Listen close, people. This is the only time that I’ll actually endorse Yankee-hating.
The USA Today has published a preposterous article, asserting that the Red Sox have surpassed the Yankees as baseball’s version of “America’s Team.” To back up their absurd claim, USA Today is using average road attendance as a gauge.
Here’s the thing: if every single game played between the Yankees and the Red Sox is a sellout (a fact, not an assumption) then the Red Sox have an advantage in that their road games in New York are played in front of 56,000 fans while any road games played by the Yankees in Boston are played in front of only 38,000 fans. Nearly, 20,000 fans per game multiplied by either nine or 10 home games make a tremendous difference. Further, the article cites that the Red Sox’ margin over the Yankees is a scant 1,300 fans. We’re going to crown the Red Sox as more popular than the Yankees based on a 1,300 road fan disparity, especially in light of the 20,000 seat disparity between Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park?
The larger point here is that the Yankees are baseball’s “America’s Team” regardless of how many fans they draw on the road. They are baseball’s most famous and most historically important franchise. When one thinks of historic players, Babe Ruth is first in mind, not Ted Williams. The Yankees have always been likened to US Steel or IBM, a monolithic establishment of corporate values and soulless efficiency. While I personally don’t believe that to be true, the fact remains that inspiring hatred at the rate the Yankees do makes them baseball’s most popular team.
There is no middle ground on the New York Yankees: nearly everyone that follows baseball either likes them or dislikes them. And while the same can be said for Boston at this point, I’m pretty sure that the Yankees inspire more passion on both sides of the issue than the Boston Red Sox do. Seriously, you’re telling me that once Big Papi no longer plays in Boston, that many people will care? Yankee-loving and Yankee-hating has been going on since the 1920’s. Boston’s a Johnny-come-lately to the game based on equal parts fair-weather fandom and the quality and force of Papi’s personality.
After all, the Dallas Cowboys became football’s “America’s Team” in exactly the same way.
The USA Today has published a preposterous article, asserting that the Red Sox have surpassed the Yankees as baseball’s version of “America’s Team.” To back up their absurd claim, USA Today is using average road attendance as a gauge.
Here’s the thing: if every single game played between the Yankees and the Red Sox is a sellout (a fact, not an assumption) then the Red Sox have an advantage in that their road games in New York are played in front of 56,000 fans while any road games played by the Yankees in Boston are played in front of only 38,000 fans. Nearly, 20,000 fans per game multiplied by either nine or 10 home games make a tremendous difference. Further, the article cites that the Red Sox’ margin over the Yankees is a scant 1,300 fans. We’re going to crown the Red Sox as more popular than the Yankees based on a 1,300 road fan disparity, especially in light of the 20,000 seat disparity between Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park?
The larger point here is that the Yankees are baseball’s “America’s Team” regardless of how many fans they draw on the road. They are baseball’s most famous and most historically important franchise. When one thinks of historic players, Babe Ruth is first in mind, not Ted Williams. The Yankees have always been likened to US Steel or IBM, a monolithic establishment of corporate values and soulless efficiency. While I personally don’t believe that to be true, the fact remains that inspiring hatred at the rate the Yankees do makes them baseball’s most popular team.
There is no middle ground on the New York Yankees: nearly everyone that follows baseball either likes them or dislikes them. And while the same can be said for Boston at this point, I’m pretty sure that the Yankees inspire more passion on both sides of the issue than the Boston Red Sox do. Seriously, you’re telling me that once Big Papi no longer plays in Boston, that many people will care? Yankee-loving and Yankee-hating has been going on since the 1920’s. Boston’s a Johnny-come-lately to the game based on equal parts fair-weather fandom and the quality and force of Papi’s personality.
After all, the Dallas Cowboys became football’s “America’s Team” in exactly the same way.
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