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A little mix of Major League baseball and the sociology of US cities, cities, that is, that have two ball clubs. No city has had the two teams in town, one NL, one AL, throughout the league(s) history other than Chicago...with both Cubs and White Sox original members of the NL and AL respectively, in the city throughout MLB history. That Cub-Sox fan relationship tells you a helluva lot about the Windy City.
And arguably there is no such team setup that represents such an interesting comparison of the fanbases, North Side vs. South side, white collar vs. blue, elitist vs. down-to-earth, the list goes on and on. But I just wanted that to serve as an example.
So here's the deal: cities with one team in a sport tend to have a generic fanbase in the sense that they are "the only team in town". But with two teams, you get differences (and you get insight into what makes the city tick far beyond sports). What would you say are the differences between the MLB fans of the following (in any of which you have knowledge):
New York: Yankees,Mets
Balt/Wash: Orioles, Nats
Chicago: Cubs, White Sox
LA: Dodgers, Angels
Bay Area: Giants, A's
Delving into history, anyone with insight of long gone crosstown fan rivalries:
New York: Yankees, Giants, Dodgers (this one was in a class by itself)
Boston: Red Sox, Braves
Philadelphia, Phils, A's
St Louis: Cards, Browns
Other sports can be used to, like NFL:
New York: Giants, Jets
LA: Rams, Chargers
Bay Area: 49ers and soon-to-be-departed Raiders
or in the past:
Chicago: Bears, Cardinals
LA: Rams, Raiders
and obviously any NBA or NHL, present, or past, works, such as..
New York: Knicks, Nets,
New York: Rangers, Islanders, Devils
LA: Lakers, Clippers.
While the Yankees are the only AL team in out history, of course we had the Dodgers and Giants 60+ years ago in the NL, superseded by the Mets in the 1960s.
The saying used to be that rooting for the Yankees was like rooting for U.S. Steel. Obviously back in the day when that company was a powerful corporate colossus and Yankee fans took a World Series appearance for granted.
The Giants and Dodgers, by contrast, were always the scrappy underdogs, the common man's team versus the Yankee team of corporate American and Wall Street. (Yes, it's a generalization) Its why the Dodgers '55 win over the Yankees was so memorable. The Dodgers also won much love from my folks, and most other black New Yorkers, for hiring Jackie Robinson. And of course the NL became the favorite of many more black New Yorkers back in the day because of Willie Mays. To the day he died my Dad wouldn't watch the Yankees, and was heartbroken when the Dodgers and Giants left for Cali -- though as a child I remember him taking me to see Willie Mays when he returned briefly for the Mets.
And the Mets have carried on the NL underdog status for sure. It was the same joy when they won the series in '86, I imagine, as when the Dodgers won in '55. And the same establishment vs common man thing that played out when the Yankees beat the Mets in the Subway Series in 2000.
The Yankees have long been the richest team in the MLB (though the Mets aren't exactly scraping by), and also draws many more affluent fans from Manhattan, Westchester, and New Jersey, while the Mets are the often the outer borough and Long Island favorites. More the common man team than the Yankees.
There don't seem to be a lot of African-American ball fans when I'm at Yankee Stadium, but I see loads of Hispanic and white families. I rarely go to Citifield, and wonder if the demographics there are the same. But in a city with so many Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, and other Latin Americans, I figure that whatever team has the biggest Hispanic star at the time will draw the Hispanic crowds. That was certainly true for the Yankees in the heyday of A-Rod, Mariano Rivera, and Bernie Williams.
Last edited by citylove101; 09-26-2018 at 07:40 PM..
The Orioles play in Baltimore
The Nationals Play in DC
Two team, in two different cities, in two different Markets. DC rooted for Baltimore until the Nationals showed up, now they do their own thing.
Similarly, the Rams and Chargers play in two different cities, but this of course will end when both teams play in Inglewood starting in the 2020 season. I think this example is still too new to result in any strong conclusions, and I predict the Chargers will stand true to their plan to play at the new stadium...but how long is anyone's guess. As I understand it they are not locked in at the new stadium at this point.
Nobody in DC roots for the Orioles and nobody in Baltimore roots for the Nationals.
