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According to the networks, MLB's hottest team is the 52-48 Texas Rangers who trail first place Los Angeles by 8.5 games. Josh Hamilton's 28 home run performance in the All-Star Derby last week was riveting television, no doubt, but I had no idea that it currently tops the cable show leaderboard. Nearly 10 million viewers tuned into the Rangers sluggers first round hitting clinic, a staggering number for an event meant to fill up some dead air before the All-Star Game itself.
As a result, networks are trying to mix up their planned telecasts over the final two months to include, of all things, more Texas Rangers games. This has to be a first.
Just about the time Sports Illustrated plastered Hamilton on its June 2 cover, Fox began making inquiries about shuffling its Saturday afternoon schedule to accommodate a Rangers game or three. But the team smartly had little interest in moving the three subsequent pre-All-Star Game Saturday home games from evenings to broiling afternoons in Arlington.
Imagine the raised eyebrows from coast to coast had TV listings showed the Rangers hosting the then-first-place Rays on Fox's June 7 broadcast. What next, the Arizona Cardinals hosting the Detroit Lions on NBC Sunday Night Football? Still, Fox remains hard at work trying to find a place for the Rangers in the coming weeks. "We have major interest," is the way Fox spokesman Dan Bell summed it up.
Over at ESPN, Hamilton is "our new hero." That's how Len DeLuca, senior vice president for programming, described the Rangers center fielder.
"The Rangers are in the center of our radar screen now as opposed to the periphery," DeLuca said. "Josh Hamilton put them there. Now the team has to continue winning games."
I'm as caught up as anyone in the Hamilton comeback story, but this seems like a gross overreaction. Then again, we follow baseball on a daily, if not hourly basis, and this story has been around for a year and a half.
There's a good chance that a significant portion of that 10 million is just learning about Josh Hamilton, currently leading the MLB with 98 RBI's, so shifting the Rangers to national television brings in more fans to sport, great.
And yes, you'll need to read that again. The Texas Rangers are capturing new baseball fans.
Hot air: Josh Hamilton adds to Texas Rangers' clout with networks [Dallas Morning News]
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