Baseball Fever Spreads to Daytime TV

Perhaps it is the addition of the extra Wild Card. Perhaps it involves the improbable campaigns put together by teams long-ridiculed, such as Baltimore and Oakland. Perhaps the fact that no contenders for the last playoff spot in the NL actually seem to have any interest in winning it.

Whatever it is, baseball fever is spreading, fair readers.

We, as ardent fans of the game, may have a heightened sense of this, considering the people and electronic pages with which we engage are probably discussing such things on a regular basis. But have these excitement tendrils reached down and ensnared the huddled masses? Does Joe Sixpack understand that this is turning into one of the most engaging final two weeks in recent memory?

It appears so:

My cousin – who’s kinda in between jobs right now – saw this image whilst watching Thursday’s episode of The Price is Right. The producers of this game show, which features a subset of games contestants play to win fabulous prizes, have tried to capitalize on the buzz surrounding the end of this baseballing season. The game in question (and in image) is Cliff Hangers which entails, according to my cousin, “guessing the prices of stuff, and if you’re off by too much, the guy falls of the end or whatever.” As you can see, the producers have switched out the typical and boring flat mountain side for the climber statue to scale with the win probability graph from Wednesday’s exciting Rays/Orioles contest.

Since this game show is played by and for the lower crust of our society, I consider this evidence that all of America is vibrating with anticipation over how the rest of this baseball season will play out.

Maybe now, even if for only a few short weeks, you and your dad will have something to talk about.