Brewers-Rays: World Series Nightmare?

The 2008 Major League Baseball playoffs began yesterday, this time without the usual suspects.  The absence of the New York Yankees is no doubt much to MLB commissioner Bud Selig's chagrin.

Everyone knows this money machine brings in revenue and fan appeal from both sides of the aisle.  Without the Yankees' presence, it's similar to being invited to the prom by the popular girl, only to find out she's left by the time you arrive.

Sure, these playoffs have plenty of other big markets, like both Los Angeles-based teams, the Angels and the Dodgers, composing the league's second biggest market. The playoffs also include both of Chicago's teams, which make up the third biggest market.

Heck, we've even got Philadelphia, MLB's fourth largest market, and Boston, which is loved by some—and even revered by many.

The only difference is that we've also got what baseball executives like Bud Selig have to consider their nightmare option.

There is a chance, albeit a small (like their market size) one, that the Milwaukee Brewers of the National League could eventually meet the Tampa Bay (don't call them "Devil") Rays from the American League on baseball's biggest stage.

Everyone knows each team’s history. The Rays have nearly none to speak of, having only been around for 10 forgettable years.

The Brewers haven't been to the playoffs since 1982—that's 26 years, which is before many fans were born. Modern day baseball fans have only known this franchise as a cellar-dweller. That is, until recent (read: very recent) years.

Both teams generally finish in the lower third overall in gate attendance.  That changed when the Brew Crew got a midseason injection of exactly one CC of Sabathia right before the All-Star Break.   This was a very uncharacteristic and shrewd trade with the Cleveland Indians.

As a result, Milwaukee's gate attendance has gone up exponentially to the tune of their finishing ninth overall with 3,068,458 rabid (don't call me bandwagon) fans coming through the turnstiles this season.  One only has to look at this source to see where Milwaukee has historically ranked until recent outlier years.

Tampa Bay, on the other hand, finished 26th in the league in overall attendance this year despite winning the AL East, easily the toughest in all of baseball, for the first time ever. 1,811,986 fans entered "The Trop," which also happened to be their highest gate total since their inaugural 1998 season, when the Rays drew 2,506,293 fans.

What accounts for this?

While some may blame fan apathy, others say winning takes time to get used to after years of regret. (How hard is it to get used to winning when your team is atop the standings, no matter how weird that might look?  Just enjoy it and ride it out.)

The biggest reason seems to be the fact that so much of Florida's population is composed of transplants, yankees, or New England-based retirees (whatever you want to call them) who are beckoned to the Sunshine State for one reason or another. 

These fans often find it difficult to let go of their lifetime bonds with their Sox or appropriately-named Yanks and embrace a young, upstart team like the St. Petersburg-based Rays.

If you compare national radio markets, Tampa outranks Milwaukee 19th to 36th.  Milwaukee is nestled in between San Jose, California, and Columbus, Ohio—each of which has only one professional sports team.  In each case, that sport is the dramatically less popular niche sport of hockey.

To put some light on Tampa's rating, sitting 19th places the Rays behind 16 other current MLB markets, along with Puerto Rico.

Television markets fare a bit better in the case of the Rays, as they come in 13th overall, ahead of MLB cities like Minneapolis, Baltimore, St. Louis, Seattle, and Miami.  One has to wonder, though, if this isn't spurred somewhat by the elderly population's penchant for daytime soaps or the evening news after a long day of shuffleboard.

Milwaukee, on the other hand, ranks 35th behind non-baseball cities of Nashville, Portland, Fayetteville (North Carolina), Indianapolis, Hartford, and Salt Lake City—to name a few.  Did I mention that these cities all lie in entire states that are not on the professional baseball map?

Neither team has a premier, "legendary" manager that teams like the Cubs with Lou Piniella are able to claim, or the Dodgers with Joe Torre, or the eccentric Ozzie Guillen of the White Sox.  These managers bring additional attention to their teams simply with their personalities and the fact that all three are former MLB players, and good ones at that.

The Rays had Lou Piniella and let him go. Oh well.

Now, that's not to say that Joe Maddon won't get A.L. manager of the year.  He'd have my vote if I had one.  Ned Yost, formerly of the Brewers, was my preseason pick before he got the axe with two weeks to go.

All I am saying is this is one less avenue for the media to take when it comes to hyping up a team and series that will need all the help it can get if these are the final two competitors.

Imagine baseball's big whigs and yes-men required to travel to every game and every city in which a playoff game is being played.  I can already see Selig sending proxies down to Tampa or doing a mandatory celebratory conference call from his New York offices to fulfill his job obligations, should either team actually win this thing.

If he does show up to the tomb that is The Trop, or Miller Park with its lack of playoff history, will the cameras show him slouching in his chair with a look of disgust plastered on his face? Or will it be a look of horror or shock as he pines for usual stalwarts from either New York borough to get better sooner before later?

The players on each respective team lack household star power and name recognition that the Yankees, Red Sox, or even Dodgers enjoy on a nightly basis, thanks to media moguls like ESPN and Fox Sports.

However, the Rays and Brewers deserve to be in the World Series, at least in my mind, because they could boast the ever popular "best stars you've never heard of" in prime time.  And they'd have simply outlasted the other, more flashy teams.

The only question in this nightmare scenario is if Bud Selig, a past proponent of contraction (no matter how ridiculous that may sound now, not to mention the outrage it created among fans), would play the role of Satan since the "Devil" is gone.

After all, should the Brewers make it, they already have the role of Prince covered.

Check back in a few weeks to see if I prove to be prophetic.