This is not clickbait. This is engagement bait. It’s a subscription bait. This is a “sign up for auto-renewal and then get you hooked on Wordle and NYT Cooking” bait. But this is also a deeper truth that resonates with many baseball fans. The contents are as follows:
New York Yankees vs. Los Angeles Dodgers is the most frustrating matchup possible in the World Series. This could be the most frustrating World Series matchup ever. alwaysThis seems like an exaggeration until you look at previous matchups and realize that most of them don’t have the power of social media or the Pundit industrial complex. Yes, I know articles like this are part of the problem, but there are inevitable consequences.
Please note that this is not the same as this content. worst A World Series matchup is possible. Please, not in the long run. The worst World Series matchup is the Chicago White Sox vs. Colorado Rockies, with the latter being the favorite. In fact, the 2024 World Series will feature several future Hall of Famers, most of whom will be in their prime doing unreal things with baseball. If you want to see great players and baseball ability on display, this is a very good World Series. I’m really excited to see the baseball part in action, and you should be too.
That doesn’t mean it won’t annoyingbut. Let’s count the ways. People who don’t like, gather together. There are things we don’t like.
been there, done that
This World Series is a Simpsons episode from season 43 where Homer gets a new job. It’s technically a fresh episode, but it’s an old trope.
Oh, wow, the only city that matters goes head to head in The Only City That Matters. Guys, look at the celebrities on the stands. Have you ever noticed how different these two cities and lifestyles are? New Yorkers are all like, “Hey, I’m walking here,” and Los Angeles is like, “Is that Bobby De Niro?” Hug my little dog. “I’ll say hello.” Haha, that’s funny because it’s true. Put a brick wall behind me, throw a microphone and shine a spotlight on me. This material is too good to waste.
It may be the new Yankee Stadium, but there’s no avoiding waxing the ghosts of baseball’s past in this series. (Luke Hales/Getty Images)
Even if we can block noise by paying more attention to the two cultural centers, there are things like baseball that have been done for a long time. When my mom was growing up in the 1940s and 1950s, she thought the World Series was just something the Yankees and Dodgers called each other when they played. Just like the Iron Bowl calls the Alabama/Auburn football game. She doesn’t remember this making her laugh. She shook her head sadly. The same goes for how often the Yankees and Dodgers play in the World Series.
These confrontations took place in 1947, 1949, 1952, 1953, 1955, and 1956, and that was enough for seven generations. Then it happened again, twice in the 1970s and once in the 1980s. Yankees vs. Dodgers recalls a dark, dichotomous era when no one else felt like they had a chance. Mostly because it wasn’t.
This is the matchup Fox wanted. decades
Every October, my heart warms as I think about Fox executives who stay up at night worrying about the Cleveland Guardians and Milwaukee Brewers World Series. These chuzzlewits and pecksniffs don’t think about the excitement the pennant will bring to an under-enjoyed area (or at all). They don’t think about specific matchups or anything unusual about baseball. They’re thinking about eyeballs and star power.
And there’s something to that. There will be more eyes on this particular matchup because more people will be watching and they are watching because they feel they have a better chance of being entertaining in this World Series. Craig Calcaterra wisely compared the high ratings and noise complaints to Yogi Berra’s famous joke: “No one goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.”
But I always knew what Berra meant by that. people that Whoever cared didn’t want to deal with it. Mick and Billy Martin didn’t have to look. They didn’t require the same attention as a very sophisticated nightclub. They were purists. And then I realized that in this analogy I was using the famous Yankees to represent cool people. That said, it’s going to be tricky to solve. But that’s exactly what paragraph breaks are for.
But more than anything, I think television executives will be happy. Here’s how they make their money:
They make money by weakening your spirit. Their houses were built brick by brick from gray ash. They wanted Yankees vs. Dodgers. Because it lets more people know that they can now have Wi-Fi that allows them to take ventriloquist classes in their attic where there was previously a dead spot. This is a World Series that ties up the casuals, the people who barely care, and the people who will be surprised that there is now a pitch clock. They’ll tap out after an inning once they remember that baseball isn’t for them. But I won’t until I finally understand that I can do ballet in my man cave.
