Though transportation options were plentiful, budgets weren’t. Murray Chass calls the number of newspapers that are not covering the World Series an indication of a dying industry…
The last time the Yankees won the World Series was in 2000 when they crushed the Mets in the Subway series 4 games to 1. I happened to be in New York at the time to attend a trade show and I can assure you that there’s nothing more lonely than being a Met fan smack dab in the middle of Manhattan. I remember hiding in my hotel room during the fifth and final game.
The interesting thing about this year’s World Series is that once again, it was an all East Coast affair with references being made to it being the Amtrak Series . New York City and Philadelphia are two of Amtrak’s busiest stops.
Side-note: Amtrak was so thrilled about the Series that they built a promotion around the concept of moving fans between the two cities. On Oct. 27 (“Yankees vs Phillies Means it’s an Amtrak Series; Amtrak Provides Host Transportation for this Year’s World Series”). They even conducted a poll of fans aboard Amtrak Acela Express trains #2165 and #2170 and found that the Yankees held a 1.7-to-one margin over the Phillies.
Along with being the Amtrak Series, this year’s Fall Classic may also be known for who wasn’t there. According to baseball writer (and long-time NY Times reporter) Murray Chase, “Twenty-nine of the 60 newspapers that cover major league teams during the season on the road as well as at home are not at this year’s World Series.”
The Yankees may have plenty of money to throw around, but the newspaper industry doesn’t.
“It’s a manifestation of what’s happening in America,” Bud Selig, the baseball commissioner, said Sunday before Game 4 of the World Series. “I’m saddened by it. I think newspaper coverage over the years has enabled us to succeed much more than a lot of people understand so for me this is a very, very unhappy development.”
My View… Hey, Bud! How about throwing some of that $18 million yearly salary the owners have bestowed on you to a pool for newspaper reporters?
It has been reported that in the year ending October 2007, Selig earned $18.35 million, an amount up 22 percent from the prior year and one that again places him among the highest-paid individuals in all of sports.
That was two years ago. Should we even ask about 2009?
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