National Networks Show Understandable, But Still Irritating Bias Toward Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals

I’ve had a theory about Major League Baseball telecasts for a while. The theory states that every single time the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox, likely the most storied rivalry in the history of the game (and sports in general), play each other the game will be nationally televised.

I’ve long theorized that every single Yankees vs. Red Sox game in at least the last decade has likely been televised. Unfortunately, I have no way of finding out whether or not this is indeed a fact. What games have appeared on which networks over the last few seasons is not something you can easily find anywhere, probably because few people honestly give a damn.

However, for the last few seasons I’ve heard a good many people give a damn. These people are, of course, not fans of the Yankees or Red Sox as those fans (and there’s a good many of them sprinkled throughout the entire United States) seem thrilled that many of their favorite team’s games (and every time they play their heated rival) are broadcast nationally. It’s not hard to be a Yankees or Red Sox fan in say Arkansas (where I’m from) because you know your favorite team will have as many as a third of their games all season broadcast. But, if you’re a fan of say the Cleveland Indians or Oakland A’s or Milwaukee Brewers in Arkansas or Nebraska or West Virginia you’re going to have trouble ever seeing your favorite team on television unless you want to shell out major bucks for the baseball television package or MLB.tv online (which many people simply cannot afford). This is a feeling that sucks for a good many a baseball fan in this country, especially when they keep getting the same old teams like the Yankees, Red Sox and other teams like the St. Louis Cardinals crammed down their throats.

There are four networks that currently air MLB games nationally: ESPN, Fox (games are regional, but there’s a small enough selection (unlike say NFL on Fox/CBS) to really matter), TBS and MLB Network – all of these networks are shown on most cable or satellite providers. Almost every day of the week there will be at least one nationally televised baseball game. That’s actually a lot of baseball available to baseball fans around the country, but if you’re not a fan of the Yankees, Red Sox, Cardinals, etc. it can become pretty fatiguing. This is why every Yankees vs. Red Sox game being broadcast nationally can become irritating to non-fans of those teams.

Let’s get this obvious point out of the way. Yes, it makes complete sense for networks to want to show as many Yankees vs. Red Sox games as they can (and those two teams individual games along with Cardinals games) because these fanbases are the largest (and by a good margin) in the country and the network wants viewers, ratings and the advertising dollars that come from them. Baseball, unlike the NFL and NBA, is not a sport that is watched all that much anymore by the casual sports fan. If you’re a Cardinals fan how often would you watch a game involving a team other than the Cardinals in the regular season? Probably, not very often, especially if you have a busy life. This is partially why the networks search for the big fanbases for their games, because a Yankees or Red Sox or Cardinals game will pull in fans from all around the country, whereas a Pittsburgh Pirates or Colorado Rockies game likely would not.

It makes a lot of sense why networks do this, but it also comes off as bothersome to baseball fans because there are a lot of nationally televised games to go around and there are also a lot of other good baseball teams in the country than just the few that are constantly shown on television.

I don’t have the numbers of televised games for the entire 2013 MLB season, because I unfortunately only thought to keep a tally of nationally televised games for the second half of the season. The second half of a baseball season’s nationally televised games are more likely to be skewed than the first half of the season by team records and the playoff hunt, which would’ve made an entire season sample slightly better than just the second half sample. For example, the incredibly hyped before the season Toronto Blue Jays probably had a handful of first half nationally televised games, but didn’t have a single nationally televised game during the second half of the season. In fact, the Blue Jays were one of only four MLB teams to not have a single nationally televised game during the season’s second half with the other three teams understandably being the Houston Astros, Miami Marlins and Milwaukee Brewers – all teams with losing records and few, if any, bankable stars.      

The team with the most nationally televised baseball games during the second half of the season was also understandably the best team in baseball when the season ended, the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox had 31 nationally televised games during the second half of the season (16 on MLB Network [which televises many more games a week than the other three networks], eight on ESPN, four on Fox and three on TBS). The National League leading St. Louis Cardinals at the season’s end had the second most nationally televised games with 25 (15 on MLB Network, seven on ESPN, two on Fox and one on TBS). The only issue with these numbers is that the Red Sox were only the best team in baseball, record-wise, for the last two-to-three weeks of the regular season and the Cardinals were only the best team in the National League, record-wise, for the very last day of the regular season.

Which team was the best team in the game, record-wise, for most of the season’s second half in both the N.L. and baseball as a whole?

