The Disrespect of Small Market Teams in Major League Baseball

I've been writing about the happenings in Major League Baseball on Vocal for the last three years. At least a couple of teams get talked about too much while others rarely or if ever get mentioned. Last week, the Milwaukee Brewers won their first World Series title in franchise history. Recently, I've written a couple of stories about them and gave them glowing praise. When it comes to small market teams winning their first titles, they hardly get little to rarely any media attention. No talk show appearances. No Saturday Night Live appearance. No video chat from any celebrity or celebrities. No nothing. I'll be discussing the comparisons of how the Texas Rangers and Milwaukee Brewers were covered and treated by the biased media. Yes, I said it. Biased, because you can't trust them these days, especially the fact that they can cherry pick who deserves more attention and who deserves demeaning labels. Then, I'll go over other small market teams in MLB that received not so great treatment from the media later on in this story. Before I begin, I want to add a small disclaimer. This story isn't meant to bash the Brewers or say that they didn't deserve to win the World Series. I'm only focusing on the hypocrisy from the media about the coverage regarding them and the Rangers. Now that I've gotten that out of the way, let's highlight both teams and the different ways they were treated publicly. I'm going to start with my team first.

Texas Rangers (2023)

• 62 seasons in the league/52 years in Texas

• 90-72, Wild Card berth

• Beat the 101-win Baltimore Orioles in the ALDS

• Defeated their division rival Astros in Game 7 of the ALCS to win the AL Pennant

• Defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks in 5 games in the World Series; finished the Postseason with an 11-0 record (MLB record)

• Bruce Bochy wins his fourth World Series title after coming out of retirement

• No Today Show appearance

• Weren't invited to either Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, or Stephen Colbert's late-night talk shows

• No SNL appearance

• Not one celebrity called the team to congratulate them

• Wore their gold-trimmed uniforms in their opening series at home against the Chicago Cubs the following season (March 28-30)

• Globe Life Field raised the team's first World Series Champions banner on March 28, 2024

• Did a trophy tour to the Fort Worth Stockyards, Dallas City Hall, Waco, and Austin

• An estimated 500,000-700,000 people attended the parade on November 3, 2023; SportsCenter mentioned the parade for 30 seconds before moving on

Milwaukee Brewers (2026)

• 55 seasons/56 years in Milwaukee

• 103 wins (franchise record)

• Swept the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NLCS; only lost two games in the entire Postseason

• Defeated the Tampa Bay Rays in five games to clinch their first World Series title

• Manager Pat Murphy carried the World Series trophy on the Today Plaza on November 2, 2026

• Christian Yelich, Brice Turang, and Pat Murphy appeared on SNL in the Weekend Update skit on Halloween night.

• 750,000 people attended the parade two days after their World Series victory; an abundance of coverage

• Bruce Springsteen had a 10-minute FaceTime call with the team before the World Series

Now that you've seen the comparisons, the media's coverage of both teams showing preferential treatment towards one and pure disrespect of another is rage inducing. So, the Rangers spent a lot of money to acquire several players and the media said that they bought talent, while they praised the Brewers for building talent. This is the kind of hypocrisy and double standard I've been talking about in general for the longest period of time. In one of my last stories, the Brewers and some of the players were completely disrespected. The lack of praise from the media was both insulting and offensive. Jacob Misiorowski: The potential National League Cy Young Award winner. Media calls him a flamethrower for a few seconds before they resume talking about the Dodgers payroll. Jackson Chourio: Hit .400 in the four-game sweep of the Dodgers. Wasn't mentioned until the start of the NLCS. Cooper Pratt: Broke Robin Yount's Brewers rookie Postseason record with six consecutive hits over Games 4 and 5 of the World Series. William Contreras: Barely mentioned until Game 4. Won the World Baseball Classic with Venezuela and World Series MVP in the same year.

All I've seen and read during the Postseason was the Dodgers and their payroll. I've refused to watch the Postseason for the last couple of years because of this and been noticing this toxic pattern. It was taking away the hard work that the Brewers have done. Both the Texas Rangers and Milwaukee Brewers are both Cinderella stories that deserve equal recognition. Sure, they don't have the biggest payrolls in baseball, but they still deserve to be acknowledged and praised for their success. This is why I started my Token of Appreciation series back in 2025: to praise MLB teams and players, active or retired, that have excelled while the media wouldn't give them the time of day. I'm probably one the few writers on Vocal that will give people credit when it's due. No bias and no agenda attached to it.

As far as the Rangers, people know who they are. Some media corporations like to play dumb and act like they don't exist. So, allow me to give these delusional people a bit of a baseball history lesson about my team. What I won't allow is people disrespecting and talking down to them. Before the Rangers were known as who they are today, they were originally known as the Washington Senators from 1961-1971 and played in Washington, DC. The team moved to Arlington in the spring of 1972, becoming the Texas Rangers, and played at Arlington Stadium from their inaugural season until 1993. From 1994 to 2019, the Rangers played at The Ballpark in Arlington. Their current home, Globe Life Field, was opened in 2020. Since moving to Arlington, the Rangers have won seven AL West division titles, two Wild Card berths, and the one World Series title they've won back in 2023. I mentioned earlier about SportsCenter mentioning their parade for 30 seconds before moving on to the next story. As a die-hard Rangers fan, the media treating them badly and using demeaning headlines mentioning the 2023 World Series as being the least watched instead of praising them, I took great offense to it. This was the same team who swept the Rays and Orioles in the Wild Card round and ALDS respectively. Not only that, but defeated their hated rivals, the Astros, in seven games capturing the AL Pennant. Finally, they finished the Postseason with an 11-0 record, which is still an MLB record as of 2026. Imagine seeing your team that's a small market team make it to the World Series, either for the first time in franchise history or in decades, and they happen to win it all. Whether they've won their first championship in franchise history or in decades, the media would find a way to diminish a team's hard work and not mention their determination of how they've done it. To be honest, it would be a huge slap in the face. It's very important that all small market teams who win World Series titles are both respected and acknowledged for their hard work. The Rangers and Brewers aren't the only teams who experienced this level of disrespect from the media. There's been a small handful of them that's worth mentioning.

