World Series '23: Rangers v Diamondbacks

[A Boy Named Seo]

Starts tonight, I'm told. Who will win? Do you care?



Rangers ex-factor: Max Scherzer



DBags ex-factor: Miguel Castro, Paul Sewald, Tommy Pham

[MFS62]

I usually root for the NL team (unless it is LA) but I'm abstaining from this one.

Pass

Later

[kcmets]

A Boy Named Seo wrote: Do you care?

Not particularly.



I'm kinda in fuck Scherzer mode. But he's hurt. If not, he will be. Or the plan

is he won't be by Game 7 and the he might be. Then he'll last a an inning or

two and tank and it will come out he was pitching hurt. Fuck him.



D'bags in 7.

[A Boy Named Seo]

I'm being full-on Tom Petty but I don't want Scherzer to get a ring with the Rangers. I don't want to process that.

[Frayed Knot]

So we've got the fifth seed (though tied for third best AL record) Rangers vs the 84-win / sixth seeded Diamondbacks who finished the season with

a negative run differential (first time since the '87 Twins) as contenders for the World Serious.

Some in baseball think this kind of unexpected matchup combined with a three week long buildup leading up to it makes the WS more interesting.

I disagree on both counts. I'd rather see a matchup of better teams with a smaller volume of games acting as a prelim.







As far as Scherze goesr, I have neither real positive nor negative feelings toward him, and he's already got rings with several other franchises so I care even less

if he gets another w/Texas.

My feeling going in is that I'm kink of pulling for the Rangers to get their first but sometimes in these years where no obvious rooting interest is involved I'll find

myself mid-series pulling for one side or another almost without realizing it at first. And with somewhere between four and seven baseball games left in the year

I tend to root for a longest series possible so rooting interests sometimes fluctuates from game to game (in other words, rooting for the max but not necessarily

for Max).

[TransMonk]

I don't think I could have picked a less appetizing WS...though, I don't hate either of these teams, so at least I'm not rooting against anyone.



Scherzer was never anything more than a hired gun for us. He wasn't here long enough for me to consider his winning elsewhere. Jake on the other hand...

Edited October 27, 2023 by Guest

[A Boy Named Seo]

Weird my feelings were more tied up in who wins the Scherzer trade and what a chip for Rangers would mean. I'd be happy for deGrom if he got a ring.

[Frayed Knot]

Anytime you make the kind of vet(s)-for-prospects deal at the deadline there's virtually no chance of "winning" the deal in the short term so that whole

concept never really occurred to me as Texas, or Houston/Verlander, advanced in the playoffs. Once the Mets decided to reverse course and at least

shore up the org from the bottom up, even if stopping short of doing a complete tear-down/rebuild, the focus isn't on those two anymore for me.

[Lefty Specialist]

I'm not the least invested in either of these teams. I'm kinda 51-49 D'backs, I guess, just because I'm an NL fan.



It's always fun when announcers praise Scherzer to the heavens about what a competitor and bulldog he is right before he gives up a 3-run homer. I expect that'll happen sometime in this series.

[A Boy Named Seo]

Crazy to think the Cardinals could have an outfield with both Adolis García and Randy Arozarena.

[A Boy Named Seo]

Ex-Factoring: Pham hits a jack to give AZ the lead, 4-3 in the 4th.



Verducci: "What was your strategy in the at bat?"



Pham: "Don't strike out."



lol

[Frayed Knot]

Ex-factoring in the other direction: Paul Seawald, brought in to preserve a 2 run lead, starts the bottom of the 9th: BB, GO, HR ... and they're tied at 5

[Frayed Knot]

Real extra inning rules ... what a concept!!

[Frayed Knot]

Not a good night for ex-NYM relievers.

[Fman99]

Didn't watch. Won't watch. Don't care. Won't care.

[MFS62]

Some more Metly content.

