LDS Ratings Down... Hrrmmmm I wonder why?

For as much as people around baseball hate the Yankees, they sure seem to stop watching when the Yanks aren't playing.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Viewers of baseball on television, sometimes for good reason, have complained over the years about having to watch so many national telecasts involving the New York Yankees.

Pinstripes here, pinstripes there, pinstripes everywhere, has been known to grind on viewers who have managed somehow to lead productive lives outside New York and in a non-Yankees-centric manner.

But you could argue the absence of the Yankees from the playoffs for the first time in 13 seasons is one big reason that the ratings for major-league baseball’s division series on TBS were down 26% compared to last year.

The absence of the Yankees not only eliminated the No. 1 television market in the country, but also the national audience the Yankees enjoy because of their tradition, success and exposure.

Last season, when the Yankees played the Cleveland Indians in a four-game division series, those four games were the highest-rated games on TBS.

It has been suggested the vice presidential debate on Oct. 2 was a reason for the decline in baseball playoff ratings this year. But if you exclude the two games affected, the average rating remains the same for TBS (2.8).

The drop-in viewers for the playoffs is not about the presence of Sarah Palin. It’s more about the absence of Derek Jeter and that uniform he wears.

Whether people like it or not the Yankees will always be the biggest draw in the game - no team is more loved and hated than the Yanks.

I'm sure the ratings will jump a bit with these LCS matchups, as both series should be very good, but I still don't think they'll be anywhere near what they would be if the Yanks were playing.