Well, that was set of games.

Look, they can’t all be stone-cold classics like 2016 or 2017. Sometimes you wind up with a pair of “meh” teams (2006), or one team that got hot / lucky at the right time, and then was totally overmatched in the Series (2007). This was a case of the latter – the Diamondbacks were a streaky team that barely made it in to the playoffs, and then got just hot enough to take advantage of their opponents’ weaknesses in the first three rounds. Then they ran into the best offense in the American League: the Rangers were first in batting average, on base percentage, slugging percentage, and tied for first in home runs. They didn’t really stand a chance. The Rangers also had six players selected for the summer’s All Star Game, so we shouldn’t have been surprised at how far they made it.

On the matter of the historically bad ratings, and the overall “meh” of this Series, I don’t think it has anything to do with the playoff structure. This is only the 2nd year we’ve done it this way – give it some more time before passing judgment. I think it’s a matter of marketing. You’ve got the plucky underdogs of the Diamondbacks, who got hot (and probably lucky) at the right time, going against the top offense in the AL belonging to a team that has yet to win a WS in the 60+ years the franchise has been around. Even if there are no Superstar Names on either team, how hard can it be to do something with that?

As is typical for any set of four to seven games, you’ll have some outstanding performances, painful errors, questionable decisions and calls. I can’t think of any that would wind up on an All Time Highlight reel, though. No real controversies this time, which is always a Good Thing.

The FOX team of Joe Davis and John Smoltz was acceptable. I had some minor peeves with the in-game interviews; they don’t really serve any point and distract from the actual game. Some of the commentary I’ve read suggests that having a pitcher in the booth means you wind up concentrating too much on the pitching aspect of the game. I agree; way too much of the analysis had to do with things like pitch selection and usage. I can’t recall seeing a single “spray chart” for a batter, or hearing one mention of defensive positioning. Maybe a third person in the booth next year? A position player who’s recently retired, and has actually appeared in a World Series….. Another suggestion was to bring one of the local announcers for a participating team into the booth, for commentary and insight that the national announcers cannot provide (since they don’t see the teams every day). If MLB can work out the contractual issues, that would be great.

Anyway, a nod to the Diamondbacks for making it to the World Series, and a tip of the cap to the Rangers for winning it. Extra cap-tips to WS MVP Corey Seager (his 2^nd such award), and Rangers’ manager Bruce Bochy on his fourth championship.

Now, when do pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training? And by the way, what happens with all that “Diamondbacks WS Champions” gear that they almost certainly made?