For the same reason that many fans loved the Royals’ thrilling 5-4, 14-inning win in Game 1 of the World Series Monday night, others were turned away.
It’s America, everybody is going to have different tastes. A passion for baseball is sort of like a passion for coffee, you are either going to love it or hate it.
On a night where MLB’s opening game of its championship series went head-to-head against the NBA regular season’s first games, baseball lost among a lot of nonbaseball purists.
Not on the numbers — I’d be shocked if the MLB lost the viewership battle when those numbers are released — but rather for the casual viewer.
Let’s get this straight, I love baseball. As soon as I arrived home, my TV spent the majority of the time on Fox for the World series, but the five-hour, nine-minute baseball game epitomized what some people hate.
If you aren’t a Mets or Royals fan, or even if you are, the last hour-plus of the game was likely spent hoping this was the last inning. As a species with a notoriously short-attention span, it’s hard to watch a sport that is light on scoring with no time limit.
It may seem simple, but the average sports viewer loves the clock. Whether its working for or against your team, it let’s you know exactly how much time is left in the game. In a sense, the game is controlled.
And on a Monday night seeping into Tuesday morning with no sight of an end, there is no true sense of control.
The traditions of America’s pastime is what makes it great and by no means is this a call for change. Baseball should stay exactly the same in terms of play, but it’s hard to compete with the NBA, college football or the giant that is the NFL in October and November.
It’s natural for a viewer to change the channel from the World Series, but could you imagine viewers turning from the Super Bowl or even the NBA Finals?
Heck, President Barack Obama chose to watch his hometown Chicago Bulls beat the Cleveland Cavaliers rather than throw out the first pitch for Mets-Royals.
For that point, why is baseball still going on in November? That’s another issue for another day.
CHEW ON THIS
• The curious case of the missing Broncos’ tight ends.
• What can Denver do about the tight-end situation? NFL reporter Troy E. Renck answers this and more in this week’s Broncos Mailbag.
• MLB reporter Patrick Saunders thinks it’s time to shorten the MLB season.
• Is Nuggets forward Danilo Gallinari ready to lead?
• Post columnist Mark Kiszla says Nuggets rookie Emmanuel Mudiay is no Carmelo Anthony — and that’s a good thing.
• Pat Bowlen will be inducted into the Broncos’ Ring of Fame Sunday.
WATCH THIS
It took more than six weeks for this video to happen. Don’t worry, it’s been condensed to three minutes.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
Speaking of Broncos’ Ring of Famers, Steve Atwater (49) and Terrell Davis (43) share a birthday today. Remember the time Atwater crushed Kansas City running back Christian “The Nigerian Nightmare” Okoye? Yeah, that was awesome.
Cameron Wolfe: cwolfe@denverpost.com or @CameronWolfe
