Teams from any geographically distant areas will get better ratings than the opposite. People want to watch the Series, and most of them want someone to root for. They will usually pick a team that is closer to where they grew up or where they live now. If the two teams are extremely close together, you lose viewership. Unless it is a series like the ALCS of a couple of years ago. Once the RedSox started their comeback, the whole country watched.
Jim, you have to factor in a couple of things to explain my feelings towards the Yankees: Broadway, a dislike of the money, and my wife. Damn Yankees is one of my favorite musicals, Steinbrenner is an ass, and my wife is from Boston.
I think it’s also safe to say that there’s more (if only just a little) interest when you know that two cities or geographical areas are vying for bragging rights in the World Series. It’s not uncommon to hear about the mayors of two competing cities in the World Series or the Superbowl making silly bets based on the outcome. Or for the residents of LA and Detroit to razz the rioting skills of their opponents’ respective cities when the Pistons and Lakers meet in the NBA finals.
These are the kinds of things that are missing when you have a subway or freeway series. If the Mets and Yankees meet, people from other parts of the country figure, “Who cares? New York wins either way. The only difference is which side of town is happier.”
I think you are 100% correct about the regions and ratings. All NY is not great; Twins vs. Brewers would be a disaster for TV. Yanks or Red Sox vs. LA or Cubs would be huge. Cards are a pretty good national draw against either Coast. Mets vs. Angels or A’s would do well. But Marlins vs. Tampa Bay would set a record low.
2a. Damn Yankees is a great Play, one of my favorites.
2b. George is an ass, but much less so than in the past and he actually spends more than he brings in the gate by a good amount. He only makes a small amount of money and that is because of the huge cable & Radio contract. I hope you at least join me in despising Billionaire penny pinchers like David Glass who owns the Royals and pockets money from teams like the Yanks and Dodgers. The bastard made his money as CEO of Wal-Mart and is still a board member and large shareholder. As Chairman of the Board of the Royals in 1994, he was one of the chief voices in favor of the horror known as “Replacement Players”. George was the most vocal owner against it. So hate George, but remember there are worse owners out there by any scale.
As has been pointed out, An all-one-city Series involves, well, just one city. For the fans of the area, nothing is at stake from a city pride point of view.
In the specific case of the Yankees, there’s a widespread feeling among fans of all the other teams that the Yankees are not a “baseball team” in the sense the other teams are, but are simply an agglomeration of free agents bought up to win ball games. The old syaing about the Yankees was that “cheering for the Yankees is like cheering for U.S. Steel,” but these days there’s a literal truth to it. Any other team is, as it stands in 2006, has a roster that is the result of years of evolution, of developing players, trading players, signing a free agent here and there, etc.; there’s a certain history behind the roster composition that a fan knows and gets behind. The Yankees just buy everyone, or so the impression goes (it’s not totally true, but it’s mostly true.) There’s no interest, no struggle, no risk. If something goes wrong they buy someone else, or trade for someone nobody else can afford.
It’s impossible, really, to find any interest in a “team” like that. The Yankees have now reached the point where they spend so much on players they might be incapable of losing, at lest with regards to the regular season; I mean, they had a series of disastrous injuries this year and they’re still in first place. There’s nothing exciting about that, or about a team like that. It’s boring to watch the ringers win again.
I don’t think many people would mind the Mets making it. They’re mostly built with money too, of course, but at least with respect to the Mets they usually suck ass so there’s a novelty in them getting back to the World Series.
I’ll grant you that there are worse owners than George. One of my fantasies is hitting the lottery big, investing in a company that has a great IPO, and then buying my own team. I have so many ideas…
You remember that part in the vows when they say “For better or for worse?” I haven’t decided where the Sox fit in just yet. But it did give me a greater appreciation for Fever Pitch.
I overheard my wife talking to her Mom’s boyfriend last week about her favorite team. “Oh, I guess the Yankees by marriage, I can’t help but know half the players.” So I know of what you speak. BTW: Bernie, Mo and Jeter are her favorite players, so she has very good taste at least.
