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Phillies and Rays are the two World Series teams? Can Baseball let this happen? With plenty of other big market teams in the play-offs. When to the umps start making questionable calls?

Phillies and Rays is exactly what baseball doesn't need.
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"If I ever decided to do a book, I've already got the title-The Bases Were Loaded and So Was I"-Jim Fregosi

Comments

  • goose3goose3 Posts: 11,471 ✭✭✭
    I'm tuning into the game today SOLELY to watch the Rays and I'm not even a fan of them.

    I'd do the same if they were to advance.
  • larryallen73larryallen73 Posts: 6,061 ✭✭✭
    The Philie's are not a "big market" team? Isn't Phili one of the biggest cities in the country? Bigger than Boston, no? Certainly bigger than Anaheim.
  • HyperionHyperion Posts: 7,440 ✭✭✭


    << <i>Phillies and Rays are the two World Series teams? Can Baseball let this happen? With plenty of other big market teams in the play-offs. When to the umps start making questionable calls?

    Phillies and Rays is exactly what baseball doesn't need. >>



    are the dodgers considered a "big market team" ? for a city that can't even muster enough energy to drive an NFL franchise?

    Philly is what.. the 7th biggest market and smack in the middle of the northeast? just because they dont have the revenues from private TV ownership (those dollars go into Comcasts pocketbook), dont think it wont do monster big ratings....

    IMHO it's not about the cities involved, it's about the individual personalities market'ed....
  • bman90278bman90278 Posts: 3,453 ✭✭✭
    Look at last year, we had the Rockies and the Red Sox series. That's small market....Just kiddin Sox fans. image
  • stevekstevek Posts: 29,035 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>Phillies and Rays are the two World Series teams? Can Baseball let this happen? With plenty of other big market teams in the play-offs. When to the umps start making questionable calls?

    Phillies and Rays is exactly what baseball doesn't need. >>



    Yea that's right, people sure don't wanna watch the leading home run hitter and RBI leader bat. Scoring all them runs is boring.

    Good commentary - you've got a future in journalism with The Globe, the supermarket tabloid paper which reports on those Martian spaceships.
  • WinPitcherWinPitcher Posts: 27,726 ✭✭✭


    << <i>

    << <i>Phillies and Rays are the two World Series teams? Can Baseball let this happen? With plenty of other big market teams in the play-offs. When to the umps start making questionable calls?

    Phillies and Rays is exactly what baseball doesn't need. >>



    Yea that's right, people sure don't wanna watch the leading home run hitter and RBI leader bat. Scoring all them runs is boring.

    Good commentary - you've got a future in journalism with The Globe, the supermarket tabloid paper which reports on those Martian spaceships. >>






    All those Ribbies are a myth. Where have you been?

    Steve
    Good for you.
  • lawnmowermanlawnmowerman Posts: 19,477 ✭✭✭✭


    << <i>

    << <i>Phillies and Rays are the two World Series teams? Can Baseball let this happen? With plenty of other big market teams in the play-offs. When to the umps start making questionable calls?

    Phillies and Rays is exactly what baseball doesn't need. >>



    Yea that's right, people sure don't wanna watch the leading home run hitter and RBI leader bat. Scoring all them runs is boring.

    Good commentary - you've got a future in journalism with The Globe, the supermarket tabloid paper which reports on those Martian spaceships. >>



    lol, I agree with Steve

    In addition, the Rays are an exciting young team loaded with talent. People root for the so called underdogs. I would guess most of baseball America will be rooting for them if they make it.
  • stevekstevek Posts: 29,035 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>

    << <i>

    << <i>Phillies and Rays are the two World Series teams? Can Baseball let this happen? With plenty of other big market teams in the play-offs. When to the umps start making questionable calls?

    Phillies and Rays is exactly what baseball doesn't need. >>



    Yea that's right, people sure don't wanna watch the leading home run hitter and RBI leader bat. Scoring all them runs is boring.

    Good commentary - you've got a future in journalism with The Globe, the supermarket tabloid paper which reports on those Martian spaceships. >>






    All those Ribbies are a myth. Where have you been?

    Steve >>



    i've been tied up in a Martian spacecraft for the past 6 months and didn't get to see any baseball stats.
  • JackWESQJackWESQ Posts: 2,133 ✭✭✭
    Below is a list of the 50 largest cities in the U.S. As you can see, Philadelphia is the 6th largest city in the U.S. and has a population more than double that of Boston. Additionally, even though we are talking baseball, it is interesting to note that the Spurs (San Antonio), Sharks (San Jose), Suns and Diamondbacks (Phoenix), not typically recognized as "large market" teams, all reside in the top 10 largest cities in the U.S.

