Are They Any Silver Linings to a "Root for the Meteor" World Series?

Dodgers-Yankees is the most annoying World Series possible and most arguments for why it is "good for baseball" don't hold water. Except for one: It may inspire owners to spend to win.

The good news is that World Series starts later today. The bad news is that it features the Yankees and Dodgers.

It’s a matchup of ambivalence for many baseball fans. The Yankees and the Dodgers are behemoths, almost as much based on their dominance of media coverage and the mindshare of baseball fans.

Grant Brisbee of The Athletic wrote this week that “they insist on themselves.” And that’s true at all times, but especially true when they reach the World Series.

Brisbee adds “It’s much funnier when entitled, history-drunk teams keep getting so close and losing year after year.” On this Substack, I get to add that its funnier when those teams get so close and lose to our team year after year.

The sentiment is larger than our parochial concerns as Astros fans. Many baseball fans are annoyed at a matchup that features no underdog; no team of scrappy youngsters who happen to be better than you thought; no team that overcame payroll limitations to outsmart the competition.

Search for “both team lose” and “rooting for the meteor” on Twitter and you can see how common this perspective is.

There seems to be a contrast between this common sentiment among a large set of fans, and the discussions of baseball media, who are describing this as “a dream World Series” and “great for baseball.”

There are many reasons to make the case that this is a good World Series. Some of these hold no purchase for me and other fans, such as the argument that it will get excellent ratings. That’s an argument that we should view the game as Rob Manfred or an executive at Fox. Hard pass.

There is an argument that having more attention on the World Series will bring more fans to baseball. There is some value to that. But broadly, I do not worry that baseball will die in my lifetime, especially with the accessibility created by modern technology.

I am fine having fewer casual people paying attention to baseball, as the conversations I want to have about the sport are at nerdy levels. And frankly, I think the sport is better off the less on-air yakkers like Stephen A. Smith and Collin Cowherd give hot takes about it.

There are actual good reasons why this is an good World Series matchup. It features some of the best players in baseball, including the two players almost certain to win this year’s MVP Awards in Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge. It features three others who have also won MVP awards—Giancarlo Stanton, Mookie Betts, and Freddie Freeman. There are six near certain Hall of Famers who will play—I’m adding Juan Soto to this list. And Gerrit Cole is a strong candidate for Cooperstown—he’ll presumably go in wearing a Boras Corp. hat.

These teams had the two best records in baseball this season, and by actually winning the coin flips that are short-series baseball—ended the annoying “rest or rust” debate…for at least one year.

Most importantly, these teams succeeded because they spent money. These teams added in the offseason, and not just at the margins. The Dodgers spent $48 million a year in real dollars to get Ohtani. It helped their team. The Yankees swung a trade to get Soto, who hit the ALCS winning homer in the 10th against the Guardians.

These stars were added to rosters with other big stars—Judge, Betts, Cole, Freeman, etc.—who the teams ponied up big money to keep or acquire.

Why is the fact that these teams succeeded because they spent money a good thing? Because MLB is a copycat league and it might inspire other owners to spend money to try to win the World Series.

Major league baseball owners love being cheap. And there is of course good reason for that. The money they don’t spend on players they get to keep for themselves. But they don’t really need the money Major league baseball teams are profitable on a year-to-year basis and franchise values keep increasing.

Baseball owners could spend more if they choose; they often don’t. From this perspective, the ideal outcome of this year’s World Series would have been a victory by the Padres. They have spent more than other teams in small markets and have been rewarded with both excellent attendance but also an excellent ball club. Unfortunately, small series baseball means that only gets you a 50% chance of winning a series and the Dodgers won that one.

That the Dodgers beat them is not the best case scenario, but one hope it does lead to more teams to try to emulate the Padres and spend more to be competitive. Don’t cede your division to its behemoths.

With that being said, one does not have to embrace either team or its fans or the media narrative around them. Brisbee highlights how annoying this will be.

But even though it has the potential to be the best World Series, it’s guaranteed to be the most annoying World Series possible. The wrong people have wanted it for years. The team that wins will throw the trophy in an arrogance juicer and get a fresh glass, even though they weren’t really running low. The losing team will feel even more entitled at this time next year. And at every moment, before every inning, with every joke and comment on the pre- and post-game show, you will be told just how special this all is.

That is all true. I will find some silver linings in between, no matter how hard it is to do.