With the Tampa Bay Rays joining the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2026 World Series, defeating the Cleveland Guardians in Game 6 of the ALCS Monday night, we have a battle between two teams who combined to win 201 games during the regular season. It’s the sixth time in the Division Series era that No. 1 seeds in both the AL and NL met up in the Fall Classic. Together, the Brewers and Rays are 14-3 in the postseason and they are clearly the two best and most deserving teams of the 2026 MLB season.
Naturally, though, the TV-ratings hand-wringing has already started around this matchup. “It a nightmare World Series for the TV executives with two small-markets – including one which failed to even sell out several games of the postseason,” wrote USA Today’s Bob Nightengale, “that could lead to the lowest ratings in World Series history.”
Luckily, I’m not a TV executive — and, most likely, neither are you — so I don’t give a shit whether this World Series delivers record-low ratings, record-high ratings, or anything in between. What I care about is the baseball, and the baseball should be immaculate between these two great teams.