And sure enough, the Series currently stands as the lowest rated series ever.

So what? This World Series has a chance to evolve into a classic. Anyone passing on it is just plain missing out. And its lack of national appeal is more a symptom of the game’s ills than a byproduct of the series itself, which has a lot to offer.

Players? The Astros and White Sox feature enough pitching to save the Royals, two electric closers, and two lineups that can score in a variety of ways.

Drama? Game 2 featured a pitcher’s duel for six and a half innings, controversy, a game-turning grand slam, a ninth-inning comeback, and a walk-off homer from a less likely source of power than, umm... sorry, I usually use Scott Podsednik himself in that analogy.

Subplots? The curse thing might be getting cliché. But what about Biggio and Bagwell finally getting their shot after toiling for so many years, loyal to just one town? Did Clemens pitch his last game Saturday, or will the Rocket mix a pinch of Curt Schilling with a dab of Kirk Gibson later in the series? Did Brad Lidge sneak off to the Byung-Hyung Kim School of Postseason Closing?

Are we giving you enough, marketing department? Ok, we’ll throw in a manager that spits out golden sound bytes as if out of a Pez dispenser.

The series heads back to what will surely be a raucous Minute Maid Park, called by one Fox broadcaster the loudest stadium in baseball. "And it’s not close," he added. Although the Astros trail 2-0, they posted the best home record in baseball this season, including a 4-1 mark this postseason.

But talking heads and pen-wielders have said it, and some fans agree. Baseball is not enthralled with the first-ever matchup between two teams from central divisions. Especially when one is a nontraditional team from a state that has never witnessed a World Series, and the other is the second-most popular team in a city that hasn’t seen a Series since five years before its manager was born.

"There is almost nothing compelling about this World Series," wrote Baltimore Sun columnist Peter Schmuck. Refraining from obvious joke openings his last name offers, it is hard to believe this man wrote this column after Game 2.

"No Yanks, no Sawx, no ratings!" squawked Tony Kornheiser on ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption.

Admittedly, Joe Viewer does not always respond to the kind of baseball that the diehards do. But ratings would also indicate the Fall Classic doesn’t rely on a team from the West Coast or the Northeast. The highest rated post-strike series was the 1995 series when the Cleveland Indians fell to the Atlanta Braves. The third highest rated was two years later, when the Indians again lost, this time to the Florida Marlins.

Oh, as for those claiming dynasties are good for ratings, the four straight Yankee titles from 1997-2000 posted pedestrian ratings.

There is a trend in World Series; a time based trend. Fans are avoiding the game like vegetarians avoid McDonalds. The top three rated World Series since the strike were the first three. The pre-strike ‘90’s averaged 20.7. No series has cracked 20 since 1992; mid-teens is now respectable.

Baseball never relied on a particular market before, mainly because all markets could become competitive (Kansas City, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Detroit, Minnesota, and Oakland all made the Series from 1982-1990). Its stars now cluster in a handful of big-money cities. While the NFL creates parity with salary cap and extensive revenue sharing, baseball tells smaller markets tough luck.