What this World Series gives us, regardless of the outcome, is another reminder that the post-season is not the exclusive domain of clubs from the biggest markets with the biggest payrolls.
In fact, quite the contrary. Since 2001, 14 of baseball's 30 teams have reached the World Series. Five others have reached the League Championship Series, one stop shy of the main event.
What is more, it has been more than a decade since any team was able to retain the World Series, and only one team, the Boston Red Sox, has won two titles in this past decade.
That kind of parity cannot be claimed by the NFL, which has a reputation as a sport in which anyone can win, but in reality, usually has a title game involving either the New England Patriots, the Pittsburgh Steelers or the Indianapolis Colts. At least one of that trio has appeared in the Super Bowl for the past seven years.
The television networks may have wanted a rematch between the New York Yankees and Philadelphia Phillies in this World Series. After all, the Yankees own the biggest brand name in the game and come from the country's No 1 television market
What the networks got, instead, was the Texas Rangers - who had never won a post-season series until earlier this month - and the San Francisco Giants, who have not won a title since arriving on the West Coast in 1958.
But the very fact that the Series boasts two relatively unknown teams is good for the game.