The Atlanta Braves.

Despite leading baseball for most of the season, including the second half of the season, the Braves only appeared on national television 10 times (five times on MLB Network, twice each on ESPN and Fox and once on TBS). Ten MLB teams appeared on national television more during that span (Red Sox, Cardinals, Yankees, Dodgers, Orioles, Rays, Reds, Pirates, Rangers and Tigers). The Braves do have a pretty good sized following, mostly from the days when they were shown exclusively on TBS, but it’s not near of a following the likes that the Yankees, Red Sox and Cardinals have. So, they could be the best team in baseball, but if they aren’t bringing eyes to the networks the networks don’t care. It’s a business. It leads to biases. It’s not really right, but nothing’s ever going to come of it. But, the fans are still going to grow fatigued and complain. Both sides are understandable.

The New York Yankees, by the way, appeared nationally on television the third most of any team in the sport during the second half of the season with 24 appearances (11 times on MLB Network, five times on ESPN and four times each on Fox and TBS) despite not making the playoffs. You can thank their national following for that.  

That’s right; the Yankees appeared in 14 more nationally televised games than the Braves. They appeared in more nationally televised games than seven other 2013 playoff teams, as well. The Yankees were broadcast nationally seven more times than the Tampa Bay Rays (who appeared on TV more because they played both the Yankees and Red Sox a lot during the season’s second half), seven more times than the Cincinnati Reds (who benefited from many games against the Cardinals), 10 more times than the Pirates (baseball’s best story of the year), 11 more times than the Dodgers, 12 more times than the Detroit Tigers,  18 more times than the Oakland A’s and a whopping 21 more times than the Cleveland Indians.

Sure, many people will be saying those lesser featured teams need to grow larger fanbases so that they can compete for TV time with the likes of the Yankees and Red Sox and Cardinals. But, to them I ask the question: How does a team build a larger fanbase? The answer: appear more times on national television.

But, now that we’ve seen that the Yankees, Red Sox and Cardinals ride their large fanbases to more nationally televised games than other franchises, some with better records/teams, it’s time to go back to my initial theory. All of those damn Yankees vs. Red Sox matchups are broadcast nationally aren’t they? Some people haven’t believed me when I’ve said this in the past, but here’s the proof. During the second half of this MLB season the Yankees and Red Sox faced each other 10 times … all 10 of those games were broadcast either on ESPN, Fox, TBS or MLB Network.

Man, it sure must be good to be a Yankees or Red Sox fan. The rest of us might want to find a job that pays better so we can invest in MLB.tv or move to a region that shows are favorite teams locally, because that’s the only way we’re ever going to see them play.

Pitchers Can Send Message without Headhunting

On Sunday during the game between the Detroit Tigers and Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim things got a little testy between both clubs. Tigers infielder Carlos Guillen hit a three-run homer off of Angels ace Jered Weaver and then preceded to both admire his homer and stare down Weaver as he began to round the bases. Weaver took offense to this, as well he should have. One of the unwritten rules in baseball is you don’t show up the pitcher after homering off of him. Weaver had every right to show his displeasure to the Tigers by putting one into the side or back of the next batter. But, when the next batter Tigers catcher Alex Avila stepped up to the plate Weaver did a massive pitcher’s no-no and went headhunting and sent a fastball sailing over Avila’s noggin. The pitch is likely going to earn Weaver a multiple game suspension. Beaning wars are a part of baseball that I definitely have no problem with and even like. If somebody does something to you that you don’t like you make them pay. It’s the eye for an eye scenario. But, under no circumstances should you put someone’s safety in danger. Headhunting is the most horrible thing that a pitcher can do in baseball. Send the message, but don’t send it high.

Joyce's Blown Call is Worse Than Denkinger's

I’ve been watching four hours of sports talk radio this morning with “Mike and Mike in the Morning.” The biggest story is of course the blown call by baseball umpire Jim Joyce that cost Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga a perfect game on a close play at first that would have been the 27th and final out of the perfect game.

Multiple times this morning I’ve heard that Joyce’s call was the second worst call in baseball history behind Don Denkinger’s controversial call in the 1985 World Series between the Kansas City Royals and the St. Louis Cardinals.

