The average baseball game stretched for three hours and four minutes this season, 10 minutes longer than it did at the beginning of the wild-card era. As fans have been pointing out for years, playing nine innings simply takes too long. One reason, perhaps, for this declining interest is that keeping up with a baseball team is practically a full-time job. Read: The simple technology that accidentally ruined baseball. It’s not just the World Series that fell flat this year: Regular-season fan attendance cratered to a 14-year low in 2018, down by nearly 10 million people since its 2007 peak. Still, the lackluster numbers have left MLB officials flummoxed, including Commissioner Rob Manfred, who told SportsBusiness Journal that league leaders “haven’t isolated a cause” for the dip. Of course, Major League Baseball cannot expect to replicate the sky-high viewership of, for example, the 2016 World Series, when the Chicago Cubs captured their first title in more than a century and more than 40 million people tuned in to watch them do it. Ratings lagged for this year’s face-off, with Game One drawing in the fourth-fewest viewers of any World Series opener on record. But the series’ audience size didn’t reflect its supposed import or historical bona fides. The bicoastal matchup pitted two of baseball’s most storied franchises, in two of America’s largest media markets, against each other. Major League Baseball has long been losing its grip on the title of America’s pastime, and the 2018 championship series is emblematic of why.Ī Dodgers–Red Sox World Series should have been a cash cow. From games that stretched way past most people’s bedtimes to the obsessive nature of modern managing, staying engaged throughout the Red Sox’s run felt more like a duty than an escape. But though the World Series provided its share of wonder, it is far from an instant classic. With help from the pitcher David Price, who finally seemed to overcome his postseason demons, and the journeyman first-baseman Steve Pearce, whose three home runs in Games Four and Five earned him the MVP award, Boston managed to sustain its stellar regular-season play into October. The Red Sox defeated the Dodgers in five games to secure the franchise’s fourth World Series title since it ended its 86-year championship drought in 2004. It is also, as the World Series–winning Red Sox illustrate, a dreadful chore. It is maddening, unpredictable, and altogether emotionally draining. All-Star Legends & Celebrity Softball Game (ESPN) TuesdayĨ p.m.Playoff baseball turns bloody socks into priceless memorabilia, and 12-year-old suburbanites into folk heroes. Home Run Derby (ESPN, WatchESPN app)ġ0 p.m. SiriusXM All-Star Futures Gamey (MLB Network, MLB.com) MondayĨ p.m. What are you looking forward to this All-Star Week? Let us know in the comment section below! All-Star schedule of eventsĤ p.m. Pregame coverage begins at 7:30 PM, and I’m already dreaming of the matchups. He figures to get at least inning of work. Judge will hit in the starting lineup, while Luis Severino may very well start. While no Yankees will participate in this year’s Home Run Derby, you will catch two Yankees stars in the All-Star Game itself. You will likely see a pitcher who will help the Yankees down the stretch, or get traded in the coming weeks. Jake broke down why you should watch Sheffield yesterday. Top pitching prospect Justus Sheffield will represent the Yankees in the showcase. The festivities kick off this afternoon with the All-Star Futures Game. Aaron Judge and Luis Severino will be joined by Aroldis Chapman and Gleyber Torres, although the latter two will not participate due to injury. The Yankees are well-represented at this year’s Midsummer Classic. The division races get put on hold while the league celebrates its stars in the nation’s capital. The 2018 MLB All-Star Week has arrived! The first half comes to an unofficial end today and baseball momentarily switches gears.
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