It was one of the most compelling postseason games in baseball history.Too bad much of the nation had surely dozed off by the time it ended.Simply put, the Los Angeles Dodgers beating the Washington Nationals in the decisive contest of the NL Division Series epitomized everything thats great about the playoffs -- and everything thats wrong with a national pastime that drags on far too long.When Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw improbably ended the interminable classic with a strikeout for his first career save, Thursday had become Friday. The clock showed 41 minutes past midnight on the East Coast -- a ludicrous time to conclude a sporting event when most fans surely had to be at work or school just a few hours later.One of the best games in history is how Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez described it for those still awake, and theres no arguing that point. If nothing else, youve probably seen a couple of replay highlights by now.But it shouldnt have taken 4 hours and 32 minutes to complete, making this the longest nine-inning game in postseason annals. The seventh inning alone was like its own little game, taking up 66 minutes as the Nationals paraded one pitcher after another to the mound, six of them in all, in a desperate attempt to get three outs.The drama was undeniable.Too bad it was interrupted by all those trips to the mound, all those pitchers trotting in from the bullpen, all those requisite warmup tosses, all those batters stepping out of the box between every pitch, all those commercials filling up the dead air time for those watching at home.As good as this game was, it raised a question that baseball has been grappling with for years: Why is this taking so long?Lets start with Washingtons Dusty Baker, who provided a textbook example of Overmanaging 101 in the seventh.Hes got his best pitcher on the mound, 20-game winner Max Scherzer, and a 1-0 lead as the inning begins. Granted, Scherzer had shown some signs of tiring, pitching out of a base-loaded jam in the fifth and giving up another hit in the sixth.When Scherzer surrendered a leadoff homer to Joc Pederson in the seventh on his 99th pitch of the night, Baker decided that he no longer wanted his best pitcher in a 1-1 game. Who could blame him? This has become standard practice in an era of bloated pitching staffs filled with far too many guys playing specialized roles -- an inning here, a batter there, all of it leading to endless pitching changes, double-switches and other time-consuming matters.Afterward, Baker didnt have to defend whether he yanked Scherzer too soon.Just the opposite.With Max at 98 pitches going into the seventh and a lefty at the plate in Pederson, did you at all consider pulling him then? a reporter asked, reflecting the way the game is played these days, to its detriment.No, I didnt think about pulling him then, Baker said. Max said he was still good. We were hoping to get another inning out of him. ... Its easy to say after the fact. If somebody had told me and Max that the guy was going to hit an opposite-field home run, wed have taken him out then. But how do you take out your (best pitcher) ... in a 1-0 game? And Max is capable of going 100-some-odd pitches.After one bad pitch, he was done.Marc Rzepczynski walked the next guy on four pitches and quickly got yanked. He probably didnt even need to shower. Blake Treinen faced two batters and retired one of them before he was pulled. Sammy Solis also faced two hitters, giving up the go-ahead hit to Carlos Ruiz. Shawn Kelley was summoned next, a move that totally backfired when Justin Turner tripled to the deepest reaches of center field, bringing in two more runs. After Kelley hurt his arm, it was left to Oliver Perez to get the third out.The Dodgers took a totally different approach.Less was more on this night.In the bottom half of the seventh, after Washington scored a pair of runs, Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts went against the book -- kudos for that -- by going to his closer, Kenley Jansen, two innings earlier than normal. Jansen made it to the ninth with a 51-pitch outing, the longest of his career, before Roberts went totally off script by bringing his best pitcher out of the bullpen to get the final two outs.Just 48 hours after throwing 110 pitches in Game 4, Kershaw finally ended the series by whiffing rookie Wilmer Difo, the last position player remaining on Washingtons bench.The craziest game Ive ever been a part of, a downcast Scherzer said.No one would disagree with that.This was baseball at its best.And its worst.