You can bet your bottom dollar that Fox TV executives are praying for a Boston-Los Angeles World Series. They desperately want to see Dodgers outfielder Manny Ramirez play against his former mates with everything on the line.
Accordingly, I'm rooting my heart out for the Phillies and the Rays.
Of course, I would like to see the Rays win the whole thing. As a White Sox fan, I'd like to be able to say my team lost to the best team in baseball. But I'm rooting for the Phillies solely because I know it will kill the network's storyline.
Coming into Wednesday night's action, both the Phillies and Rays own 3-1 series leads. If this were the NBA, you would probably start to see curious calls made in favor of the Red Sox and Dodgers, as pro basketball likes to carefully orchestrate made-for-TV matchups that maximize ratings.
From my perspective, it's insulting to the fans of the participating teams when the networks gripe about poor ratings for a series. Yeah, the White Sox-Astros World Series of 2005 drew low ratings. So, everyone said "Nobody cares." On the contrary, I cared a whole helluva lot, and I'm sure the people cared in Houston too.
If we see a Phillies-Rays World Series, people will care a lot in Philadelphia and down in Florida. Just because TVs aren't turned on in New York doesn't mean the games don't matter.
The networks have too much control over baseball anyway. They get to set the start times, and thanks to them, we have to put up with extended commercial breaks while they sell overpriced advertising. If they don't get their preferred matchup, too bad. To hell with them.
Go Rays. Go Phillies.
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