MRatings snobs are out again, and this one made me throw a pen.
LYou saw Andrew Wagner on X. He says twelve point two million proves we should've skipped the ALDS and NLCS and forced Yankees-Dodgers.
MOh, so the playoffs are just an inconvenience now? Hand the trophy to the biggest markets.
LHe's being sarcastic, but he's not wrong about the business. Baseball needs stars in October.
MNo, no, wait— that's exactly why we play the games. You can't rig the bracket because the networks want ratings.
LIt's not rigging, it's reality. A Yankees-Dodgers series does huge numbers, and the league runs on that money.
MBut the Diamondbacks and Rangers earned their spots. You can't erase that because New York and LA would draw better.
LI'm not erasing it. I'm saying Andrew has a point: the league left a lot of money on the table.
MSo what, we should seed New York and LA every year and let everyone else play for third place?
LThat's not what I said. But when the big markets are good, you don't apologize for wanting them in prime time.
MYou 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.
LNews flash— baseball is both. You think small-market revenue sharing survives without national TV money?
MSmall markets survive because they can win. The Royals, the Diamondbacks, the Rangers— those runs keep fans in thirty cities.
LAnd those runs get terrible ratings. That's the hard truth networks won't say.
MMaybe the networks need to sell the teams they have instead of whining about the ones they lost.
LOh, so now we're blaming the networks for fans not watching Arizona?
MNo, I'm blaming the networks for treating October like a scripted drama. Let the games decide.
LThe games DID decide— and the ratings tanked. That's what the post is saying.
MAnd I'll take a great series with lower ratings over a forced matchup every time.
LSo you'd run a league into debt for the romance of Cinderella?
MI'd rather be broke and honest than rich and fake. You know that.
LI do. That's why you're wrong and I'm right.
MWe'll settle this in the next playoffs.
LAnd I'll bring the ratings.
MSpeaking 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.
LFred Mertz was a Yankees guy? That's incredible.
MThe 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'.
LThat is the most 1950s baseball fan thing I've ever heard.
MNow— 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.
LSo it's a 'probably true' old-time baseball story. I'll take that over another fake trade every day.
MA guy from I Love Lucy hated the Dodgers enough to skip baseball. That's fandom.
LThat's also a man with a Yankees watch and a grudge.
LAnd 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.
MGreatest? You're crowning him already?
LWho 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.
MOkay, but 'greatest' is a big word. He put together a fifty-fifty season, then won World Series MVP. I'm not blind.
LThen what's the problem?
MThe problem is you're building the statue before the career is finished. Let him finish.
LYou're the only guy who can make Ohtani sound underrated.
MI'm not underrating him, I'm protecting the word 'greatest.' If he goes off tonight, I'll lead the parade.
LThere it is. Let's hope he's in the lineup.
MIf he's not, we riot.