How did the last game at Tiger Stadium do? Does anyone remember?

A September game between two teams with either no or no realistic shot at the playoffs didn't attract a huge audience? While running against an NFL game? Stunning.

Well, then, what does the universe spin around?

I'm not surprised at the ratings. As a Yankee fan I enjoyed the associated pagentry, but I can definitely see how a non-Yankee fan would be turned off. It was a bit much.

Plus, letting Michael Kay call one inning probably drove the Yankee fans away.

While I wasn't sure how the game would fare against an NFL game, I have to admit, this is not what I expected. With all the hype and history (not to mention MLB's strongest brand), I thought it would at least be the highest rated SNB game of the year.

I can definitely see how a non-Yankee fan would be turned off

Or as a very pissappointed woman from Atlanta once asked me in upper-decked Yankee Stadium..."How come I can't see The Statue of Liberty from here!?"

"How come I can't see The Statue of Liberty from here!?"

Because the Empire State Building gets in the way.

I'm not surprised at the ratings. As a Yankee fan I enjoyed the associated pagentry, but I can definitely see how a non-Yankee fan would be turned off. It was a bit much.

It's not a matter of being turned off. It's a matter of not caring.

A September game between two teams with either no or no realistic shot at the playoffs didn't attract a huge audience? While running against an NFL game? Stunning.

I think the standings of the teams are pretty irrelevant. That's not what was being billed, and I really doubt the outcome would have been substantially different if either team had been in the playoff hunt.

I do think you got it right that the NFL game had a lot to do with it -- only one other Sunday Night broadcast was up against the NFL, and I bet that wasn't one of the six that beat this one.

I don't have a list of all 25 Sunday Night games to date, but I believe there were a couple Yankees/Red Sox, a Yankees/Mets, a Cubs/Cardinals - lots of high profile rivalries that would draw a bunch of eyes from both sides. I can't imagine that there are too many people outside the Yankees fan base who would feel all that compelled to watch the last game at Yankee Stadium on TV. ESPN is probably pretty happy to have it reach seventh.

The winner should have gotten homefield advantage for all 2009 games between the two teams.

The winner should have gotten homefield advantage for all 2009 games between the two teams.

Considering how many Yankee fans make the trip down to Baltimore, I think that's already happened.

uh, shouldn't the story here be how surprisingly GOOD a 7th-highest audience is? It was a matchup between two non-contending teams with an uninteresting pitching matchup (does anyone get excited for Pettitte vs. Waters?) up against a football game (a pretty good one, between two good teams, too) that didn't start until close to 8:30. That's pretty impressive, actually.

Because everyone loves the Yankees. And everyone also loves Yankee Stadium, because the Yankees play there. And everyone loves 7 hour tributes to a building, especially when it's Yankee Stadium. And everyone loves it even more when that 7 hours is filled with nothing but mumbling commentators as their mouths are filled with Yankee ####, because ESPN and the Steinbrenners have never heard of the idea that sometimes less is more.

For anyone who isn't a Yankee fan, the whole "Last days of Yankee Stadium" subplot has been a huge turnoff this season. This isn't faulting those who are true Yankee fans, and who will legitimately miss the place, but there are a hell of a lot more of us out there for who Yankee Stadium is just another park, and we're getting pretty sick of hearing about the place. The old Forum in Montreal was every bit as historic as Yankee Stadium, and no one felt the need to conduct a year long farewell tour.

The old Forum in Montreal was every bit as historic as Yankee Stadium, and no one felt the need to conduct a year long farewell tour.

I understand they saved the last serving of poutine from the place and enshrined it in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

I understand they saved the last serving of poutine from the place and enshrined it in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Are you kidding? The Forum has only been gone for 12 years. That poutine is still lodged in someone's colon.

I thought it was a great evening that I wouldn't have missed for the world, but if I weren't a Yankee fan I would have been watching the NFL game myself. As a game, it wouldn't compare to a July game against the Red Sox.

Face it, lots of fans are turned off by schmaltz, especially when it doesn't involve their own team. I couldn't watch that Ted Williams lovefest at the 1999 All-Star game, not because I don't like Williams, but because it was so Oprahesque, and because it just went on so goddam long. So I can sympathize with the non-Yankee fans here who switched to Dallas and Green Bay.

For me, the thing that sent my pancreas into shock was the whole Ripken streak thing. The lead-up, the circling the field, the afterglow. Unbearable.

The Stadium events were too horrible to be caught up in. From that debacle in center field with the actors portraying dead guys, to dragging the weepy relatives of recently deceased players out onto the field, to the undeniably odd short lists of players they decided to recognize in the video montages -- the whole thing was terrible. I don't fault the Yankees for ESPN's overzealous coverage of the event, but their celebration was awkward, ill-conceived and poorly executed. Blech.

I, for one, actively avoided it, though I probably wouldn't have watched under normal circumstances anyway. I wasn't really interested in a nine inning blow job...for the Yankees, I mean.

For anyone who isn't a Yankee fan, the whole "Last days of Yankee Stadium" subplot has been a huge turnoff this season.

Basically - but I can understand Andy not watching the Ted Williams wankfest as well. To each thier own...