NEWSLETTER
‘Tis the season where a variety of things can kick me off my normal schedule, and the Bullets wind up coming later than usual. So it was this morning, with word on the Nick Castellanos opt-out, a Lukewarm Stove, and the Cubs dropping four from the 40-man roster.
• World Series ratings are out, and they generally follow the trend we’ve seen for years now:
Pay-TV is shedding over a million subscribers ea quarter now, so take that into account with this graph. It's been accelerating. With that as backdrop, here's how 2021 viewership for the World Series comps to ea year back to 2010. pic.twitter.com/dliiPsGVzh
— Maury Brown (@BizballMaury) November 3, 2021
• The only part that surprises me is that there was no real jump for Game 6, but I’m guessing that’s because Game 5 was already a potential clincher (similar to no big jump between Games 5 and 6 in 2016, because clinching was already on the table). Overall, it was a particularly soft bit of ratings (second worst in history, ahead of only last year’s pandemic series), which is at least partly a reflection of folks not caring that much for/about the Astros or Braves, and partly just the continued decline of regular TV ratings for big events. That’s two decent-sized markets, though, so I wouldn’t think MLB could take this as a good sign.
• Crazy World Series stat:
just wanna point out the greatest stat I have ever found on reddit: as John Smoltz calls world series games, he or a teammate of his has appeared in every world series for 40 years pic.twitter.com/zOU4SK1REx
— Aria Gerson (@aria_gerson) October 27, 2021
• Five years ago today, the greatest World Series parade ever, featuring 5-ish million friends:
• Well this is just enjoyable offseason content right here:
20 Questions with @ihapp_1!
• Most embarrassing on-field moment
• Best dancer on the Cubs
• Why Frank Schwindel has the best nickname
• A whole lot moreFull Episode ➡️ https://t.co/U8xCQ3EnNj pic.twitter.com/LZgdmgqEBS
— Marquee Sports Network (@WatchMarquee) November 4, 2021
• The funniest part about Ian Happ describing his most embarrassing on-field moment is that the tripping-over-the-bat thing has happened TWICE to him.
• I don’t think it’ll put any discussions to bed, but I do think it sets up two reminders:
Btw, the Braves were 31-37 against teams with a winning record in 2021, so I hope that puts to rest the narrative that not winning against good teams in the regular season means anything come playoff time
— Jeremy Frank (@MLBRandomStats) November 3, 2021
• The first reminder is that “good” teams often do not put up huge winning records against other “good” teams. They just, at a minimum and over a long enough horizon, consistently win at a good clip against the bad teams. That can be plenty to get you to the postseason. And then second reminder comes from there: while there are little bits here and there at the margins that you can do to increase your odds fractionally in a given postseason game or series, the whole ball of wax is AWFULLY crapshoot-y. Just try to get to the dance, and then see what happens. And if you’re in a spot to know in July that you’re highly likely to make the dance, then you can worry about trying to improve those fractional odds.
• Oh Joc:
Joc forever https://t.co/Tq2yEeCitg pic.twitter.com/WkYSMY1aZR
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) November 3, 2021
• Marvel toys and gear are among the many Early Black Friday deals at Amazon, so check that out today. #ad
• I would absolutely oblige this man’s request:
Tsuyoshi Shinjo was introduced as the new manager of the Nippon-Ham Fighters today.
He told reporters he wanted to be addressed as Big Boss. pic.twitter.com/iRmdPQLK84
— Michael Mayer (@mikemayer22) November 4, 2021
