I honestly thought Sewald was looking toasty and it was a shrewd trade by Seattle getting off of him. He's really found it again.Food for thought: if the Sewald trade doesn't happen, very likely that both teams miss the playoffs entirely.
Fixed that for you.Lots of people on Twitterfreaking out about MLB has to be upset with this small-market matchup.are idiots.
Dallas/Ft Worth is the 5th biggest media market and Phoenix is 10th. That's pretty darn good.
Well, Philly is 4 and Houston 7 (according to this list, which has Phoenix 11th), and both those teams seem to have more of a national following than what we have. But I agree, it's not like we're getting KC vs. Milwaukee.Lots of people on Twitter freaking out about MLB has to be upset with this small-market matchup.
Dallas/Ft Worth is the 5th biggest media market and Phoenix is 10th. That's pretty darn good.
The Diamondbacks adjust mid-series to essentially nullify the heart of the Phillies lineup over the final two games. I suspect the pitching braintrust will figure something out for GarciaQuestion for Arizona: does Lovullo have the wherewithal to just walk Garcia every time?
Yeah, I think Heim is a major player this series. He is 8th best at throwing out runners according to savant. Felt like the Diamondbacks really got back to their roots in games 6 and 7, which I think was wise. While they have had some memorable and dramatic home runs in the playoffs, which helped them win a number of come from behind games, I don’t think they can match Texas’ power. If Heim can pick one or two off early and make the Dbacks hesitant, it neutralizes one of their advantages.Question for Texas: can Heim control the running game better than Realmuto?
Question for Arizona: does Lovullo have the wherewithal to just walk Garcia every time?
Considering Realmuto had the best catcher pop time in the majors this year and Heim was 43rd, I'd say that's a tall order.Question for Texas: can Heim control the running game better than Realmuto?
Considering Realmuto had the best catcher pop time in the majors this year and Heim was 43rd, I'd say that's a tall order.
https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/leaderboard/poptime
For sure. I'd imagine it's more the delivery times of the pitchers than it is Heim being better than Realmuto at throwing out runners. I'm sure someone more knowledgable than me can break this down further.Pop time isn't everything though. As noted above Heim ranked significantly better at actually making outs during the regular season.
They are decent sized markets but neither team is particularly popular; there’s little appeal outside the market for either team. Having no east coast team hurts too; surely will be the lowest rated non-COVID WS at least which will give plenty of cranky sportswriters something to write about.Seems like any market that isn't LA, Chicago, or the large east coast metropolises (NYC, Philly, Boston, DC) is considered too small for impactful TV ratings. Maybe folks think MLB would be better off only putting teams in those markets?
I feel like the biggest problem from the network perspective is that the regular season was a six-month advertisement for juggernauts like the Dodgers and Braves...and then we got the Diamondbacks. Now, I'll happily watch whoever's involved, but I can understand the average fan deciding not to watch a team where they can't name any of the players.Seems like any market that isn't LA, Chicago, or the large east coast metropolises (NYC, Philly, Boston, DC) is considered too small for impactful TV ratings. Maybe folks think MLB would be better off only putting teams in those markets?
Funny. If you're like me, I find red state/blue state/purple state thoughts seeping into my rooting interests, but when I admitted that to DDB Jr. he kind of got pissed off and made some compelling points. I'll leave it at that.rooting metrics (which should be discussed in another forum)
Some view this as a feature, and some as a bug. I'm dismissive of it, because I'd watch no matter what, I but I understand where people are coming from. Baseball is unique though. There's nothing that can be done about it. If you have a playoff, it's always going to be a snapshot in time, and there is more variability month to month in baseball than in the other sports. I think the bottom line is that this is a problem that will sort itself out, because as bad as the 100 win teams did this year in the postseason, over time, they will continue to have a higher chance of being the same teams that are playing well at the end of the year than other teams. Just didn't work out that way this year.I feel like the biggest problem from the network perspective is that the regular season was a six-month advertisement for juggernauts like the Dodgers and Braves...and then we got the Diamondbacks. Now, I'll happily watch whoever's involved, but I can understand the average fan deciding not to watch a team where they can't name any of the players.
