World Series media day more low-key than Super Bowl media day
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- To any journalist who has covered a Super Bowl media day, the World Series version is quaint and old-school by comparison.
No fans watching the proceedings from the stands. No live TV. No prime time scheduling -- which is where the NFL event is set to move for this season's finale in northern California.
And relatively few off-beat questions by showboating TV "reporters."
Monday's event was mostly just a bunch of baseball players sitting in a relatively small room and answering questions about the World Series.
Not that there were no silly questions at all. Those that were asked often played off the fact that most current players from both teams have no memory of 1985, the last time the Royals won it all, and 1986, the last time the Mets did.
When someone asked the Mets' Michael Conforto, who is 22, what he knows about 1986 in general, he mostly drew a blank. But he did know a bit about the '86 Mets.
"I've seen some highlights and stuff of the '86 World Series and the ground ball Mookie Wilson hit [in Game 6]," he said. "That team was a team of destiny. They were just meant to win that series. I think that's really cool."
Beyond that, though ... "The only thing I think about in the '80s was my mom was in the Olympics those years [as a gold-medal-winning synchronized swimmer Tracie Ruiz]. Other than that I don't know much about the '80s."
How about 1969, then? "Even less, absolutely," he said.
The Royals' Eric Hosmer, who turned 26 Saturday, grew a bit annoyed when a TV reporter grilled him with questions about 1985, some of which he recognized and most of which he did not.
Who was the President of the United States? "I've got nothing," he said. The song "We are the World?" "Nope." What about the musical act "Wham!"? "No."
Finally, Hosmer said, "Anybody else got any better questions?"
Football players can relate.
The World Series Gala held Monday night at Union Station had some fun with the throwback feel of this Series matchup, complete with an ice sculpture shaped like a boom box and desserts in the shape of Pac-Man characters.