is carried on national cable and broadcast channels. The first round of the playoffs have been on TBS and MLB, which is the channel owned by Major League Baseball. The American and National League championship series will be carried by Fox and TBS, respectively. Fox has the rights to the World Series.

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Why do games sometimes move from one channel to another? TBS has the rights to the majority of the first round of postseason baseball when there are eight teams competing to advance, and sometimes -- despite the schedulers’ best efforts -- two games are going on at once. When that happens, TBS will move the game that is just starting to its sister channel TNT. That’s what happened Monday when the start of the Dodgers-Braves game was on TNT while the Red Sox and Devil Rays finished their game on TBS. When that game was over, the Dodgers moved back to TBS. Just be glad you have a remote and don’t have to get up from the couch to change channels anymore.

Is that Keith Olbermann on Turner? Doesn’t he work for ESPN or Current or MSNBC? Keith Olbermann is currently working two jobs. Last January he signed a deal to anchor Turner’s baseball coverage. He also now has a late night show on ESPN2. And yes, he has worked for every major media company around and no, he’s not talking lefty politics, just baseball.

Why don’t the Dodger games start at 7 or 7:30 p.m. when they are playing at home? Yes, sneaking out of work early to get to the stadium or to a bar to catch the game is a hassle. The games start early here because that is prime time for much of the rest of the country, particularly the East Coast. Turner (and Fox should the Dodgers make the World Series) wants to reach the biggest audience possible, which means an early start for West Coast teams in the playoffs.

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Who’s this Vin Scully dude I keep hearing about? Vin Scully is the longtime Dodgers announcer who has been calling games since the team was in Brooklyn. If you want to hear him, you have to tune in to KLAC-AM 570. Scully calls the first three and last three innings of the games.

Wait, the Dodgers used to be in Brooklyn? If you are asking that, then you need more than my help.

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Follow Joe Flint on Twitter @JBFlint.