Unless your the Yankees or Red Sox, that is:The Harris Poll asked 2,100 U.S. adults last month to name their favorite baseball teams. The New York Yankees were the most popular team, followed by the Boston Red Sox, Atlanta Braves, Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals.
The only surprise there is the Atlanta Braves. I know the Braves have a very loyal following in the South, but I was unaware that the Braves were that popular. Wasn't it just a few years ago that the Braves couldn't sell out playoff games? Perhaps the old TV contract with TBS gave the Braves some national notoriety and a bigger following outside of the South.
And now for the fun part: the least popular team. Drumroll, please....
The Toronto Blue Jays
What? The Roy Halladay backlash must be very strong already.
Actually, the poll is somewhat flawed. No Canadian residents were asked so take the Blue Jays last place finish for what it's worth.
Besides the Blue Jays, the three lease popular teams (in order) were the Nationals, the Angels, and the Royals. I can understand the Royals and the Nationals because quite frankly, both of those teams stink and have probably alienated the fan base with their horrific play.
But the Angels? How can they be this far down? Wasn't this the franchise that was recently ranked by ESPN the magazine as the best organization in sports? Well, I have two theories.
1. Where was the poll conducted?
-If this poll was conducted solely on the east coast, then of course, the Angels won't receive such a tremendous response.
2. It's the Dodgers world, and the Angels are just living in it
-No matter how successful the Angels are, they will always be overshadowed by the Dodgers in the baseball world.
Other interesting tidbits:
-the Mets have fallen to #11 on the list, which is their lowest ranking since 2004.
-the Indians dropped from #7 on the list last year to #25 this year. Ouch
So take this poll for what it's worth. There are so many different things to consider when talking about polling that these rankings are far from definitive. But nevertheless, they are fun, and sometimes, quite revealing.
