Thursday, August 23, 2007
America’s Team? 1) Who the fuck cares? 2) Bullshit
USA Today says that Boston outdraws the Yankees on the road, therefore they are now America’s Team.
Well, first off, America’s Team is a bullshit title that more or less represents how many bandwagon fans you have. And Boston is an attractive option for bandwagon fans who hate the Yankees. So there’s no surprise in who the most popular road draws are.
But it turns out their numbers are funny. Yes, Boston has straight outdrawn the Yankees on the road, 38,803 to 37,906 per gate (the Yankees had one straight doubleheader, so it’s not per game). That is a FACT. But if you’re looking to draw a larger statement about who is coming out to see the teams, you can’t just look at that number.
You have to look at only the games not against each other.
Think about it. If you don’t do it that way, you’re implying that the 54,951 fans who come to see the Yankees host the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium came to see the Red Sox, and the 36,651 who come to Fenway are coming to see the Yankees.
If you take out those games, then the Yankees draw an average of 38,043 on the road, while Boston draws 37,133. That’s an 1800+ seat swing the other way. So I think it’s hard to look at those numbers and draw the conclusion that Boston’s a better road draw by any measure.
Further, here’s the opponent-by-opponent breakdown:
| Opponent | Yankees | Red Sox | Edge |
| Blue Jays | 34,949 | 30,154 | Yankees +4,795 (16%) |
| Orioles | 43,456 | 41,584 | Yankees +1,872 (5%) |
| Devil Rays | 27,757 | 25,847 | Yankees +1,910 (7%) |
| Indians | 41,755 | 33,920 | Yankees +7,835 (23%) |
| Twins | 26,910 | 34,282 | Red Sox +7,372 (27%) |
| Royals | 33,546 | 28,925 | Yankees +4,621 (16%) |
| Angels | 44,280 | 44,187 | Yankees +93 (.2%) |
| Mariners | 45,517 | 41,881 | Yankees +3,636 (9%) |
| Athletics | 35,077 | 30,699 | Yankees +4,378 (14%) |
| Rangers | 36,491 | 38,768 | Red Sox +2,277 (6%) |
So clearly, the Yankees are a better draw almost everywhere.
So why does Boston draw better in Texas and Minnesota?
Easy. Boston had one series in Minnesota: a weekend series in early May. The Yankees’ one series was a mid-week series in early April. The Boston series was almost assured of a better draw.
Boston’s first series in Texas was the Rangers’ home opener (the Yankees didn’t visit anyone on their home openers). If you replace that crowd with the average crowd for a Boston game in Arlington, then the Yankees outdraw them there, too.
Of course, you can do that last exercise the other way too, I’m sure. But the general point is that the Yankees tend to outdraw Boston everywhere, and usually by a sizable margin.
Not that it matters. I like the Yankees. It doesn’t matter if someone else does. They have the right to have bad taste.
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