Ratings to the world series were up astronomically this year and the reason given was the presence of the New York Yankees in the Fall Classic.
One does not even have to indict the buffoonish Bud Selig, nor the lords of Baseball. Rupert Murdoch's FOX network, the big beneficiary of the presence of pinstripes, could easily have afforded to purchase the extra few inches of strike zone afforded Andy Pettitte in the ALCS and never missed the money.
Add to this the chance to promote Jay Z and Alicia Keys performing a New York-themed song (what will those kids think up of next?), and a case can be made that the amount of money that comes a network's way is so great that a smidgen of it could easily buy off the piggish Major League Baseball umpires union to ensure that the most profitable team or teams appear.
Only robots will ensure the integrity of the national pastime.
And if this sounds like sour grapes, I am truly envious of that champions cap and wish I could be wearing it with my team's logo on it and so, yeah, it probably is, but if my team had won the series tonight all those happy New Jersey residents partying in the Bronx tonight would be dismissing it anyway, so it is an easy vintage of whine to squeeze, I learned from all of youse in 2002.