With Their Collective Heads in the Sand

As ever, the MLB website is all roses and sunshine. If you want, you can watch the Braves’ victory parade or see the biggest need for each ballclub going into the offseason. You will not, however, find anything about TV ratings for the 2021 World Series. That’s because they’re down, way down. According to the Hollywood Reporter from Wednesday, the 2021 World Series was the second “least watched since total-viewer tallies became available in the early 1970s”; only last year’s series generated lower numbers, in light of the pandemic. Maybe there weren’t enough bat flips, or pitching changes, or commercials. It’s reaching a point where the only thing that will stem the decline will be a reverse Ted Lasso. The national pastime revived by Manchester United, with commercials, of course.