A World Series matchup featuring two of the East Coast’s largest media markets led to some of the highest viewership baseball has seen in five years.

An average of over 19 million U.S. viewers watched the six games of this year’s World Series between the Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Yankees, the most since an average of 25.4 million people saw the Red Sox sweep the Cardinals in 2004. Game 4 of the series was also the most watched single World Series game (22.5 million viewers) since 2004.

A legendary 6-RBI game by Hideki Matsui in Game 6 propelled the Yankee DH from a postseason afterthought to World Series MVP. The series-clinching performance resounded throughout the internet as Matsui’s buzz soared across blogs and message boards in the hours after the final out:

Of all the players participating in the World Series, Alex Rodriguez delivered the most buzz. As A-Rod marched through October on his quest toward his first championship ring, his internet buzz was at a level three times higher than any other Yankee or Phillie. Surprisingly, the next-closes