The coach celebrating those Texas runners scoring was none other than one-time Mets second round draft pick Corey (I wonder if whippoorwill will like that spelling)Ragsdale.

https://s.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/7jfEuCaKlBZ.olHZ9snhCA--~B/Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTUwNTtweW9mZj0wO3E9OTU7dz05MDA7YXBwaWQ9eXRhY2h5b24-/https://s.yimg.com/os/creatr-uploaded-images/2023-10/c9810160-755c-11ee-a6de-9eb64c938014>



Later

[DocTee]

Both teams went from 100 losses just two years ago to the WS this year. That's cool.



I usually root for the NL squads but with the adoption of the DH (and even the end of league-specific umpires long ago) there really isn't much of a difference these days. I like Tommy Pham. I like the Rangers uniforms. That's where I am.

[Frayed Knot]

btw, the Game One comeback by Texas brought the home/road record in this season's playoffs to 15 - 22



So, yeah, some of your teams will have to play a short series against an opponent you finished 15 games ahead of in the regular season .. but we're giving you the home field advantage!!





Snakes up early again tonight (2-0) in a game that's moving much quicker so far as compared to the opener.

Even with the added commercial time they've got four innings in the books in just under an hour.

[Frayed Knot]

Pham is phour phor phour tonight.

But before we start crying ths blues too much, he was 3/29 prior to that.

[A Boy Named Seo]

Pham got picked off at second at some point in one of the games and Rangers coach Mike Maddux clearly mouthed “dumb fuck” referring to Pham. TV cameras picked it up, then soon after it was all over the internet.



Pham responded to one of the posts with only the emoji depicting a hand writing something on a piece of paper as if to say, “You're on my list.”



HIGH DRAMA

[stevejrogers]

[metirish]

No surprise z record low ratings ( game 1)



Despite a dramatic finish, Game 1 of the 2023 World Series between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers was the least-watched World Series Game 1 on record. Here's what you need to know:



The game — which the Rangers won 6-5 after Adolis García's walk-off homer in the 11th inning — averaged 9.172 million viewers on Fox and an additional 182,000 on Fox Deportes.

It also averaged a 4.6 rating, another low, according to Sports Media Watch, which lists the prior lows as a 5.1 rating and 9.35 million viewers for Game 1 of the 2020 World Series between the Tampa Bay Rays and Los Angeles Dodgers during the pandemic-impacted season.

The series is tied 1-1 as the Diamondbacks host the Rangers in Game 3 on Monday.





Why so low?

This series was always going to be viewership challenged — as anyone who studies or writes about sports viewership would have told you prior to first pitch. The question was how low would the numbers be. These numbers are low. You can't spin them. Because fans too often personalize this stuff, it's important to note this isn't an attack on either team. It's actually a fascinating baseball matchup. But the Diamondbacks and Rangers are not national draws based on historic television data outside of when they are playing a team with broad appeal or a series going long (which is what Fox has to really hope for with this series). One thing that definitely impacted this viewership: Game 1 was played on a Friday, which is one of the least-watched days of the week on linear television.



Fox is going to point to Game 1 winning primetime among all programs but this is always true and they pay a lot for it to be true. For context, as Austin Karp of Sports Business Journal pointed out, the viewership was slightly below Colorado-Colorado State football on ESPN (9.3 million viewers) and on par with the Los Angeles Rams-Cincinnati Bengals “Monday Night Football” game last month (9 million).



Where this stuff really becomes eye-opening is when you compare the 2023 Game 1 viewership to recent Game 1 history not involving big viewership teams such as the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox, etc. Take Game 1 of the 2011 World Series between the Texas Rangers and St. Louis Cardinals. That game drew 16.5 million viewers. If you go back nine years earlier, Game 1 between the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Angels drew 19.26 million viewers. Again, if you are Fox and MLB, you are really hoping for series length here. — Richard Deitsch, sports media senior writer



https://theathletic.com/5014822/2023/10/30/world-series-game-1-viewership?source=user-shared-articlehttps://theathletic.com/5014822/2023/10/30/world-series-game-1-viewership?source=user-shared-article

[Frayed Knot]

Game Three tonight as the action shifts to Phoenix.

Scherezer gets the call for the Rangers against some rookie Pfaadt guy for the DBacks.

[Frayed Knot]

Scherzer exits with an injury after just 3 innings.



