Some national experts are giving the Brewers little chance to defeat the Dodgers in the NLCS - which begins Friday at Miller Park.
The winner moves on to the World Series.
The website SportsLine gives the Dodgers a 34.4 percent chance to win the World Series.
The same outlet says Milwaukee’s odds to win the World Series are just 11.5 percent. Even though the Brewers have a better record than their opponents from California.
On Thursday, former Miami Marlins President David Samson, who was born in Milwaukee but raised in New York, said on ESPN radio he believes the fix is already in for the Dodgers.
“MLB is going to do anything they can to have the Dodgers beat the Brewers,” Samson said on The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz.
Walter Melnik, an assistant professor of Economics at Marquette University, thinks there’s some truth to that.
“I expect there’re some people at the league level who prefer the Dodgers to make it to the World Series,” Melnik said.
“There will probably be more viewership if the Dodgers make it to the World Series,” he added.
The LA area boasts roughly 5.5 million TV households, according to Nielsen. The Milwaukee market contains about 895,000.
Inside the pro shop at Miller Park, fans were skeptical of Samson’s comments.
“I heard the interview and when they asked him for proof, he just went silent,” said Brewers fan Fred Gromacki.
Jim Friauf, also a Brewers fan, is relishing the team’s status as an underdog in the eyes of national media.
“You have to use it. You use it to your advantage,” Friauf said. “Milwaukee’s kind of an underdog city.”