Sometimes, while I’m falling asleep, I suddenly think, ‘That person’s father is a district attorney.’ It’s like a piece of my brain cracked open and was never the same again, like a floating ice shelf. Someone has to pay. Preferably this someone will be responsible for all Guardians vs. It will pay for itself by making the Brewers World Series possible.
I don’t like the Yankees and Dodgers. they assert themselves
Both of these franchises stare at themselves in the mirror when no one is looking. They do it when everyone is watching too. Monuments and plaques are, at the same time, a natural sense of history that is still being exaggerated. There is no mascot. A uniform that has changed little for a century.
They assert themselves. They think they are better than you or your team. And of course, by making it to the World Series, that’s technically true, but they don’t have to push themselves so hard all the time. It’s a lot more fun when a deserving, history-drunk team goes on to win. too close And we lose it every year.
Except the 49ers. That’s enough. There’s probably a statute of limitations on that. It’s no longer fun.
Everyone will mention the salaries of both teams, but that would be missing the bigger point.
Yes. The Yankees and Dodgers have more resources than other teams. They spend more money. They are spoiled and so are their fans. They have advantages that other teams do not have in terms of greater visibility, cultural identity, history and purchasing power. People will be talking about how much the Dodgers have committed to players this offseason (technically over $1 billion if you don’t adjust for inflation and deferred salaries), and people will be talking about Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and Gerrit Cole. We will talk about how much you will earn. It is inevitable.
But that’s putting other owners in trouble. The reason Mookie Betts is with the Dodgers is because Fenway Sports Group Holdings LLC was worried about how his salary would affect their ability to add players to Liverpool and drivers to RFK Racing. They made a business decision and deserve to feel bad about it. The Pittsburgh Pirates let Barry Bonds go because they lacked vision. The Chicago Cubs let go of Greg Maddux because they didn’t realize how eager the North Side was to make the team part of its local identity. Washington Nationals did not sign Bryce Harper or Because Juan Soto thought he’d find another teenage outfielder with Hall of Fame talent in the store.
These owners are all kids. Sometimes they’re practical, sometimes they’re stupid, but most of the time they’re just stupid. We need to spend money on good players and keep them away from the Yankees and Dodgers! Especially the players them Draft and develop.
More people need to say “The San Diego Padres were right” instead of “We need to stop the Yankees and Dodgers from doing this,” and if we don’t get that realization, the discourse will only get more boring.
The Padres also should have kept Juan Soto. They didn’t deviate from this. Michael King is cool, but come on. Look what you did.
A good World Series? maybe. A great World Series is possible. Damn, please tell me some of the hijinks in Game 7. Then this can be considered one of the classics. In the 19th inning of Game 7, Shohei Ohtani returned to the mound in front of the stunned Dodger Stadium crowd. Because there were no more pitchers, he was willing to make the sacrifice. All he has to do is get past Juan Soto, Aaron Judge, and Giancarlo Stanton.
We can dream.
But despite having the potential to be the best World Series, it’s guaranteed to be the most frustrating World Series possible. The wrong people have wanted it for years. The winning team will throw their trophy into an arrogant juicer and receive a fresh glass. Even if it’s not actually lacking. A losing team will feel much more deserving by this time next year. And at every moment, before every inning, and through every joke and comment on the pre- and post-game shows, you’ll hear: How special this all is.
6 guardians. Even though the Brewers’ lineup is underrated, they have a bullpen. What a beautiful, simple, boring dream that must have been.
(Best Photo Illustration by Sean Reilly / athletic: Orlando Ramirez / Getty Images; Mary DeCicco/MLB Photo via Getty Images; Katelyn Mulcahy / Getty Images; Carmen Mandato/Getty Images; New York Yankees/Getty Images)
