EYEING A TITLE
Scorned TV deal helped Dodgers reach World Series. Was it worth it?
However anticlimatic and painful the ending, this was a glorious month of baseball in Los Angeles. The Dodgers overwhelmed their opponents in the first two rounds of the postseason to reach their first World Series in 29 years. A new generation of October heroes emerged, from All- Stars such as Justin Turner to role players such as Enrique Hernandez .
Now that it’s over and the Astros have returned to Houston with the World Series trophy, the question has to be asked: Was this worth it? More specifically, was the last month worth the Dodgers’ four- years- andcounting television blackout?
It’s worth contemplating, largely because the World Series run wouldn’t have happened without the controversial $ 8.35billion television contract that has made regular- season games invisible to the majority of the Los Angeles metropolitan area.
If that deal with Time Warner Cable — now Charter — was a deal with the devil, the devil at least held up his end of the bargain this October. For the first time since whoknows- when, this was a baseball town again, courtesy of the
The Houston Astros’ seven- game World Series win over the Dodgers averaged 18.9 million viewers on Fox, down 19% from the 23.4 million average for the Chicago Cubs’ seven- game victory over Cleveland last year for their first title since 1908.
The total audience on Fox’s three outlets averaged 19.56 million, the network said Thursday. That included an average of 476,000 viewers on Fox Deportes, up 34% from 355,000 last year, and a digital audience average of 183,000 on Fox Sports Go, an increase of 4%.
Viewers on Fox were up 37% from San Francisco’s seven- game win over Kansas City in 2014, which averaged 13.8 million on Fox.
This year’s Series averaged a 10.7 rating and 20 share, down from a 13.1/ 23 last year. That was the highest- rated World Series since 2004, when Boston defeated St. Louis for its f irst title since 1918.
This was the secondhighest rated World Series since the New York Yankees beat Philadelphia over six games in 2009.
Fox said 106 million viewers watched the Series at some point, down from 115 million last year.
Red Sox hire La Russa
Tony La Russa and Dave Dombrowski have been talking about working together again since meeting more than three decades ago.
That reunion will f inally happen with a Boston Red Sox franchise that continues to shake things up in its pursuit of another World Series championship.
The Red Sox hired La Russa on Thursday to serve as a vice president and special assistant on its baseball operations staff. He’ll work for Dombrowski, the team’s president of baseball operations, in player development and consultation with the major and minor league staffs.
La Russa, 73, served in a similar capacity with the Arizona Diamondbacks the last four seasons.
“It was an opportunity that I was excited about,” La Russa said. “Everything you do professionally, if somehow there’s a personal connection, I think it adds something to the opportunity. Dave and I go way back.”
La Russa was a first- time manager and Dombrowski an energetic young executive with the Chicago White Sox when their careers first crossed paths in the mid- 1980s.
Etc.
The Seattle Mariners have declined 2018 options on right- handed pitchers Hisashi Iwakuma and Yovani Gallardo, making both eligible for free agency. ... Geovany Soto’s $ 3- million option was declined by the Chicago White Sox, making the catcher eligible for free agency. ... Jed Lowrie’s $ 6- million option for 2018 was exercised by the Oakland Athletics. The switch- hitting second baseman’s deal included a $ 1- million buyout if the option had been declined. ... Minnesota Twins slugger Miguel Sano will undergo surgery for a persistent leg injury that knocked him out for six weeks during the season. Sano’s injury was initially diagnosed as a stress reaction, and he was sidelined during the team’s drive to a wildcard playoff spot. Sano, 24, came back for the final regular- season series but wasn’t put on the team’s postseason roster.