"Back tightness" ... may or may not be related to being hit by a come-backer in the 2nd.

[Edgy MD]

=kcmets post_id=140096 time=1698437872 user_id=53]
I'm kinda in fuck Scherzer mode. But he's hurt. If not, he will be. Or the plan

is he won't be by Game 7 and the he might be. Then he'll last a an inning or

two and tank and it will come out he was pitching hurt. Fuck him.

[metirish]

I haven't seen a pitch of this World Series , shame

[MFS62]

=kcmets post_id=140096 time=1698437872 user_id=53]
I'm kinda in fuck Scherzer mode. But he's hurt. If not, he will be. Or the plan

is he won't be by Game 7 and the he might be. Then he'll last a an inning or

two and tank and it will come out he was pitching hurt. Fuck him.

[A Boy Named Seo]

No surprise z record low ratings ( game 1) Despite a dramatic finish, Game 1 of the 2023 World Series between the Arizona Diamondbacks and Texas Rangers was the least-watched World Series Game 1 on record. Here's what you need to know: The game — which the Rangers won 6-5 after Adolis García's walk-off homer in the 11th inning — averaged 9.172 million viewers on Fox and an additional 182,000 on Fox Deportes. It also averaged a 4.6 rating, another low, according to Sports Media Watch, which lists the prior lows as a 5.1 rating and 9.35 million viewers for Game 1 of the 2020 World Series between the Tampa Bay Rays and Los Angeles Dodgers during the pandemic-impacted season. The series is tied 1-1 as the Diamondbacks host the Rangers in Game 3 on Monday. Why so low? This series was always going to be viewership challenged — as anyone who studies or writes about sports viewership would have told you prior to first pitch. The question was how low would the numbers be. These numbers are low. You can't spin them. Because fans too often personalize this stuff, it's important to note this isn't an attack on either team. It's actually a fascinating baseball matchup. But the Diamondbacks and Rangers are not national draws based on historic television data outside of when they are playing a team with broad appeal or a series going long (which is what Fox has to really hope for with this series). One thing that definitely impacted this viewership: Game 1 was played on a Friday, which is one of the least-watched days of the week on linear television. Fox is going to point to Game 1 winning primetime among all programs but this is always true and they pay a lot for it to be true. For context, as Austin Karp of Sports Business Journal pointed out, the viewership was slightly below Colorado-Colorado State football on ESPN (9.3 million viewers) and on par with the Los Angeles Rams-Cincinnati Bengals “Monday Night Football” game last month (9 million). Where this stuff really becomes eye-opening is when you compare the 2023 Game 1 viewership to recent Game 1 history not involving big viewership teams such as the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox, etc. Take Game 1 of the 2011 World Series between the Texas Rangers and St. Louis Cardinals. That game drew 16.5 million viewers. If you go back nine years earlier, Game 1 between the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Angels drew 19.26 million viewers. Again, if you are Fox and MLB, you are really hoping for series length here. — Richard Deitsch, sports media senior writer https://theathletic.com/5014822/2023/10/30/world-series-game-1-viewership?source=user-shared-articlehttps://theathletic.com/5014822/2023/10/30/world-series-game-1-viewership?source=user-shared-article

I'm sure part of expanded playoff plan was to lure more viewers into the playoff drama, regardless of who was playing. Cleary we're all just Metheads (with Frank Zappa avatars), but it seems like no one outside of Dallas or Phoenix gives too many shits about this one.

[bmfc1]

A Boy Named Seo wrote: Do you care? I'm kinda in fuck Scherzer mode. But he's hurt. If not, he will be. Or the plan is he won't be by Game 7 and the he might be. Then he'll last a an inning or two and tank and it will come out he was pitching hurt. Fuck him.

Left it all on the field for Washington in 2019 and then

quit physically on LA

quit mentally on the Mets

quit physically on Texas.

F him, indeed.

Edited October 31, 2023 by Guest

[G-Fafif]

No Garcia tonight for the Rangers. Not good for them, not good for the Series.



Word just in: both Garcia and Scherzer out for the rest of the Series.