MILWAUKEE — Here’s a message America needs to hear: This small-market, small-ball World Series, which starts here Friday night, is well worth watching. 

The Brewers and Rays are two great teams that deserve our attention, two teams with uber-clever front offices, brilliant managers and players who do things right and do them well.

But this country may need a nudge since ratings are expected to be brutal with the Yankees, Dodgers and all the most marquee teams home now. 

This matchup pits MLB’s smallest-market club (Brewers) against a team from Tampa Bay, the metro area some TV folks tell me is death to ratings. But these games should be great. These two teams do it all.