In 2007, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays were the worst team in baseball. They won only 66 games. Their team ERA was 5.53, by far the worst in the majors. Just one season later, the newly christened Rays won 96 games and won a franchise-first AL pennant. This Cinderella story is the most endearing plot line in recent baseball history.
Too bad no one saw it happen.
The 2008 World Series between the Rays and the Phillies has been the least-watched Series in televised baseball history. There are a handful of viable excuses: that the election is stealing people's attention, that Tampa Bay is a small market, and so on. But these rationalizations ignore the elephant in the room - the World Series is boring. Except for the curse-breaking series of 2004, postseason baseball's TV ratings have been on a slow decline with each coming October. And if a compelling story like that of the Rays won't bring in more viewers, here's a few tricks that will:
Don't compete with Adult Swim
This point has been beaten to death, but it must be repeated ad nauseam until Bud Selig hears our collective scream: Let the games start earlier! Every game has gone past 11 p.m., with Game 3 ending at a ridiculous 1:47 a.m. When Carlos Ruiz dribbled the thrilling ground ball that ended Game 3, the smallest audience in World Series history was watching.
Let stars from other teams into the booth
The biggest issue with the playoffs in general is that as teams are eliminated, so are viewers. Major League Baseball has tried to remedy this with an ad campaign focused on guilt: Dane Cook walks on-screen with a baseball cap, snickering: "Real fans watch the playoffs, even after their team loses! There's only one October!"
This doesn't work, and Dane Cook isn't funny. Fans will stay tuned in if they see glimmers of their own team still involved. If it were advertised that American hero Derek Jeter and Boston's David Ortiz were doing play-by-play and color commentary for the World Series, I wouldn't miss it for the world.
As it stands, the playoffs are an entity that eats itself as it goes on. At the climax, we're left not with a grandiose battle but a pathetic stump of competition. Keep the other teams involved, and the beast will not devour itself.
Award ceremonies during the games
Why not? In the current system, we learn about the Cy Young Award winners and MVPs a few weeks after the World Series. Fans wake up in November to the MLB.com headline, or they hear it from a friend. It is a non-event. I bet a lot of Boston fans would watch Game 1 if they knew Daisuke Matsuzaka might win the Cy Young in between the fifth and sixth innings.
American Idol somehow attracts millions of viewers to special "Results Shows," where literally nothing happens for an hour. It can be done - boring TV can be made exciting, and America will watch. And if it takes Ryan Seacrest interviewing players in the dugout, so be it.
Ellis Rochelson '09 just realized that Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens didn't play this year.
