At 3:33 AM ET on Thursday morning, the Los Angeles Times‘ official X (formerly Twitter) account shared a story about Bob Costas believing that the Los Angeles Dodgers could extend their National League Division Series matchup against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The only problem? Hours earlier, the Diamondbacks had defeated the Dodgers 4-2 to complete a three-game sweep of Los Angeles and advance to the National League Championship Series.
While the headline was likely confusing to many at first, it also didn’t take long for most to figure out that the Times had likely either scheduled the post or was utilizing some sort of automated system to post stories to social media. Taking to X at 11:08 a.m. ET — nearly eight hours after the since-deleted post was first published — the publication shared that the error was, in fact, the result of ill-advised scheduling.
“As much as we’d love to get to cover the Dodgers/Diamondbacks series for a couple more days, that series is definitely over,” the Times wrote. “The above tweet was scheduled before Wednesday night’s game ended. Sorry to get your hopes up!”
As much as we'd love to get to cover the Dodgers/Diamondbacks series for a couple more days, that series is definitely over.
The above tweet was scheduled before Wednesday night's game ended. Sorry to get your hopes up!
— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) October 12, 2023
It’s curious to see any media outlet—let alone one as prominent as the Los Angeles Times—utilizing scheduled tweets for a story as time-sensitive as this one. Even if the Dodgers would have won on Wednesday, the story would have been outdated by the time the post published. But the error was only amplified by the fact that the series had officially ended by the time the story was shared.
The other unfortunate aspect of this is the collateral damage done to Costas, who might have looked out of touch to someone who saw the post and wasn’t aware of the inner workings of how outlets utilize social media tools. If nothing else, it’s a good thing that this incident—which serves as a good reminder about the dangers of scheduled posts—didn’t involve subject material more sensitive than a sports series.
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.