For those of you that don’t know or remember, here’s a rundown of Denkinger’s call from 25 years ago. It was during the ninth inning of game six with the Cardinals up in the series three games to two and up in the game 1-0 with a chance to win the World Series. Cardinals closer Todd Worrell was on the mound and leading off the inning for the Royals was infielder Jorge Orta. Orta hit a roller to Cardinals first baseman Jack Clark and Worrell was forced to cover the bag. Clark flipped the ball to Worrell who stepped on the bag a half step ahead of Orta, but Denkinger incorrectly called Orta safe. The next batter Steve Balboni singled, putting Orta into scoring position. Royals catcher Jim Sundberg hit a bad sacrifice bunt that Worrell fielded and threw Orta out at third base on. With out the Royals had runners on first and second, but both runners would soon move up on a passed ball by Cardinals catcher Darrell Porter. Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog decided to intentionally walk Hal McRae to load the bases and possibly set up a double play. The next batter Dane Iorg hit a single to score both the tying run and the winning run.

In game seven, Royals ace Bret Saberhagen pitched a five-hit gem and the Royals won the game 11-0 and the World Series.

Now that you’ve been caught up, I’m going to tell you why Denkinger’s missed call is no longer the worst call in baseball history and has now been surpassed by Joyce’s missed call last night.

1) The St. Louis Cardinals have won 10 World Series

At the time of the 1985 World Series the St. Louis Cardinals organization had won nine World Series (they have since won one in 2006), which ranked second all time behind the New York Yankees. When it comes down to it what would another World Series championship really mattered?
Also, the almost exact same Cardinals team had another chance to win the World Series in 1987 when they lost to the Minnesota Twins in seven games, with Twins ace Frank Viola carving them up much like Saberhagen had in game seven of the ’85 series.

2) The Kansas City Royals Have Only Won 1 World Series

The 1985 World Series is the only World Series the Kansas City Royals have ever won … so let them have it. The Cardinals have had multiple chances to win the World Series since then. They’ve been to the World Series three times since the 1985 loss and have won once. The Royals haven’t even been back to the playoffs since their 1985 title and have frankly been one of the worst teams in baseball. Just let them enjoy their one title.

3) The St. Louis Cardinals Gave Up in Game 7
I’ve mentioned that Bret Saberhagen put together one of the finest pitching performances in World Series history against the Cardinals in game seven. Cardinals ace John Tudor, simply did not. Tudor gave up five runs in the first three innings and was lifted for Joaquin Andujar, who was a starting pitcher coming into the game in relief. At this point the Cardinals simply stopped trying and began feeling sorry for themselves. Andujar, not happy about the circumstance, charged Denkinger (who was umping at home in this game) twice to argue the strike zone. Cardinals manager Whitey Herzog came out to defend Andujar and got tossed, after all, you can’t argue balls and strikes (umpiring rule #1). Following Herzog’s ejection, Andujar charged Denkinger one more time and was ejected himself and had to be held back from teammates for fear of attacking Denkinger. The Cardinals essentially let something in game six affect them in game seven.

4) The Cardinals Could Have Easily Gotten Out of the Ninth Inning in Game 6

One infield single to lead off an inning isn’t going to kill a team. Steve Balboni who singled following Orta had previously popped up a fly ball into foul territory that Cardinals first baseman Jack Clark could’ve caught, but dropped. Then when Sundberg’s bad bunt got Orta out at third the Cardinals only needed two more outs with the Royals having runners at second and third. But, then Darrell Porter’s passed ball allowed both runners into scoring position, who ended up scoring on Dane Iorg’s hit. The Cardinals had multiple choices to get out of the inning with the World Series win in their hands, but frankly blew it.

5) Perfect Game Might be the Rarest Accomplishment in All of Sports

Only 20 times in baseball history have perfect games been thrown … so, in a sport that has lasted about 150 years, they obviously don’t come around often. World Series come around every year … heck … the Cardinals have been there three times since ’85. No pitcher in baseball history has ever thrown two perfect games in their career. Therefore, it’s highly unlikely Galarraga will ever get the chance to make history again. Most players don’t get these chances and Galarraga had his taken from him with Joyce’s bad call.

People like to say that Denkinger cost the Cardinals a championship. Honestly he only cost them one out in a game. The Cardinals lost that World Series on their own. Galarraga didn’t lose his perfect game on his own … Joyce lost it for him.

These five reasons are why Jim Joyce’s blown call ruining Armando Galarraga’s perfect game are why it’s the worst call in baseball history. Denkinger’s honestly doesn’t even compare.