---Paul Newberry is a sports columnist for The Associated Press. Write to him at pnewberry(at)ap.org or at www.twitter.com/pnewberry1963 . His work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/paul-newberry . Discount Air Jordan 11 . MORITZ, Switzerland -- Fog prevented downhill racers from getting their Olympic dress rehearsal. Cheap Air Jordan 11 From China . -- The Missouri Tigers might not have a roster full of superstars. http://www.cheapairjordan11china.com/ . Instead of dwelling on the negative, Oates focused on what was good about the clubs recent play. It worked. Buy Air Jordan 11 Cheap . They hope to persuade the other team owners and commissioner Roger Goodell to put pressure on Redskins owner Daniel Snyder to drop the nickname they find offensive. "Given the way the meeting transpired," Ray Halbritter, an Oneida representative and leader of the "Change the Mascot Campaign," said Wednesday, "it became somewhat evident they were defending the continued use of the name. Air Jordan 11 Retro Cheap . The lawyers filed a 33-page amended complaint Tuesday in federal court in Manhattan, expanding on the suit originally filed Oct. 3 in New York Supreme Court. Arbitrator Fredric Horowitz last week refused to compel Selig to testify in the grievance, and Rodriguez then walked out of the hearing without testifying. NEW YORK -- When CiCi Bellis was a little girl, she played her first US Open match in the girls junior tournament and loved it.It did not matter that she lost in the third round. The thrill was the same as when she won a match here in the main draw at age 15 two years ago, according to her father, Gordon.The busier the better for the 158th-ranked American, who feasted on the New York buzz once again Wednesday, rallying against 49th-ranked American and French Open quarterfinalist Shelby Rogers in their second-round match, 2-6, 6-2, 6-2.I think it puts me in a different world, Bellis said of the connection she feels with fans. I feel like Im not even here. ... Its surreal to me. But its so amazing.After advancing to the third round, where she will play No. 2 seed Angelique Kerber, Bellis revealed that a group of young male fans -- I think theyre from Rhode Island -- who have followed her since the first of three qualifying matches here last week had a special request.One of them messaged me on Instagram and asked for tickets, and so I got them into my box today, she said of the group that calls itself Team CiCi.I guess were getting closer. Theyre a great group.Bellis and Rogers entered the new Grandstand Stadium court with the crowd still amped up from watching 120th-ranked American Ryan Harrison upset No. 5 seed Milos Raonic.But Bellis started slow and, after dropping the first set to Rogers, told herself she needed to move her feet better. Getting pumped up is how she described it, while attributing her energy to her growing legion of fans.When I get them involved -- I mean, the turning point of the match [was] when I started winning a couple points, started stringing a few together, got them involved -- that just kept pumping me up even more and made me play better, Bellis said.Gordon Bellis said he thanked tournament organizers for putting his daughter on Court 6 for her first-round match against Viktorija Golubic, the same small outside court on which she upset 12th-seeded Dominika Cibulkova in 2014.I said if it was serendipity, then that was the best court ever to start the first round on, Gordon said.ddddddddddddAnd now CiCi has a new career highlight.It means so much more to me [than 2014], Bellis said. Getting through [these] two rounds was really, really big.Rogers, who had an extended timeout down 4-1 in the second set to have her right elbow examined and taped, called it a little bad luck. She said Bellis was simply more aggressive.I think she plays her best match every time shes on the court, Rogers said. She has no pressure; shes swinging for the fences; she genuinely loves the sport. And she has a blast when shes out there and has no fear. She has a bright future ahead of her.Both Gordon Bellis and his daughter said they have not yet determined whether she will turn pro, a decision that becomes a little more tantalizing with each victory.She knows what shed like to do, Gordon Bellis said. We always told her what wed like her to do. Ideally, she would have not been too good at an early age to go to college for a little bit. That would have been my chief druthers, but fate might not allow that.While it has not been determined yet where the Bellis-Kerber match will be played, there is a good possibility it will be on one of the two stadium courts.Rogers recalled playing her first match in Arthur Ashe Stadium last year, calling her third-round loss to Simona Halep the coolest experience Ive ever had.Its so much louder, so much bigger than you think its going to be, she said. I practiced there before, but that match setting is so much different. You just have to experience those things and learn how to deal with them. And the more you play, the better you get.Gordon Bellis said Ashe Stadium would be a different scenario than the intimate environs of the Grandstand or outside courts. CiCi, who has never played Kerber before, will simply have to wait and see if the tournament organizers put her in the 23,000-seat stadium.I think it would just be even better for me, she said. More fun for me. ' ' '