The Cubs being in the World Series would, I think, signify the Second Comming. If it happened, the ratings may indeed reach record levels, but not necessarily due to the games.
I thought it was only the Cubs winning that was the Seventh Sign. I think they are allowed to get there and lose, probably in the seventh game due to some strange never seen before mishap.
It’s the checkbook, the vulgar displays of spending that money (and the lack of care. It seems they’ll take on some rather nasty contracts to get their man. You’ve got to respect the fact that (and he used to be more like this than recent days) he’ll do anything to make a winner. You also secretly hope that the owner of your team would open up his checkbook and get shit done like Steinbrenner. Steinbrenner getting shit done also means having his fingers in the soup. Ask Billy Martin or Brian Cashman how that goes.
They do spend a ton on free agent pickups and people bash them for not developing players, but you’ve got Williams, Jeter, O’Neill, Soriano, Rivera, and Damon (I’m kidding. Just wanted to make sure you’re still paying attention.) that shows that they do have a farm system and that they (sometimes) use it. They just don’t RELY on it.
Additionally, your stereotypical Yankee fan is annoying. They’re supremely annoying. I don’t know if, with the exception of Red Sox fans about a half year removed from their World Series victory, there is a more annoying and silly group of sports individuals (although, in their defense, they have a good sense of history and tend to know their trivia.)
Fuck them. Fuck them all. May all their ACLs shoot out into the night sky during a doubleheader like popcorn in the machine.
okay, so I don’t hope they get injured, but, like I’ve said before, if there’s a sum of money that I can raise that would ensure the Yankees would go 0 and 162 for the rest of my life, I’d do it.
Hey, have you ever met a Raiders Fan, if that ain’t silly, what is? In fact many football teams have far crazier and annoying fans, fans ready to fight over the most minor slight. As far as Baseball Fans go, umm, umm, guilty as charged with a special mention that the few thousand Atlanta fans you can find do that stupid war-chant thing and probably qualify as more annoying and sillier.
We also have the largest number of fans that came out of the woodwork this side of the 70s and 80s Cowboy fans. It annoys me that the fans near the field are now clueless to the game. I have seen several opposing fielders lean into the stands and catch a foul ball. Before 1998, the player would have been lucky to keep his mitt, never mind get the ball. We use to have a rep for being the toughest bunch of assholes this side of Philly, now we have stock brokers yakking on their cell phones near the field, oblivious to the game.
BTW: add Robinson {all Star} Cano, Melky {Got Melk} Cabrera, Scott {Most appearances} Proctor and Chien-Ming {team ace} Wang to the list of farm developed talent. We forgot how to do it for a while, but Cashman has wrested control of the Yanks away from the Tampa morons and has the team moving in the right direction with the assistance of Gene Michaels who was the architect of the team that won 4 out 5 from 1996 to 2000.
Do you mean Mr. Congenialty, Paul O’'Neill? I guess if you consider the Cincinnati Reds one of the Yankee farm teams.
I have to give them credit for Wang though. The guy’s having a killer season. But fair is fair, the Yankee starting lineup has 7 $10 million+ a year players in it. That’s just crazy. It’s no wonder out of town folks root against them.
Come on. I dislike the Yankees as much as anyone, but let’s face it, Cano has been the best second baseman in the AL all year. He’s hitting .338 in a season where no other AL 2B is breaking .300.
In late June, when the All-Star teams were being selected, he was hitting .325. His closest competition in terms of on-field performance (as opposed to fan loyalty) was probably Brian Roberts of the Orioles, who was hitting .307 at the end of June, and had a slightly better fielding percentage than Cano. Cano’s fielding percentage of .984 puts him in the bottom half of AL 2B, but it’s still pretty good, and he can make some excellent plays. And the fact that he hits 40 points better than his closest rival more than makes up the difference.
I agree that the voting system for the All-Star Game means that there are times when popularity wins out over form, but in this case i think the two happen to coincide quite nicely.
No contest. Uggla, by stats alone, would have and should have been the starter only if Soriano weren’t exiled to the outfield. This is also where you bring up Cano’s low spot in the batting order, made possible by the loaded everyday lineup the Yankees bought…er…bring to the field.