    /s/ JackWESQ

    P.S. And the Astros and Padres ... thought of as large market teams? Hardly, but the numbers tell otherwise.

    1 New York City 8,274,527

    2 Los Angeles 3,834,340

    3 Chicago 2,836,658

    4 Houston 2,208,180

    5 Phoenix 1,552,259

    6 Philadelphia 1,449,634

    7 San Antonio 1,328,984

    8 San Diego 1,266,731

    9 Dallas 1,240,499

    10 San Jose 939,899

    11 Detroit 916,952

    12 Jacksonville 805,605

    13 Indianapolis 795,458

    14 San Francisco 764,976

    15 Columbus 747,755

    16 Austin 743,074

    17 Fort Worth 681,818

    18 Memphis 674,028

    19 Charlotte 671,588

    20 Baltimore 637,455

    21 El Paso 606,913

    22 Milwaukee 602,191

    23 Boston 599,351

    24 Seattle 594,210

    25 Nashville 590,807

    26 Denver 588,349

    27 Washington 588,292

    28 Las Vegas 558,880

    29 Louisville 557,789

    30 Portland 550,396

    31 Oklahoma City 547,274

    32 Tucson 525,529

    33 Atlanta 519,145

    34 Albuquerque 518,271

    35 Fresno 470,508

    36 Long Beach 466,520

    37 Sacramento 460,242

    38 Mesa 452,933

    39 Kansas City 450,375

    40 Cleveland 438,042

    41 Virginia Beach 434,743

    42 Omaha 424,482

    43 Miami 409,719

    44 Oakland 401,489

    45 Tulsa 384,037

    46 Minneapolis 377,392

    47 Colorado Springs 376,427

    48 Raleigh 375,806

    49 Honolulu 375,571

    50 Arlington 371,038


    image
  • yawie99yawie99 Posts: 2,575 ✭✭✭
    Those figures are just for municipal populations. A list of the largest metro areas would be more useful.

    I'd also like to see TV ratings for recent World Series. I'm guessing there's been a steady decline over the last quarter century and that the teams involved have a much smaller impact on national ratings than people presume.
    imageimageimageimageimageimage
  • yawie99yawie99 Posts: 2,575 ✭✭✭
    I'm not sure how to neatly copy and paste the tables, but Wikipedia has a game-by-game breakdown of WS ratings since 1985. And Baseball Almanac has overall ratings since '68. I'm not statistically savvy enough to analyze the data, but I don't see much relationship between market size of the teams and TV ratings.
    imageimageimageimageimageimage
  • joestalinjoestalin Posts: 12,473 ✭✭
    We would love to see a Chicago and Boston-less world series!

    Sincerely,
    There is no I in team
    Can't buy wins
    and
    Mr, Paying Arod waaay too much
  • larryallen73larryallen73 Posts: 6,061 ✭✭✭
    35 biggest metro areas from Wiki so you know it's accurate! image


