Final Thoughts on the Completed 2023 World Series

This image is owned by Major League Baseball

The 2023 World Series came to an end earlier this week and apparently a whole lot of people didn't really care or bother to watch any of it.  This year's series had two of the least watched games in baseball's Fall Classic.  Game Two had the lowest rated game in World Series history with just 9.17 million viewers nationwide watching.  As bad as that was for MLB and its TV partner Fox, Game Three was seen by just 8.15 million viewers.  What was more embarrassing for baseball is that while it was airing it's championship series, a cable network, ESPN, had more than 15 million US viewers watching a regular season game between the Detroit Lions and Las Vegas Raiders.  This should send a strong message to the MLB "leaders" it has a serious problem with its version of the game. 

The average time of game in this year's World Series was 3:13.  In fairness that includes an 11 inning game.  That first game that was won by the Rangers lasted 4:02.  Why does it take four hours to play an eleven inning game?  It takes that long because managers change pitchers at whim and umpires won't call the strike zone as written.  And the games seem longer when batters are swinging for the fences and striking out as if they just don't care.  Apparently, they don't care about how many times they whiff.  This year's average game time was only 23 minutes shorter than last year despite all of the hype from Major League Baseball about its implementation of a pitch clock.  The issue needs to be addressed again with an eye to shortening the time between pitches even more. 

MLB also made a big deal out of having larger bases this season.  It didn't have much impact on the World Series.  There were a total of eight stolen bases in five games.  And in two of the games there were no stolen bases.  MLB needs to go back to the drawing board on this too.  Despite, its efforts the game is still one dimensional.  And while, it's reviewing its rule changes, the powers that be, in New York City need to take a look at the defensive alignment rule.  Fielders learned quickly they could comply with this year's change to have two fielders on each side of second base, but frequently they were just inches from being on the other side of second base. 

I love the game of baseball.  Hopefully, MLB will take heed of declining attendance, and declining TV ratings.  I could offer more suggestions to MLB leadership but they seem content to let the game die a slow death as long as they get their TV payments from their television partners.  I hate to say it but both the TV Networks and MLB are about to get a rude awakening as the amount of money for TV rights starts to decline and ratings continue to fall.  I have said this before and I will say it again; this is not your grand-father's or even your father's game.  Wake up MLB!

Game Five = 2:54

 

Image belongs to Major League Baseball

The 2023 World Series is over with the Texas Rangers beating the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-0 in Game Five.  The Rangers were led by pitcher Nathan Eovaldi and a pair of relievers in the five hit shutout.  Actually, the game was closer than the final score indicates.  The Rangers led 1-0 going into the ninth inning before Arizona reliever Paul Sewald blew up and gave the Rangers four earned runs.

19 of the game's 54 putouts, or more than a third, were recorded by strikeout when batters with visions of home runs dancing in their eyes, failed to put the ball into play.  And top that off with another nine plate appearances where the pitchers were unable to locate home plate.  Then toss in four pitching changes and the game which should have been exciting, was a snooze fest.

I didn't watch a minute of this year's World Series because the games continue to be played at a snail's pace despite MLB's efforts to speed them up. (In fairness I did listen to a few innings of the series while in my car, but really didn't care who won.)  The game used to be fun but now it's a one dimensional game with a lot of batters swinging for the fences and striking out at a record pace or waiting out the pitcher because umpires fail to call the strike zone as it is written.

Hopefully the powers at Major League Baseball will wake up before they kill the game.

Game Four = 3:18

Image property of Major League Baseball

The Texas Rangers increased their World Series game lead to 3-1, with an eleven to seven win over the Phoenix Diamondbacks in Game Four.

The game was a blowout with the Rangers up 10-1 after three innings.  The D'backs attempted to rally in the eighth and ninth innings but came up short.  The Rangers could win the World Series this evening.

The game was boring and featured 20 at bats when the hitters failed to put the ball into play.  It also featured eleven pitching changes.  I listened to Game Four on the radio while I was in my car and turned it off after the third inning.

Game Three = 2:51

Image owned by MLB

The Texas Rangers went up two games to one in Game Three of the 2023 World Series.  The Rangers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-1 behind the six hit pitching of five Texas pitchers.

While the game was played in less than three hours, it still had a number of stretches where there was no action.  There were 15 strikeouts and five walks.  And there were eight pitching changes where almost 49 thousand fans in Phoenix had to sit around watching absolutely nothing.

