Baseball faces apathy
Major League Baseball's month of October -- in some years, the focus of broad-based fan interest and stellar television ratings -- may be a bit of a dud this year. Already the National League has devolved into a playoff finals series between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Colorado Rockies. Oh, man -- those are two small media markets, and in time zones that only the most dedicated east coast fans will stay up for. Plus, those places are largely devoid of baseball tradition. Except for people in those two states, does anyone care who wins? And one of those teams is going all the way to the end.
In contrast, over in the American League, relatively old-time teams control the scene. The Boston Red Sox have advanced over the Anaheim Angels, and the last first-round series still up for grabs is between the Yankees (the biggest draw in the sport) and the Cleveland Indians. Cleveland needs just one more win to advance -- a prospect that the baseball bean-counters doubtlessly dread -- but they failed to get it tonight, losing to the New Yorkers in the Bronx. Another game between them is set for tomorrow evening.
I'll bet Wyden gets good seats.
If the Yankees work a miracle and face Boston next, it will be a huge bonanza on the financial side. But if they don't -- well, neither Boston-Cleveland, nor either of them vs. Arizona or Colorado, is going to deliver the viewership that the leagues crave.
In a way, I think the sport deserves a weak turnout in front of the tube. The announcers whom they hired to call the first four series have been awful. They alternate between boring and dead wrong. Don't expect that kind of product to build an audience if the action on the field won't.
| Posted at 10:56 PM | Permalink |
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Comments (7)
I agree - TBS has been terrible. Plus, if I ever see that Frank guy in person, I'm going to have to punch him in the face.
I like Colorado and Arizona. It will be a good series, but the highlight of those games will definitely be watching the dog who sits with the guy behind home plate at the Rockies games.
Posted by Luke | October 8, 2007 4:48 AM
I'm more interested in Arizona v. Colorado for the simple reason that it's new. I'm sick of the same, tired series between the same divisional powers in the AL. It's boring.
And you're right about TBS being terrible. One of the announcers referred to Kelvim Escobar as "Kalim"... as he was pitching. And it's not like we're talking obscure scrub here. Escobar went 18-7 this season with a 3.40 ERA. If you're a professional broadcaster, you should, at a very minimum, know the names of the series starters.
Posted by Jay | October 8, 2007 7:28 AM
Yeah, some of the TBS play-by-play guys should be reminded that they're not supposed to put us to sleep. But hey, there's a reason why attendance at major league baseball stadiums continues to go up while TV viewing of baseball continues to drop. Unlike football and basketball, the best view you get of a baseball game is at the ballpark. It's not and has never been a sport that adapts well on the tube, unless you enjoy closeups of spitting and scratching.
Posted by Pete | October 8, 2007 7:30 AM
Having the games only available on cable is a bit of a slight for some, but not having post-season baseball on the radio in Portland is a crime.
Posted by steve | October 8, 2007 8:37 AM
I have to disagree as well: the Colorado/Phillies games, (not to mention the 1-game playoff with San Diego) have been among the most compelling postseason games I have seen in a long time.
I am someone who used to rail against the Wildcard and division series (when they voted for the realignment 15 years ago), but there is no question that I was dead wrong.
Baseball's revenues at the time of the 1993 realignment vote were $1.2 billion, now they are $5.8 billion. Attendance has grown every year, reaching $79.5 million this year.
I think the only people that have reason to complain (aside from non-cable tv households, natch), are the large-market teams with the 200 million dollar payrolls who are getting knocked out by the wild cards.
I would not be opposed to the implementation of another handicap against the 2nd-place teams, though.
The TBS broadcasters have been awful, though, but I just turn off the sound.
Posted by Ambrose Burnside | October 8, 2007 8:57 AM
I agree that the broadcasters on TBS have been simply HORRIBLE. Please bring back John Miller and Joe Morgan anytime compared to these hacks.
Baseball is doing just great money-wise right now. Attendance at MLB stadiums was at an all time high. We have season tickets for all the Mariners weekend games; and I had no problem selling off tickets for games we would not be attending - even after their last winless streak on the road. But the experience at the ballpark is light years ahead of what you see on TV. My grandkids confirmed that this summer when we took them to a series of games over the summer. The loved it - even though a few of them have never been baseball fans.
Hopefully, Fox will do a better job with the ALCS & NLCS games. It can't get much worse that the job TBS is doing.
Posted by Dave A. | October 8, 2007 9:38 AM
Oh, and I forgot to ask...what the hell is that graphic that measures the lead off first base? TBS was really stretching there.
Posted by Jay | October 8, 2007 5:01 PM