Both teams are young, aggressive and largely unknown outside their respective markets [This blogger wants to give a big thumb’s up to the pride of the Rockies Kaz Matsui, a former member of the New York Mets who found a happy home at Coors Field]. Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig has fingers crossed, hoping that Boston Red Sox ace Josh Beckett out duels the Tribe’s C.C. Sabathia tonight. The Red Sox Nation would add a lot of eyeballs to the “Fall Classic.”
Fox TV chief Roger Ailes is on his knees, praying for a miracle comeback for the Sox, who are down 3-1 in their playoff with the Indians.
Fox took over the Series in `00 and it hasn’t been pretty. Viewership has slid, dipping below the 20-share mark for the first-time ever in 2005. That’s the year of another “barn-burner” match-up: Chicago White Sox vs. the Houston Astros. Chicago swept. Fox wept. Share clocked in at 19 percent.
Things got worse last year as the St. Louis Cardinals and Detroit Tigers tangled without much of a TV audience. Share slid to 17 percent. A potential Rockies/Indians contest would be hard-pressed to match that number.
The highest share since 1968 was the 1971 showdown between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Baltimore Orioles. The series featured legends of the game such as Roberto Clemente, Willie Stargell, Frank Robinson, Boog Powell, Brooks Robinson and Jim Palmer. The Bucs beat the Birds 4-3. That series proved that teams from secondary markets can draw TV viewers.
The only intrigue surrounding the impending 103rd World Series is whether or not Game 7 penciled in for Nov. 1 gets snowed out. Good luck to the Rockies and Indians.