One Incredible Viewership Stat From the Blue Jays-Dodgers 18-Inning Game

1. When Freddie Freeman launched a game-winning home run in the bottom of the 18th inning on Monday night in Game 3 of the World Series it was 2:50 a.m. on the East Coast.

Remarkably, 8.5 million people in the United States were still watching the game at that time and witnessed Freeman leading the Dodgers to a 6–5 win over the Blue Jays.

The average viewership for the entire game, which lasted six hours and 39 minutes, was 11.4 million. Ratings peaked between 11:30 and 11:45 p.m. ET when 13.1 million people were tuned in. (That was during the ninth inning.)

Game 3 also had to go up against the Commanders-Chiefs Monday Night Football game, which drew 17.6 million viewers.

Game 1 of the World Series on Friday was watched by 13.3 million people, while 11.6 million tuned into Game 2 on Saturday.

It’s hard to judge the ratings success of this World Series because of the presence of a Canadian team. According to Sports Media Watch, Monday’s game was the fourth least-watched Game 3 in the U.S. since 2012. While that isn’t shocking since one of the teams does not account for a U.S. market, it’s still slightly disappointing because Nielsen is using a different methodology to count viewers and numbers across the board in sports have increased significantly in recent months.

2. A brand-new SI Media With Jimmy Traina dropped this morning This week’s episode features a conversation with The Ringer’s Bryan Curtis.

The host of The Press Box podcast weighs in on all the latest sports media news. Topics discussed include: ESPN’s coverage of the Terry Rozier and Chauncey Billups gambling scandals; Inside the NBA’s debut on ESPN; NBC’s use of Michael Jordan as a “special contributor”; Joe Davis’s performance calling the World Series, Stephen A. Smith continuing to go after LeBron James; ESPN’s massive win with SEC football; USC football’s lack of national appeal; Scott Van Pelt possibly moving from midnight to 5 p.m. and much more.

Following Curtis, Sal Licata from WFAN radio and SNY TV in New York joins me for our weekly “Traina Thoughts” segment. This week, we discuss Netflix’s new documentary on the Montreal Expos, my victory over Sal in our college football betting pool, this week’s monster Chiefs-Bills game, a birthday party scam, Halloween and more. You can listen to the SI Media With Jimmy Traina podcast below or on Apple and Spotify.

You can also watch SI Media With Jimmy Traina on YouTube.

3. Joe Davis is in a tough spot. He is the Dodgers’ local play-by-play guy. Naturally, with him calling the World Series nationally, viewers are going to think he’s pulling for L.A. no matter what.

It hasn’t helped Davis that his calls for the Dodgers sound a tad more enthusiastic than his calls for the Blue Jays.

Given Toronto pulled off two straight wins after losing the 18-inning game, the call of the final out last night in Game 5 seemed a little ho-hum.

4. We got some vintage Inside the NBA on Wednesday when Kenny Smith compared Lakers guard Austin Reaves, who just hit a game-winning shot against the Timberwolves, to Jeremy Lin.

5. I don’t know how many people got the line dropped by Celtics play-by-play guy Drew Carter regarding Jaylen Brown last night, but you don’t often get a hair transplant joke during a ball game, so kudos to Carter.

6. ESPN’s Kevin Clark lost his father earlier this week. Clark had a podcast taping scheduled with Jim Nantz a couple of days later and decided to do the interview instead of cancelling. Nantz did research on Clark’s dad, so he’d be able to speak about him on the podcast and also shared personal anecdotes about what he went through losing his father. The result was this powerful moment.

7. RANDOM VIDEO OF THE DAY: Happy 80th birthday to Henry Winkler. Here’s the man responsible for the phrase “jump the shark” talking to the man who made the phrase “jump the shark” mainstream.

Be sure to catch up on past editions of Traina Thoughts and check out the Sports Illustrated Media Podcast hosted by Jimmy Traina on Apple, Spotify or Google. You can also follow Jimmy on X and Instagram.