LYankees swept. Dodgers swept. The World Series is Milwaukee versus Tampa Bay, and I could not be happier.
MHappy? This is MLB's worst nightmare. No Judge, no Ohtani, no big market.
LNo, no — this is what baseball needed. Two teams that built rosters the right way.
MBuilt rosters? The Rays have a payroll smaller than Aaron Judge's contract.
LAnd they still swept New York. That's the beauty.
MBeauty doesn't pay the bills. National advertisers want stars. You think casual fans in California are tuning in for... who's the Rays' biggest name?
LYandy Díaz. Brandon Lowe. Guys who actually hit in October. Meanwhile the Dodgers scored three runs in three games.
MCome on, one bad series doesn't erase a 162-game season. The Dodgers were must-watch all year.
LMust-watch for the regular season. In October they folded. Milwaukee and Tampa earned this.
LSidelineSpeak on X posted exactly what I'm feeling: "The Yankees AND Dodgers are out, and for once I genuinely don't care who wins... just hoping for some GREAT October baseball."
MThat's one guy. The diehards are happy, but the casual fan flips the channel when they don't recognize a single face.
LSo only recognizable faces matter? What happened to loving the game?
MLoving the game doesn't buy commercial time. Last year's Dodgers-Yankees was one of the highest-rated Series in a decade.
LBecause it was two big markets. But those big markets got bounced. This is what parity does. Small-market fans finally get their turn.
MHere's the part that'll make your head spin. SeatGeek posted that Milwaukee fans are paying about eighty percent more for Games 1 and 2 than Dodgers-Yankees openers last year.
LEighty percent more? For a small-market team? That's insane.
MHold on, that's their claim. I checked the actual get-in: around 2,800 for Game 1, 2,400 for Game 2.
LStill. That's Super Bowl money.
MExactly. And nearly seventy percent of buyers are from Wisconsin, according to SeatGeek.
LThey've been waiting since 1982, Marcus. The Brewers have never won it all. Neither have the Rays. Somebody's finally getting a first title.
MThat's touching, but first titles don't bring ratings.
LYou think fans only care about coast teams? Tell that to the 40,000 in Milwaukee who'll pay anything to be there.
MAnd after Game 1, when the rest of America flips to football highlights, MLB will wonder why ad revenue tanked.
LSo your solution is to rig it so only Los Angeles and New York make the Series? Come on.
MI'm not saying rig it. I'm saying small-market success is a nice story, not a business model.
LBusiness model? Baseball is a sport, not a stock. You build a winner, you get rewarded. Milwaukee and Tampa did that.
MLook, I respect the run. Both teams earned it. But you cannot tell me a Brewers-Rays World Series moves the needle nationally.
LThe ticket prices say otherwise. Fans are paying more than Dodgers-Yankees. That's the market talking.
MThat's the market in two cities. The other 28 are checking their fantasy football lineups.
LYou're wrong. Real baseball fans love this. Two franchises starving for a title, no prima donnas, just October baseball.
MFine, it's a great story. But ratings will be brutal. I'm calling it now: lowest-rated World Series in twenty years.
LI'll take that bet. I'm saying Brewers in six.
MBrewers? The Rays have the best bullpen in baseball.
LExactly why it'll be a classic. And I'm taking the team with the better defense.
MYou'd pick the Brewers over the team that just swept the Yankees.
LYankees were limping. The Brewers swept the Dodgers. That's more impressive.
MWhatever. We'll see. One thing we agree on: the ticket prices are absurd.
LAbsurd and beautiful. Milwaukee fans are all in.
MFirst pitch is Tuesday. We'll be here breaking down every pitch. But I still say nobody's watching.
LWe'll see. And when the Brewers win, I'm making you say it on air.