    Metropolitan Statistical Areas of the United States of America Rank Metropolitan Statistical Area Nickname(s) State 2007 Pop 2000 Pop Ä Pop Combined Statistical Area
    1 New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA MSA Greater New York, Tri-State Region NY-NJ-PA 18,815,988 18,323,002 A263+2.69% New York-Newark-Bridgeport, NY-NJ-CT-PA CSA
    2 Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA MSA Greater Los Angeles, The Southland CA 12,875,587 12,365,627 A232+4.12% Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, CA CSA
    3 Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL-IN-WI MSA Chicagoland IL-IN-WI 09,524,673 09,098,316 A223+4.68% Chicago-Naperville-Michigan City, IL-IN-WI CSA
    4 Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX MSA The Metroplex, Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, DFW Metroplex,North Texas TX 06,145,037 05,161,520 A037+19.05% Dallas-Fort Worth, TX CSA
    5 Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD MSA Delaware Valley PA-NJ-DE-MD 05,827,962 05,687,145 A268+2.48% Philadelphia-Camden-Vineland, PA-NJ-DE-MD CSA
    6 Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX MSA Greater Houston TX 05,628,101 04,715,402 A034+19.36% Houston-Baytown-Huntsville, TX CSA
    7 Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, FL MSA South Florida or Miami metro FL 05,413,212 05,007,988 A152+8.09% ZZZ
    8 Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV MSA National Capital Area DC-VA-MD-WV 05,306,565 04,796,063 A101+10.64% Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia, DC-MD-VA-WV CSA
    9 Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA MSA Metro Atlanta GA 05,278,904 04,248,012 A022+24.27% Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Gainesville, GA-AL CSA
    10 Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH MSA Greater Boston MA-NH 04,482,857 04,392,340 A273+2.06% Boston-Worcester-Manchester, MA-RI-NH CSA
    11 Detroit-Warren-Livonia, MI MSA Metro Detroit, Southeast Michigan MI 04,467,592 04,452,559 A300+0.34% Detroit-Warren-Flint, MI CSA
    12 San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA MSA Bay Area, Northern California CA 04,203,898 04,123,747 A277+1.94% San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA CSA
    13 Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ MSA Valley of the Sun AZ 04,179,427 03,251,876 A010+28.52% ZZZ
    14 Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA MSA Inland Empire CA 04,081,371 03,254,817 A019+25.39% Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, CA CSA
    15 Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA MSA Seattle Metro WA 03,309,347 03,043,885 A139+8.72% Seattle-Tacoma-Olympia, WA CSA
    16 Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI MSA Twin Cities MN-WI 03,208,212 02,968,817 A154+8.06% Minneapolis-St. Paul-St. Cloud, MN-WI CSA
    17 San Diego-Carlsbad-San Marcos, CA MSA San Diego County CA 02,974,859 02,813,833 A202+5.72% ZZZ
    18 St. Louis, MO-IL MSA Greater St. Louis MO-IL 02,803,707 02,698,672 A236+3.89% St. Louis-St. Charles-Farmington, MO-IL CSA
    19 Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL MSA Tampa Bay FL 02,723,949 02,396,013 A069+13.69% ZZZ
    20 Baltimore-Towson, MD MSA Baltimore Metro MD 02,668,056 02,552,996 A225+4.51% Washington-Baltimore-Northern Virginia, DC-MD-VA-WV CSA
    21 Denver-Aurora, CO MSA The Front Range,Denver Metropolitan Area, Mile-High Area CO 02,464,866 02,179,342 A077+13.10% Denver-Aurora-Boulder, CO CSA
    22 Pittsburgh, PA MSA Greater Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Tri-State, Metro Pittsburgh, Three Rivers Region PA 02,355,712 02,431,087 A348-3.10% Pittsburgh-New Castle, PA CSA
    23 Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, OR-WA MSA Portland Metro Area, Greater Portland OR-WA 02,175,113 01,927,881 A084+12.82% ZZZ
    24 Cincinnati-Middletown, OH-KY-IN MSA Greater Cincinnati, The Tri-State OH-KY-IN 02,133,678 02,009,654 A193+6.17% Cincinnati-Middletown-Wilmington, OH-KY-IN CSA
    25 Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor, OH MSA Greater Cleveland OH 02,096,471 02,148,010 A338-2.40% Cleveland-Akron-Elyria, OH CSA
    26 Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Roseville, CA MSA Greater Sacramento CA 02,091,120 01,796,857 A051+16.38% Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Yuba City, CA-NV CSA
    27 Orlando-Kissimmee, FL MSA Greater Orlando, Central Florida FL 02,032,496 01,644,563 A026+23.59% Orlando-Deltona-Daytona Beach, FL CSA
    28 San Antonio, TX MSA Greater San Antonio TX 01,990,675 01,711,721 A052+16.30% ZZZ
    29 Kansas City, MO-KS MSA Greater Kansas City MO-KS 01,985,429 01,836,423 A150+8.11% Kansas City-Overland Park-Kansas City, MO-KS CSA
    30 Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA Clark County, Las Vegas Valley NV 01,836,333 01,375,535 A006+33.50% Las Vegas-Paradise-Pahrump, NV CSA
    31 San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA MSA Bay Area, South Bay, Silicon Valley CA 01,803,643 01,735,819 A235+3.91% San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA CSA
    32 Columbus, OH MSA Columbus Metropolitan Area OH 01,754,337 01,612,844 A137+8.77% Columbus-Marion-Chillicothe, OH CSA
    33 Indianapolis-Carmel, IN MSA Nine-County Region IN 01,695,037 01,525,104 A095+11.14% Indianapolis-Anderson-Columbus, IN CSA
    34 Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC MSA Hampton Roads VA-NC 01,658,754 01,576,917 A212+5.19% ZZZ
    35 Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord, NC-SC MSA Metrolina NC-SC 01,651,568 01,330,439 A023+24.14% Charlotte-Gastonia-Salisbury, NC-SC CSA
  • MichiganMichigan Posts: 4,942
    With the teams left I would guess that the Fox network would rather not have a small market team like the Rays but I find
    them a great rags to riches kind of story. The Red Sox would probably have more national appeal than the White Sox even though
    both teams come from big city markets.
  • TreetopTreetop Posts: 1,474
    The Rays just don't have the household name, the histroy, nuth'in! It would be extremly difficult for the Phillies to carry the series with there market alone. Actually, it would be difficult for any team

    There are plenty of great match ups that could still happen, that would smash anykind of rating the Rays/Phillies could pull off. Cubs/White Sox (both now eliminated), Dodgers/Red Sox, Angels/Dodgers, etc.

