• The second contest was the lowest-rated Game 2 in that span. The rating: 14.1. Previous low: 22.9, in 2011.

• The third contest was the lowest-rated Game 3 in that span. The rating: 13.6. Previous low: 19.3, in 2014.

• The fourth contest was the lowest-rated Game 4 in that span. The rating: 11.6. Previous low: 24.3, in 2014.

So all four games comparably were the worst-rated Cards NLCS contests in this century.

Looking for answers

A few explanations have been offered. Among them is that Game 1 was on a Friday night, when TV use in general is low. Game 2 was on a Saturday afternoon, when there is competition from college football and people might have other activities that keep them from watching. By Game 3 the Cards were in a big hole and some fans were waiting for them to get back into the series before watching. There also is the trend of fewer people watching TV now in general than 10 years ago. Maybe the cat got out of the house and everybody went to find it. Etc., etc., etc.

But those things weren’t major factors earlier in this century, when Cardinals postseason games were appointment viewing.