George Brett
(with the same expression we saw in Game 6 of the ALCS)
Who Cares Who Wins The World Series?
1.) Players, Fans, and Employees of the Kansas City Royals and New York Mets.
2.) Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred. (He’s paid to care, as long as he remains impartial.)
3.) George Brett.
4.) Some fans of the eventual winner, if that team is the same one that knocked their own club from the playoffs because it gives them the satisfaction of feeling that their boys, at least, lost to the one team that won it all. (Had the Cubs advanced to the World Series, however, it is most improbable that any Cardinals fans would have been pulling for the baby bears to win it all.)
5.) George Brett.
6.) Revenge fans of those clubs who were eliminated by one of the two World Series teams. Unlike their polar opposites who wish to take consolation in knowing that their team lost to the eventual World Series winner, these fans want somebody to vicariously revenge their own suffering by beating up on the club that knocked their favorites from the hunt.
7.) George Brett.
8.) Hotels and relevant service and product industries do not really care who wins. They are just hoping that a lot of people show up and that the World Series runs a full seven games.
9.) NOT – The Pecan Park Eagle!
Editorial Note: Yes, George Brett did receive three mentions in our list of those who care about this year’s World Series. We gave him one listing for each of the three times the TV cameras in Game Six spotted him in his private suite, checking either his pulse or holding his heart during certain tense times in Game Six of the ALCS battle. . Regardless of our current personal dearth of interest, we will be sure to watch, anyway. After all, it is the World Series – and it will be our last lingering taste of professional baseball until next April.
Stay dry, everybody!
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Please Note Too: Important Vintage Base Ball News! The weekend rains wiped out plans for Opening Day of the new Texas Vintage Base Ball Union at George Ranch State Park last Saturday, but, weather permitting, we will make another attempt at the same site on Saturday, November 7, 2015, with for games, two each at 10:00 AM and 12:00 PM. Please put us on your schedule and come see how “base ball” was played without gloves and a few different rules back in 1860.
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The Pecan Park Eagle 
October 26, 2015 at 1:30 pm |
The question you pose would never have been asked 50 years ago. Everyone had a favorite then. But with the addition of playoff rounds and lengthening of the post season, by the time we get to the World Series now, significant interest has waned. Not in the fandoms of the two teams competing, but in much of the rest of the country. It is exactly the same thing that happens in the NBA. The further from the end of the regular season for the big games the more folks in other parts of the country have changed their focus to other things or other local sports.
Television ratings will be OK, but not great for a major championship event unless it gets to a winner-take-all seventh game. The trade off for the sport was worth it however. Regular season attendance is way higher per game than it was 50 years ago. Revenue generated is huge. And, with the divisions and wild cards and playoff system keeping more teams in the running for a post season spot attendance doesn’t drop off in September nearly as much as it did in most cities 50 years ago.
I’ll be watching but with a rooting interest for a style of play to make a comeback even it if costs former Astro skipper Terry Collins a chance to win a title.
You see, I want the Royals to win because they know that getting good pitches to hit and not trying to draw out counts is not only the more interesting form of baseball to watch but also can win the big prize. The Royals take few strikes just to take pitches and will jump on mistakes regardless of the count. Is it a coincidence that they strike out far less than several teams I could mention? One reason they strike to less is they don’t allow themselves to get into two strike at bats as much as many other teams. They also use an obvious two-strike approach at the plate when they do. They are much more aggressive, but not with “all or nothing swings” no matter the count.
I love home runs as much as the next guy. But I abhor strike outs in situations where simply hitting the ball will move over or drive in a runner. It was almost deja vu in the fifth game of the KC-Tor series when the big slugging Jays got runners to 2nd and 3rd with no outs, but then struck out twice in a row when almost any contact would have scored the tying run. I can almost guarantee the Royals would have gotten that run home had they been in the same situation.
So, I want KC to win hoping that other teams will copy their success and bring back contact as a primary reason for swinging the bat.
If they can do it against the Mets flame throwing pitching staff they will prove they play the “right” way even more.
October 26, 2015 at 2:03 pm |
“The Lucas Baseball Eloquence” soars again! – Thank you for another multi-faceted contribution to The Eagle, Greg! Your thoughts today land with all the gravitas of a book or article foundation – and in this case, on two subjects: (1) Changes in Appreciation for the World Series Over the Past Fifty Years as a Result of the Expanding Playoff Format; and (2) The Strategic Hitting Art of Putting the Ball in Play versus Taking Too Many Pitches and Swinging from the Heels.
October 26, 2015 at 1:36 pm |
As a life long Cardinal fan I did sneak a little prayer of thanks yesterday to the NY Mets for having eliminated the Cubs.
October 26, 2015 at 2:31 pm |
I, too, appreciate the Royals’ style of play and would like to see more of it throughout baseball again, which will only happen if the Royals win “the big one.” Go, Royals! Win it (in seven – we need the maximum number of games to hold us over until March).
October 26, 2015 at 4:07 pm |
As much as I used to hate the Dodgers, those great teams they had was back when won with great pitching, super defense, gutty base running and aggressive at bats. Rangers and Astro’s both take way too many pitches and strike out on low out of the strike zone off speed pitchers pitches. Defense also let them both down.
Also, they don’t many 3rd outs on the bases. That’s a great way to kill rallies.
Mike Mulvihill
October 26, 2015 at 5:11 pm |
George Brett’s brother and business partner Bobby, owner of the Spokane Indians Short Season A team (Texas Rangers affiliate) and the Spokane Chiefs Hockey Team, cares. I saw him on the street the other day and asked him how he was doing. He checked his pulse (it must be a Brett thing!) and said, “I’m feeling OK, but I’ll feel much better after the Royals win the Series.” Other than that, it’s pretty quiet here in Spokane, with the bartender at O’Doherty’s Irish Grille and Pub (home field for the Eddie Gaedel Society) already keeping the countdown for when pitchers and catchers report for spring training. He’s a Tiger’s fan.
October 27, 2015 at 12:07 am |
They may strike out a lot, but the Astros did provide us with an exciting season that few expected. I think I feel like you, Bill. Just got too emotionally invested in our boys to really care who wins the whole thing now. (Was nice the Cubs got eliminated though.)