Game Two = 2:59

Image owned by MLB

Game Two of the 2023 World Series came in about an hour faster than game one.  The Arizona Diamondbacks bounced back to win the game 9-1 over the Texas Rangers in the Fall Classic.

There were "only" seven pitching changes in the game, with 12 strikeouts and five walks.  The game was lopsided as Merrill Kelly dominated Ranger batters through the first seven innings of the game striking out nine and walking no one.

The series is now tied at one game each.  Game three of the World Series will be played Monday night in Phoenix.

World Series Game 1 = 4:02

Image owned by Major League Baseball

For regular readers of this blog you know I've written about the World Series in past years from a different perspective than most writers.

My interest is the time of the game and what I will call the boredom factor.  The boredom factor includes items like walks, strikeouts and pitching changes when there is absolutely nothing happening on the field.  At these times fans in the stands have to fight sleep and those at home have to fight the urge to change the channel.

Major League Baseball will try to feed you some crap about how exciting Game One of the 2023 World Series was.  It was played in Arlington, Texas and the Rangers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-5 in 11 innings.  It was somewhat entertaining but it also seemed to last all night coming in at a whopping four hours and two minutes.  This is in light of MLB's yearlong "hype-fest" telling the public how much better the game is now that a clock is put on the pitcher and hitter.  Yeah, right.

Four hours and two minutes is a joke.  Sure, the game lasted 11 innings but a game played at a snail's pace in which the hitters are dug in like coal miners swinging for the fences is not interesting despite MLB's fascination with the long ball and minutia like "exit velocities".  This is not your father's or grand-fathers sport.

This four hour marathon included eleven pitching changes, eleven walks and 24 strikeouts. 24 strikeouts?  Add a hit batsman and this means there were 47 events in the game where absolutely nothing happened and the ball wasn't put into play.  MLB is proud of itself for speeding up the game, but a faster game without any action is still like watching paint dry.

Just Do It

Its been a busy busy month to say the least.  But, this weekend Major League Baseball will wrap up its 2014 campaign.

My beloved Cardinals lead the National League Central by a game over the Pittsburgh Pirates.  The Pirates have won like every game in the month of September (OK I exaggerate), while the Cardinals are playing a little better than .500 during the same time frame.  Bottom line is the Birds need to win or the Pirates need to lose a combination of three games this weekend if the Cards are to win the division and avoid that nasty playoff play-in game next week.  The Birds are playing at Arizona (with the worst record in the National League) while the Pirates are in Cincinnati to play a Reds team that seems to have packed in about a month ago.

The Cardinals have gotten it done all year when they needed to.  So this weekend Redbirds "Just  Do It."

National League All-Star Team

Major League Baseball is back at it again asking its fans to select the All-Star team.  This is a ludicrous idea because most baseball fans can't name many more players than those on the team they support.  Which is why you have moronic selections each year.

I'm no expert, but after watching the game for 55 years, I know who can play and who isn't living up to their hype.  So, with that in mind here are my National League picks for the upcoming All-Star game which will be played in Minneapolis at Target Field on July 15th.

C      Jonathan Lucroy          Milwaukee Brewers
1B     Paul Goldschmidt        Arizona Diamondbacks
2B     Anthony Rendon         Washington Nationals
3B     Todd Frazier               Cincinnati Reds
SS     Troy Tulowitzki           Colorado Rockies
OF     Giancarlo Stanton       Miami Marlins
OF     Yasiel Puig                  Los Angeles Dodgers
OF     Andrew McCutchen    Pittsburgh Pirates

Of these players only\Tulowitzki, Puig and Stanton are currently leading at their positions.

Another Good (if Not Long) Week for the Birds

The Cardinals are now 8-4 after two weeks and have won all four series they've been in this year. The most recent series win was over the Mets with the Cards winning the rubber game last night. Adam Wainwright helped his team out tremendously by going the distance and pitching a complete game 5-3 win over the worn out Mets. You see, the two clubs played a 20 inning seven hour marathon on Saturday afternoon and Saturday evening that depleted both bullpens. (A friend of mine lives in Columbia, Mo and watched the first 11 innings at Busch Stadium before getting cold and deciding it was time to drive back to Columbia. That's about a two hour drive. Nonetheless, she made the trek back home down I-70 and back in time to see the last three innings at home. Yes that is a very long game).

Up next the Arizona Diamondbacks in Phoenix starting this evening and then the San Francisco Giants this weekend at AT&T Park. The Giants are my pick to win the National League West so it should be a good test for the Cards.