By JOSH VESHIA
Staff Writer
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Say the phrase ‘World Series’ out loud, doesn’t it feel great? Don’t you feel like you’re now discussing something bigger than life? The idea of the enormity for this annual ending to the season for the only two remaining teams simply feels magical. The four syllables in the title rolls off the tongue perfectly, just as the famous “De-rek Je-ter” chant does ringing from Section 203 Bleacher Creatures.
The World Series grants the opportunity for ordinary men to become heroes. David Frese became a household name in 2011 with a game-tying triple in the ninth inning and an eventual walk-off homerun in the eleventh inning of Game 6. Joe Carter’s series clinching Game 6 homerun in 1993 might be the only time you will hear mention of his name. Yet his one swing goes down as one of the greatest moments in baseball history. “Touch ‘em all Joe, you’ll never hit a bigger homerun in your life!” Coming from a broadcaster’s initial reaction, Tom Cheek could not have more right.
The aura belonging to the concept of the World Series certainly draws attention, but does it draw an audience? America’s pastime seems to be fading into a memory when it comes to the Fall Classic.
The San Francisco Giants have solidified themselves as one of the premiere teams in baseball, winning the World Series in both 2010 and 2012. The Kansas City Royals have not made the playoffs since 1985 where they would go on to win the World Series. Former Royals third basemen and baseball legend George Brett hasn’t been able to load up on pine tar in over 20 years and now sits in the press box as the Vice President of Operations for the Royals. Bruce Bochy, the manager of the Giants, might have the same breathtaking mustache hair as he did back in 2012. These two teams seemed to be rolling along separate paths when instead they would cross for a matchup in the 2014 World Series.
These paths must have been in remote locations with Game 1 ratings from last Tuesday coming in at 12.2 million, making it the least watched World Series Game 1 in baseball history. The second game rose to 12.9 million, but still showed signs of being on pace for a low-watched series. After the first two games in Kansas City (American League team has home field advantage from the All-Star Game victory), the series went to San Francisco where Game 3 on Friday night drew 12.1 million. The MLB was able to avoid a clash with the NFL on Thursday night where their regular season, week 8 matchup between the Denver Broncos and San Diego Chargers drew an audience of 20.2 million. It was a game, however, where a big time record would be broken by Peyton Manning in most career touchdown passes. The average viewing of Thursday Night Football on CBS this season is less than the 20.2 million but still comes in at 16.5 million. Regular season football has surpassed playoff baseball, even at its highest peak.
World Series numbers have been much higher at various times in history. As shown from the Baseball Almanac website derived from Neilson Media Research, Fall Classics in the late 1970s and early 1980s were constantly up near 40 million viewers, reaching 44 million in 1978. In the ‘80s, numbers were around the 30 million mark and 20 million in the ‘90s. The turn of the century has been very up and down for ratings but the overall trend still exists, viewing numbers are constantly decreasing for the game of baseball and its grand finale.
The MLB season is quite lengthy at 162 games. This means that revenue is consistent for franchises and does not require “blow-you away” numbers when it comes to television ratings. In today’s world, we see more local television deals becoming the way for fans to catch a game. Certain matchups throughout the season are shown on FOX and ESPN but fail to bring in big numbers. Baseball games are lengthy themselves. The MLB plans to experiment with different aspects of the game including eliminating intentional walk pitches and forcing batters to keep at least one foot in the batter’s box. Only time will tell for the success of these ideas.
The World Series will never lose its importance especially in the lives of those fans rooting on their team still competing at the end. Society is constantly changing in America and what better way to showcase that than with America’s pastime. Numbers can fade and drop, just as we’ve seen. But the potential memories and monumental moments will never go away. IT is, after all, what makes baseball so great.
