October 15, 200322 yr MLB, TV will take Cinderella By Sarah Talalay Staff Writer Posted October 11 2003 Baseball fans might still be scratching their heads over the improbable inclusion of the Marlins alongside three history- and tradition-laden franchises in the National League Championship Series, but Fox and Major League Baseball officials think the Marlins are a "Cinderella" story. Fox Sports President Ed Goren was gleeful about the record postseason television ratings and he said he thinks the Marlins are part of that excitement with the Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs and New York Yankees. Ratings, for example, for the combined ALCS and NLCS games aired on Wednesday were 48 percent higher than last year's equivalent simultaneous telecasts. "We have already gotten everything we want. No matter how you slice and dice the four teams, who moves and who doesn't, we're going to have a great series and there's nothing wrong with Cinderella going to the dance," Goren said before Friday's game. "I think what happens with a team like the Marlins that doesn't have national exposure through the season, is now you get into the Divisional Series, now you get into the LCS and America, certainly the sports fan and hopefully a little broader than that, is finding a very interesting story here in Florida that is captivating." Tim Brosnan, MLB executive vice president, business, said the Marlins have already made their own history. "Even though Boston and Chicago are kind of the Cinderellas by history, in terms of markets and history and tradition, these guys are the Cinderellas right now in the traditional sense of who's the biggest underdog and who's the most unlikely to be here," Brosnan said. "This is a market that a couple of years was swearing off baseball and you're now going to have close to 200,000 [fans] in a weekend."
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.