DDB Jr is right and I have to keep reminding myself of that. I will also leave it at that.Funny. If you're like me, I find red state/blue state/purple state thoughts seeping into my rooting interests, but when I admitted that to DDB Jr. he kind of got pissed off and made some compelling points. I'll leave it at that.
The worst World Series ratings would be Houston/Tampa Bay, if the Astors had stayed in the NL.Since the turn of the century, the highest rated World Series....
2004 - St. Louis/Boston
2001 - Arizona/New York
2016 - Chicago/Cleveland
2003 - Florida/New York
2000 - New York/New York
The lowest rated in the same time frame....
2020 - Los Angeles/Tampa Bay
2021 - Atlanta/Houston
2022 - Philadelphia/Houston
2012 - San Francisco/Detroit
2008 - Philadelphia/Tampa Bay
I guess I can see where the idea comes from that having a big baseball market involved helps. That's certainly the case for Boston, New York, and Chicago. On the other hand, Philadelphia doesn't appear to be big enough to carry a match-up to high ratings, nor does Houston. MLB probably didn't have much preference for match-up came out of the LCS. None were likely to draw monster ratings.
Lots of first timers. That's interesting
I believe that Quinn Wolcott is ranked #1 and there is a significant drop-off after that.Lots of first timers. That's interesting
Don't follow the umps very much, but it's nice to guys getting a shot at this
I should check out their ump scorecards for the year
Highest rated in terms of what? TV eyeballs? Something else?Since the turn of the century, the highest rated World Series....
2004 - St. Louis/Boston
2001 - Arizona/New York
2016 - Chicago/Cleveland
2003 - Florida/New York
2000 - New York/New York
The lowest rated in the same time frame....
2020 - Los Angeles/Tampa Bay
2021 - Atlanta/Houston
2022 - Philadelphia/Houston
2012 - San Francisco/Detroit
2008 - Philadelphia/Tampa Bay
I guess I can see where the idea comes from that having a big baseball market involved helps. That's certainly the case for Boston, New York, and Chicago. On the other hand, Philadelphia doesn't appear to be big enough to carry a match-up to high ratings, nor does Houston. MLB probably didn't have much preference for match-up came out of the LCS. None were likely to draw monster ratings.
Philly probably doesn't draw from outside their area because they've been around for 140 years and been shitty for like 120 of them. Being a good team with recognizable players for a few years gets you fans from all over the country. The Bash Brothers A's had fans everywhere. The A-Rod-Junior-Unit Mariners made a lot of fans. And obviously the Papi-Manny-Pedro Red Sox were popular all over. Maybe being in the World Series with Adolis Garcia and Corey Seager puts Rangers hats on fans outside of Texas, even if this year's TV ratings are going to be bad.Since the turn of the century, the highest rated World Series....
2004 - St. Louis/Boston
2001 - Arizona/New York
2016 - Chicago/Cleveland
2003 - Florida/New York
2000 - New York/New York
The lowest rated in the same time frame....
2020 - Los Angeles/Tampa Bay
2021 - Atlanta/Houston
2022 - Philadelphia/Houston
2012 - San Francisco/Detroit
2008 - Philadelphia/Tampa Bay
I guess I can see where the idea comes from that having a big baseball market involved helps. That's certainly the case for Boston, New York, and Chicago. On the other hand, Philadelphia doesn't appear to be big enough to carry a match-up to high ratings, nor does Houston. MLB probably didn't have much preference for match-up came out of the LCS. None were likely to draw monster ratings.
Quinn Wolcott will be the reserve umpire for the opener and will call balls and strikes for Game 2. He will be followed behind the plate by Márquez, Rackley, Knight and Carapazza.I believe that Quinn Wolcott is ranked #1 and there is a significant drop-off after that.
Still...all things considered; NOTHING is better than going to a World Series game with your dad. I'm sure he feels the same way.Going to game four with my dad. First time going to a postseason baseball game. Ideally that would be the clinching game, but I don’t foresee that happening
Try to keep your shirt on, but enjoy!!Going to game four with my dad. First time going to a postseason baseball game. Ideally that would be the clinching game, but I don’t foresee that happening
Agreed. My dad and I went to game 1 of the 2013 Series and it's absolutely one of our all-time favorite things we've ever done. Hope you have a blast, @azsoxpatsfan!Still...all things considered; NOTHING is better than going to a World Series game with your dad. I'm sure he feels the same way.