    I'm a big baseball fan, but seriously doubt I will be altering my schedule to watch a Phillies / Rays World series

    Go Angels!!!
    Link to my current Ebay auctions

    "If I ever decided to do a book, I've already got the title-The Bases Were Loaded and So Was I"-Jim Fregosi


  • << <i>
    I'm a big baseball fan, but seriously doubt I will be altering my schedule to watch a Phillies / Rays World series
    >>




    Well, that sucks for you.
  • stevekstevek Posts: 29,035 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>The Rays just don't have the household name, the histroy, nuth'in! It would be extremly difficult for the Phillies to carry the series with there market alone. Actually, it would be difficult for any team

    There are plenty of great match ups that could still happen, that would smash anykind of rating the Rays/Phillies could pull off. Cubs/White Sox (both now eliminated), Dodgers/Red Sox, Angels/Dodgers, etc.

    I'm a big baseball fan, but seriously doubt I will be altering my schedule to watch a Phillies / Rays World series

    Go Angels!!! >>




    Well, maybe at the home you'll find time with your busy schedule in between watering the plants and feeding the pigeons to watch the World Series if it's the Phillies - Rays.
  • AhmanfanAhmanfan Posts: 4,389 ✭✭✭✭
    I think the incredible Rays would be a big TV draw if they made it to the series!
    Collecting
    HOF SIGNED FOOTBALL RCS
  • yawie99yawie99 Posts: 2,575 ✭✭✭
    I agree. In looking at the ratings, it seemed like series competitiveness - e.g. 1991 - or a compelling narrative made for better ratings than did market size. In '04 the Sox, I must begrudgingly admit, provided a very interesting storyline. I suspect people are now sick of all things Boston and that a Rays-NL Champ World Series would do at least as well as a Red Sox-NL Champ one.
    imageimageimageimageimageimage
  • 30 Portland 550,396

    yay go my city
    my t-205's


    looking for low grade t205's psa 1-2
  • Looks like its going to be a Phillies / Rays World Series. Rays look unbeatable right now. If the Phillies don't get some great starting pitching, they might as well mail it in..
    Link to my current Ebay auctions

    "If I ever decided to do a book, I've already got the title-The Bases Were Loaded and So Was I"-Jim Fregosi
  • too early to make any predictions; thats why they play the games
  • ziggy29ziggy29 Posts: 18,668 ✭✭✭


    << <i>Phillies and Rays are the two World Series teams? Can Baseball let this happen? With plenty of other big market teams in the play-offs. When to the umps start making questionable calls?

    Phillies and Rays is exactly what baseball doesn't need. >>

    I beg to differ.

    The networks don't need it. The fans that only care about the mega-market teams don't need it.

    But a lot of baseball fans DO need it. They need to be reassured that even so-called "smaller market" teams with lower payrolls have hope.

    Teams like the Twins, A's and Indians have often fielded competitive, playoff-caliber teams over the last dozen years or so despite low to moderate payrolls. These are the types of reminders that many discouraged baseball fans in Kansas City, Pittsburgh and elsewhere need: if the Rays can win the pennant despite having the super-spending Yankees and Red Sox in the same division, why can't it be done elsewhere with the right approach?

    Yes, if you believe October baseball begins and ends in New York, Boston, Chicago and LA, then you don't need this. Fans of many, many other teams do.
  • i agree whole heartedly with Ziggy image
  • TreetopTreetop Posts: 1,474
    The numbers won't lie. Lets see what happens

    Link to my current Ebay auctions

    "If I ever decided to do a book, I've already got the title-The Bases Were Loaded and So Was I"-Jim Fregosi
  • ziggy29ziggy29 Posts: 18,668 ✭✭✭


    << <i>The numbers won't lie. Lets see what happens >>

    If you're a baseball fan, you'll watch. If you're merely a mega-market fan, you won't.
  • I dont care about the numbers and I dont care about Fox. screw em' if the match-ups dont give them the best ratings. A true fan wants good games, close match ups and some drama.
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