Conspiring a Theory: Fixing the MLB games to get the best Fall Classic Matchup
Two things I love to do: talk about conspiracy theories and criticize the NBA playoffs and big matchups because the commissioner’s office predetermines the winners.
Fixing the NBA playoffs is no longer a conspiracy theory, because you’re not going to convince that the NBA isn’t fixed – facts aren’t conspiracies.
“Dude, you can’t fix basketball games….” Oh really? Ever heard of the Harlem Globetrotters? Those guys haven’t lost a game in almost one hundred years.
“Dude, that’s a circus act, you can’t relate that to an actual professional sport….” Oh really? Which of the major professional sports had an actual referee indicted by the FBI for racketeering charges? That’s right it was the NBA’s Tim Donaghy.
I criticize the NBA for fixing its playoffs, but I don’t hate it. It makes dollars and sense.
Putting the most interesting teams for the best matchups makes it a better contest for the fans to watch. Putting the most interesting teams for the best matchups also makes a lot more money, draws much higher ratings and sparks much more conversation on sports television stations.
This is why I think the MLB needs to take a page out of the NBA’s playbook and rig their playoffs. With the crazy Presidential election drawing almost every eye, the NFL and College Football monopolizing the air time and the NBA getting ready to start up their regular season it’s going to be nearly impossible for the MLB to get the audience it desires/expects for the World Series.
Unless, they make sure the anticipated matchup happens.
Starting on the National League side – if the Chicago Cubs aren’t in the Fall Classic, the MLB is screwed. The Cubs are the ratings machine that can make baseball great again. They’re young, they can mash the cover off the baseball, they have the best starting pitching and they have a Cuban closer that hurls 100+ mph heat on the reg.
The Cubs had the third largest average audience of any team on nationally televised games this season and highest of any team still in the playoffs (Mets 1st, Yankees 2nd). In addition, their ratings were 39 percent higher than last season.
Nobody wants to see the Giants again. They’ve already won three times in the last 6 years, baseball needs something different. It doesn’t get any more distinctive for the MLB than the Cubs in the World Series, as they haven’t been in the World Series since 1945 and haven’t won since 1908. Plus, even though the San Francisco/Oakland TV market is large (6th largest) it’s not as large as Chicago (#3), and the sports culture is much richer in Chicago.
Even though the Dodgers are in the second largest television market, Vin Scully isn’t around to pull interest in the Dodgers and Clayton Kershaw has been injured all season – plus the Rams are back in town for the first time in 20 years, so naturally they’re going to steal attention away from baseball. The Bears are awful and the entire Chicago market is looking for something to keep their minds off of bad football.
In the American League – the MLB needs the Cleveland Indians or Boston Red Sox to face off against the Cubs.
Going back to the MLB needing something different – the Indians haven’t won a World Series since 1948, 67 years is the second longest streak behind the Cubbies. The Cubs vs. Indians matchup would give the league a new champion that it hasn’t seen in either 67 or 107 seasons. Two fan bases that have been deprived of championships would create drama that no Hollywood producer could possibly script.
Now, if the Red Sox hadn’t broken their drought back in 2004, 2007 or 2013, a Cubs vs. Red Sox matchup would’ve been too good. The Red Sox have now become a regular commodity in the MLB postseason, unlike Cleveland and Chicago – but this is Big Papi’s last season and anytime that big Dominican is at the plate, postseason magic is inevitable.
Can you imagine better venues for a World Series to rotate between than Fenway Park and Wrigley Field? You can’t, because there isn’t. Furthermore, following the Cubs in a close fourth in average number of viewers on nationally televised games are the Boston Red Sox. The Cubs and Red Sox would be a television rating dream for the MLB that has the potential to compete with the NFL, the Presidential Election and the NBA.
The MLB is in a delicate window that they need to take advantage of before it’s too late. While the MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred won’t fix the series, I’m sure he wishes he could because the MLB is in a position to wake up the sleeping ratings giant.