I feel like there should be some sort of era-adjusted Nielsen ratings for these sorts of things. In the aughts, the top weekly show generally pulled 25-30 million viewers a week; meanwhile, no weekly show has pulled more than 20 million live viewers since 2016. So I think the takeaways from the above are mostly that 1.) baseball is largely following the trends of the era, 2.) the Chicago/Cleveland matchup was really popular, and 3.) Philadelphia/Tampa Bay (and, to a lesser extent, San Francisco/Detroit) was a network's nightmare. Adjusting these by era probably get you a better sense of how popular each team is/was for the networks, but it's hard to tell from the above. It's likely no coincidence that the three least-watched series were the last three.Since the turn of the century, the highest rated World Series....
2004 - St. Louis/Boston
2001 - Arizona/New York
2016 - Chicago/Cleveland
2003 - Florida/New York
2000 - New York/New York
The lowest rated in the same time frame....
2020 - Los Angeles/Tampa Bay
2021 - Atlanta/Houston
2022 - Philadelphia/Houston
2012 - San Francisco/Detroit
2008 - Philadelphia/Tampa Bay
I guess I can see where the idea comes from that having a big baseball market involved helps. That's certainly the case for Boston, New York, and Chicago. On the other hand, Philadelphia doesn't appear to be big enough to carry a match-up to high ratings, nor does Houston. MLB probably didn't have much preference for match-up came out of the LCS. None were likely to draw monster ratings.
I'd say one of the more legit/deserving ones in recent years, in 2014 they steamrolled the AL playoffs (8-0 in 3 rounds) before losing the WS in 7 to a superhuman Bumgarner and Bochy and friends, then they came back the next season, had a better regular season record than 2014, and finished the job.Every time I see that the Royals won the WS in 2015 it takes a minute for belief to set in. That has to be one of the most random winners ever.
Who is “we?”And as long as I'm ranting, I can't stop thinking recently how odd it is that we all basically have been trained to ignore postseason results when deciding who belongs in the Hall of Fame, and on the flip side, we ignore regular season results when deciding how successful seasons are. This is truly ludicrous.
Yeah I almost mentioned him by name, a very rare exception. I personally don't give a shit about the Hall of Fame, but if we (a collective 'we', to answer your question) valued individual performance like we do team performance (1 winner, 29 losers), guys like Bernie Williams would be in.Who is “we?”
I don’t think Ortiz gets in on the first ballot without the October heroics
Definitely not undeserving, but those are their only two playoff appearances since 1985. Almost completely irrelevant for 40 years except for 2014 and 2015. Baseball is weird.I'd say one of the more legit/deserving ones in recent years, in 2014 they steamrolled the AL playoffs (8-0 in 3 rounds) before losing the WS in 7 to a superhuman Bumgarner and Bochy and friends, then they came back the next season, had a better regular season record than 2014, and finished the job.
Replying to myself, but an even better example is going to be when Bochy gets in and Madison Bumgarner doesn't come close. I mean, huh?I mean, why is Bruce Bochy considered a HOF lock and Bernie Williams only lasted one year on the ballot? Again I don't care even one tiny bit about the specifics I'm using here, I'm just pointing out the absurdity of the dichotomy as I think I never fully realized it myself until this month.
Bernie should be in just for his style and good-guy-ness (and on field play) that made me respect a Yankee, any Yankee. He rose above them all, no offense.Yeah I almost mentioned him by name, a very rare exception. I personally don't give a shit about the Hall of Fame, but if we (a collective 'we', to answer your question) valued individual performance like we do team performance (1 winner, 29 losers), guys like Bernie Williams would be in.
I mean, why is Bruce Bochy considered a HOF lock and Bernie Williams only lasted one year on the ballot? Again I don't care even one tiny bit about the specifics I'm using here, I'm just pointing out the absurdity of the dichotomy as I think I never fully realized it myself until this month.