{"id":"1793570082311-sports-segment","slug":"skip-the-playoffs-for-ratings","title":"Skip the playoffs for ratings?","summary":"Shohei Ohtani was born July 5, 1994, in Mizusawa, now part of Ōshū, Japan, and is widely regarded as one of baseball's greatest two-way players.","publishedAt":"2026-11-01T21:54:42.311Z","channel":{"id":"sports","name":"Oncast Sports","language":"en"},"show":"The Pregame","verification":{"status":"verified","leadVerdict":"TRUE","notes":"TRUE: Shohei Ohtani was born July 5, 1994, in Mizusawa, now part of Ōshū, Japan, and is widely regarded as one of baseball's greatest two-way players.\nSource: [wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ShoheiOhtani), [guinnessworldrecords.com](https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/icons/shohei-ohtani-baseball-l (https://x.com/sagifario/status/2116837685407166717)","claims":[{"verdict":"TRUE","summary":"Shohei Ohtani was born July 5, 1994, in Mizusawa, now part of Ōshū, Japan, and is widely regarded as one of baseball's greatest two-way players.","sourceName":"[wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ShoheiOhtani), [guinnessworldrecords.com](https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/icons/shohei-ohtani-baseball-l","sourceUrl":"https://x.com/sagifario/status/2116837685407166717","claim":"Shohei Ohtani – The Greatest Two-Way Baseball Superstar Introduction Shohei Ohtani is a Japanese professional baseball player widely regarded as one of the most extraordinary talents in baseball history. Born on July 5, 1994, in Ōshū, Japan, he is famous for his remarkable","author":"Layla Ellie (@sagifario)"}]},"sources":[{"url":"https://x.com/sagifario/status/2116837685407166717","name":"[wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ShoheiOhtani), [guinnessworldrecords.com](https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/news/icons/shohei-ohtani-baseball-l","kind":"x","verdict":"TRUE","author":"Layla Ellie (@sagifario)"}],"url":"https://oncast.fm/story/1793570082311-sports-segment-skip-the-playoffs-for-ratings","listenUrl":"https://oncast.fm/c/sports","attribution":{"publisher":"Oncast","site":"https://oncast.fm","url":"https://oncast.fm/story/1793570082311-sports-segment-skip-the-playoffs-for-ratings","cite":"Cite https://oncast.fm/story/1793570082311-sports-segment-skip-the-playoffs-for-ratings and the original source links. Fact-check by Oncast (oncast.fm)."},"hostsSaid":[{"host":"Marcus","text":"Ratings snobs are out again, and this one made me throw a pen."},{"host":"Liam","text":"You saw Andrew Wagner on X. He says twelve point two million proves we should've skipped the ALDS and NLCS and forced Yankees-Dodgers."},{"host":"Marcus","text":"Oh, so the playoffs are just an inconvenience now? Hand the trophy to the biggest markets."},{"host":"Liam","text":"He's being sarcastic, but he's not wrong about the business. Baseball needs stars in October."},{"host":"Marcus","text":"No, no, wait— that's exactly why we play the games. You can't rig the bracket because the networks want ratings."},{"host":"Liam","text":"It's not rigging, it's reality. A Yankees-Dodgers series does huge numbers, and the league runs on that money."},{"host":"Marcus","text":"But the Diamondbacks and Rangers earned their spots. You can't erase that because New York and LA would draw better."},{"host":"Liam","text":"I'm not erasing it. I'm saying Andrew has a point: the league left a lot of money on the table."},{"host":"Marcus","text":"So what, we should seed New York and LA every year and let everyone else play for third place?"},{"host":"Liam","text":"That's not what I said. But when the big markets are good, you don't apologize for wanting them in prime time."},{"host":"Marcus","text":"You definitely don't ignore a seven-game NLCS because twelve million people wanted a different matchup. That's not a sport, that's a TV show."},{"host":"Liam","text":"News flash— baseball is both. You think small-market revenue sharing survives without national TV money?"},{"host":"Marcus","text":"Small markets survive because they can win. The Royals, the Diamondbacks, the Rangers— those runs keep fans in thirty cities."},{"host":"Liam","text":"And those runs get terrible ratings. That's the hard truth networks won't say."},{"host":"Marcus","text":"Maybe the networks need to sell the teams they have instead of whining about the ones they lost."},{"host":"Liam","text":"Oh, so now we're blaming the networks for fans not watching Arizona?"},{"host":"Marcus","text":"No, I'm blaming the networks for treating October like a scripted drama. Let the games decide."},{"host":"Liam","text":"The games DID decide— and the ratings tanked. That's what the post is saying."},{"host":"Marcus","text":"And I'll take a great series with lower ratings over a forced matchup every time."},{"host":"Liam","text":"So you'd run a league into debt for the romance of Cinderella?"},{"host":"Marcus","text":"I'd rather be broke and honest than rich and fake. You know that."},{"host":"Liam","text":"I do. That's why you're wrong and I'm right."},{"host":"Marcus","text":"We'll settle this in the next playoffs."},{"host":"Liam","text":"And I'll bring the ratings."},{"host":"Marcus","text":"Speaking of old grudges, here's one from Jim Koenigsberger on X: William Frawley— Fred Mertz from I Love Lucy— had a 1952 Yankees World Series watch."},{"host":"Liam","text":"Fred Mertz was a Yankees guy? That's incredible."},{"host":"Marcus","text":"The post says the Yankees gave it to him, and he was a World Series regular. But he refused to go watch the Dodgers at the Coliseum because he called them 'The Bums'."},{"host":"Liam","text":"That is the most 1950s baseball fan thing I've ever heard."},{"host":"Marcus","text":"Now— before you get too romantic, we couldn't independently confirm the watch. But the Dodgers did play at the Coliseum from '58 to '61, so the timeline fits."},{"host":"Liam","text":"So it's a 'probably true' old-time baseball story. I'll take that over another fake trade every day."},{"host":"Marcus","text":"A guy from I Love Lucy hated the Dodgers enough to skip baseball. That's fandom."},{"host":"Liam","text":"That's also a man with a Yankees watch and a grudge."},{"host":"Liam","text":"And if you're getting ready for tonight, there's a post from Layla Ellie on X that reads like a Wikipedia intro, but the point is right: Ohtani is the greatest two-way superstar ever."},{"host":"Marcus","text":"Greatest? You're crowning him already?"},{"host":"Liam","text":"Who else does what he does? Pitches like an ace and hits like an MVP. Nobody since Ruth, and even Ruth didn't do both full time."},{"host":"Marcus","text":"Okay, but 'greatest' is a big word. He put together a fifty-fifty season, then won World Series MVP. I'm not blind."},{"host":"Liam","text":"Then what's the problem?"},{"host":"Marcus","text":"The problem is you're building the statue before the career is finished. Let him finish."},{"host":"Liam","text":"You're the only guy who can make Ohtani sound underrated."},{"host":"Marcus","text":"I'm not underrating him, I'm protecting the word 'greatest.' If he goes off tonight, I'll lead the parade."},{"host":"Liam","text":"There it is. Let's hope he's in the lineup."},{"host":"Marcus","text":"If he's not, we riot."}]}