Numbers game

Tonight the World Series begins in Boston, where it will be the Red Sox facing the Dodgers for the first time since Babe Ruth was a Red Sock, which was 1916 to you and me, kids. But that doesn't have anything to do with why the suits at Fox are already high-fiving each other.

No, sir. The suits at Fox are high-fiving each other because they got the matchup they wanted.

The Red Sox vs. the Dodgers was what they all were rooting for, because, well, it's the Red Sox and the Dodgers: Two iconic franchises with national fan bases in two major TV markets. That it's also the triumph once again of the overdog -- two obnoxiously rich teams winding up at the top of the pyramid, gee, what a surprise -- matters very little to the suits. All they care about is it isn't the Astros  vs. the Brewers.

Sure, Milwaukee and Houston are fine cities. But it would have been a ratings loser and the suits know it. The Red Sox and Dodgers, on the other hand ...

Well. I'm sure Fox sees ratings beyond their wildest dreams.

Me?

I think "wildest" is a relative term.

I think we're going to see now just how much juice baseball still has in America, because if Red Sox-Dodgers can't move the needle nothing can move the needle. The only better matchup for baseball happened two years ago, when the Cubs played in their first World Series in 71 years, and won it for the first time in 108. Everyone wanted to see that.

Red Sox-Dodgers won't be that; the Dodgers are in it for the second year in a row and have been historic winners for the last 70 or so years, and the Red Sox have become the New Yankees, winning three times in 14 years. But it's the closest baseball could come this year.

And therefore, is a litmus test.

Going up against with college football, will Red Sox-Dodgers get outdrawn by Notre Dame-Navy Saturday night? Going head-to-head with the NFL colossus, will they get buried by Vikings-Saints on Sunday Night Football?

We shall see. But if they do, even with the optimum matchup, an obvious truth will once again be borne out.

Which is, baseball is no longer the National Pastime. It's the National Its Time Is Past.