White Sox (2005)

Known as one of the most forgotten World Series, the White Sox swept the Houston Astros in four games to capture their first championship since 1917. Yes, the Astros were in the National League and didn't join the AL West until 2013. They had some of the best players on that team: Mark Buehrle, Jermaine Dye, who would win World Series MVP, and the late Bobby Jenks. They went 99-63 that season and finished with an 11-1 Postseason record. On the field, they were respected, but despite their outstanding performance in the Fall Classic, the media called the White Sox boring. By the following spring, it was back to them discussing the Red Sox and Yankees. 11.1 million viewers watched the 2005 World Series and at the time, it was the least watched Fall Classics ever. I've mentioned them two years ago in one my stories highlighting the best World Series of the last 25 years. It's a must-watch if you're interested in reliving the moment.

Kansas City Royals (2015)

After losing the World Series to the San Francisco Giants the year prior, the Royals were back in the Fall Classic. Their opponent this time was the New York Mets. They won their first title since 1985, had a parade, but soon after, the conversation soon flipped to the Chicago Cubs and wondering if they would ever break their 108-year-old curse. The Royals had amazing players such as longtime veteran Salvador Perez, Eric Hosmer, Ben Zobrist, who would be traded to the Cubs and win his second consecutive championship plus being named World Series MVP, and the late Yordano Ventura, who was affectionately known as Ace. Over a year after the Royals World Series win, Ventura was killed in a car accident in his native Dominican Republic. He was 25 years old at the time of his January 2017 death. Today, he would be 35. A talented player that was gone too soon and had his whole life ahead of him. Salvador Perez spoke very fondly of him and still does today. He wore Ventura's number 30 decal on his chest protector. Perez also checks up on his mother and his kids. Also, he attended his funeral by carrying his casket. The 2015 World Series MVP caught 1,400 games, won five Gold Gloves, and has been with the Royals for 15 seasons. Him and Ace were very close and were like brothers. Salvador Perez being loyal to one team for his entire career shows how much fans and everyone else respect him. He's definitely Baseball Hall of Fame worthy, because his positive character is why he's been with the same team for so long. January 2027 will mark the 10-year anniversary of Ace's death, and I have plans on writing a story in the new year to remember his life and career but also highlighting the Royals themselves.

Florida/Miami Marlins (2003)

The final small market team on this list was also seen as one the most forgotten World Series. After winning their first World Series title back in 1997, the then Florida Marlins returned to the Fall Classic in 2003. They defeated the 101-win Yankees by a score of 4-2 and Josh Beckett, then 23, was named World Series MVP. This was the same team that had a 20-year-old Miguel Cabrera and Pudge Rodríguez. Before they made it to the World Series and won it all, they beat the Cubs after trailing 3-1 in the NLCS. Game 6 was known for an infamous moment: a Cubs fan named Steve Bartman would later become the biggest villain in the eyes of baseball fans. I also discussed the Steve Bartman situation in one of my previous stories if you would like to read that. Following their World Series win, there was no push on any merchandise, no appearances on any shows, including Today. The Marlins had the same "bought" label as the Rangers when they won their first title back in 1997 but owned up to it. After winning their second title, the media described the Marlins as being built. However, they still got ignored. Winning two World Series titles in seven years and the media treating them like their efforts meant nothing must've stung the Marlins.

I love a good baseball underdog story. The Texas Rangers and Milwaukee Brewers were two perfect examples of that. They were able to acquire and have talent in order to win their first World Series titles in franchise history. If a team builds talent, they're seen as heroes, but God forbid if a team spends a plethora of money on players, it's seen as being bought. There are fans who notice the double standard but choose to dismiss it and those who notice it and call it out. I happen to do the latter, because the hypocrisy needs to be called out. I have huge admiration and respect for both my team and the Brewers. I wanted the Brewers to have their Cinderella moment because their fans and the team themselves have waited several decades to finally achieve the impossible. The San Diego Padres, Tampa Bay Rays, and Colorado Rockies are now the three remaining teams without a World Series title. Before this year's World Series began, Milwaukee was one of the four teams among that group. They're the only small market teams I know so far that got the most media attention after winning it all. Kudos to them and they rightfully deserved it. All small market teams in Major League Baseball deserve equal recognition and respect, including the ones I've featured in this story; not cherry picked by the media to fit their agenda or to appease certain audiences. I believe that the Padres will be the next team out of that small group to win the World Series. Seeing Manny Machado holding that trophy would be a great sight to see. Love him or hate him, that would be a great addition to his baseball resume. The Padres have to improve, especially in the Postseason, and beat their division rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, at their own game and end their decades-long streak of NL West titles.

I'll leave everyone with these questions: Which small market team that have won their first World Series titles deserve to be recognized and acknowledged? Also, do you think that the media treating them with less respect is harsh? Finally, if you had to choose between the Padres, Rays, or Rockies, which team would you like to see win their first championship next?