Same for Oakland vs. San Francisco and Los Angeles vs. Orange County. Those are in the same CSA but they still appeal to a certain geographic base.
Chicago and New York have more aligned geographic bases, except the Mets is more of a geographic "Queens" and Long Island Team while the Yankees take the rest of the metro area.
Cubs vs. White Sox does have a geographic schism as well. Cubs are the North Side team and White Sox are South Side.
So, to answer your question, it doesn't mean the two teams compete with each other. They each just carve out a geographic piece of the CSA.
I'm old enough to remember attending St. Louis Browns games (just barely) at Sportsman's Park. My dad was a fan and knew some players. When they left town for Baltimore it took him about five minutes to convert to a Cardinals fan. He was in love with the game more than any particular team. Watching baseball with him on TV is still something I miss. I'm still a Cardinals fan but moved away to a place that barely knows the game exists.
Nobody in DC roots for the Orioles and nobody in Baltimore roots for the Nationals.
Same for Oakland vs. San Francisco and Los Angeles vs. Orange County. Those are in the same CSA but they still appeal to a certain geographic base.
Chicago and New York have more aligned geographic bases, except the Mets is more of a geographic "Queens" and Long Island Team while the Yankees take the rest of the metro area.
Cubs vs. White Sox does have a geographic schism as well. Cubs are the North Side team and White Sox are South Side.
So, to answer your question, it doesn't mean the two teams compete with each other. They each just carve out a geographic piece of the CSA.
I think that maybe true regarding nobody in Baltimore rooting for the Nats. But to say nobody in DC roots for the Orioles? Nah. There are still many Washingtonians and people in the DC MSA that root for the Orioles because they have simply been the team for the entire area for far longer.
I think that maybe true regarding nobody in Baltimore rooting for the Nats. But to say nobody in DC roots for the Orioles? Nah. There are still many Washingtonians and people in the DC MSA that root for the Orioles because they have simply been the team for the entire area for far longer.
Exactly. I work with a few people from DC who still root for the Orioles.
Nobody in DC roots for the Orioles and nobody in Baltimore roots for the Nationals.
Same for Oakland vs. San Francisco and Los Angeles vs. Orange County. Those are in the same CSA but they still appeal to a certain geographic base.
Chicago and New York have more aligned geographic bases, except the Mets is more of a geographic "Queens" and Long Island Team while the Yankees take the rest of the metro area.
Cubs vs. White Sox does have a geographic schism as well. Cubs are the North Side team and White Sox are South Side.
So, to answer your question, it doesn't mean the two teams compete with each other. They each just carve out a geographic piece of the CSA.
One of my good friends is from DC and will always be a Orioles fan since the Nationals didn’t come around until he was in his 30’s. While he does like the Nationals too, he didn’t miss a beat when I asked him back in 2014 who would you root for if they met in the series, the Orioles all the way was his response.
As for LA I know many fans are die hard to their team only, but I know many that root for both. One of my good friends that has Angels season tickets shares Dodgers season tickets with a couple of guys in his section. A couple of them have both Lakers and Clippers season tickets that they share as well. While they have their favorites, they don’t have hatred towards the other, they’re fans of their city. I was floored by this so I asked some of my other friends from LA and they pretty much had a similar attitude.
I never understood the hatred people have towards other teams, and their fans, in their own city, especially when they’re in different league/conference. It seems pretty juvenile if you’re a grown adult.
Nobody in DC roots for the Orioles and nobody in Baltimore roots for the Nationals.
Same for Oakland vs. San Francisco and Los Angeles vs. Orange County. Those are in the same CSA but they still appeal to a certain geographic base.
Chicago and New York have more aligned geographic bases, except the Mets is more of a geographic "Queens" and Long Island Team while the Yankees take the rest of the metro area.
Cubs vs. White Sox does have a geographic schism as well. Cubs are the North Side team and White Sox are South Side.
So, to answer your question, it doesn't mean the two teams compete with each other. They each just carve out a geographic piece of the CSA.
A bit simplistic and this map will show not always correct:
Yeah, there's a pretty clear line between O's/Nats and the Angels and White Sox have carved out their niche in their respective markets, but for the A's and Mets, they're not even the most popular teams in their own counties.
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