In baseball is it more fun to pull for a loser?

[NightWatcher]

I'd say yes it is, for several reasons. Yankee fans are upset if they don't win the pennant every year and the World Series at least every other year. I (a Marlins fan- see avatar) am excited when they win a game, even if they only win one a week.

Tickets to the games are cheap, by cheap, I mean most times you can find someone giving away a seat.

No one spoils the game you are DVRing back home, because no one else watches them.

Team merchandise is always on sale because every time we get a superstar, he is traded and they have to unload all the schwag with their name on it.

A double play on defense is a reason to get excited, a double on offense is a big deal.

Promotions are getting desperate in order to get butts in seats. The Marlins had a concert after the game with Biz Markie AND Coolio on the SAME NIGHT (Winning!)

[dr.strangelove]

1. Well

Very few Yankee fans, at least very few that I know, are upset if the team does not win the AL pennant every year. They expect a competitive team, but know that a team can not win every year. I think yankee fans get upset with the bad financial decisions the team makes, like overpaying an aging Derek Jeter and A-rod. It hits the fans in the pockets with $12 craft beers and $75 upper deck seats.

That said, I prefer minor league ball because it is cheap and a far more fun atmosphere. I don;t think it matters in the single A Penn League games I go to (Go Renegades) whether my team is good or bad. I have fun every time we go to the stadium.

[JonLP24]

7. That isn't why craft beer is $12 and upper deck seats are $75

Management says it's because of the players but that's bullshit. The reason why food or beer is overpriced is the same reason food in the movie theater is overpriced (they also try to prevent you from bringing your own food) - the all-or-nothing approach. Pay way over value or don't get anything.

As far as the cost of tickets, it is what fans are willing to pay for them which dictates the costs. The Yankees are the most popular baseball team in the world, they can afford to charge high rates for them. If few people went to Yankees games, the price of the tickets would drop. Teams that have cheap ticket prices don't have them because of they have kind hearts, it's because they can't afford to rise the prices because they have a hard time getting fans to come to the games. Yankees don't have that problem, that is why upper deak seats are $75.

Not because of fixed costs such as an athlete's salary. What usually happens is a team signs a big free agent, then raise prices and claim in public that it's because of the contract when in actuality it is because they can raise prices because more fans want to see the team and are willing to pay more (especially if they buy management's BS) because of the big free agent.

On edit - Besides, the Yankees don't have a middle-man in their TV contract. They're not hurting for money and can afford to be wrong financially. They don't have to raise prices to cover their losses because they already have plenty of money, more than any team.

[Callmecrazy]

2. I did some work on their new ballpark.

And I'm also a fan. I hope they can make something happen this year. And I know what you mean about the Yankee fans. My BIL is from Brooklyn and he can never shut up about em. My kid sister is a Red Sox fan so the weekend barbeques sometimes turn into a knife fight.

[Wait Wut]

3. More fun?

Not sure about that, but it's less disappointing. I've been a Cubs fan since birth (48 sad years) and have yet to be disappointed.

If they win the World Series, I'll probably die of a heart attack. That would be disappointing.

[GoCubsGo]

10. "It's less disappointing"... Indeed.

Third generation, going on 52 years here. There were a few times I WAS disappointed, the 2003 season being the most recent. But, usually, I don't expect much from them, this season included, so I don't get disappointed much, either. But, I wouldn't say it's fun. People mocking you because you're a fan of a losing team isn't fun, although I just remind myself that it's a lot more pathetic to feel superior to others because the team you root for happens to win a lot, than it is to root for a losing team. Such was the case with the obnoxious Yankees fan I encountered last week. It's not like either one of us even play for those teams.

And, as far as "cheap swag" and "cheap tickets", ain't no such thing in Cubsland.

I'm also a lifelong Blackhawks fan, and I've seen both extremes there. All I can say is that it's a hell of a lot more fun to be a fan now that it was during those years when they were the worst team in sports.

[Wait Wut]

11. Clenching teeth, crossing fingers for the Blackhawks!!!

In 2003 I wasn't disappointed, I was surprised they made it that far. Come on! Your a Cubs fan! Glass is always half full otherwise we spend our summers hiding in the basement. Right now, I'd say it's about 2/3 full.

I'm more of a football fan, so I'm going through my own little hell right now with some (typical) stupid moves by management. I'll be tiptoeing into this season.

Ahhhhhh...the life of a Chicago sports fan!!! Wouldn't have it any other way. Okay...that's a lie.

[GoCubsGo]

12. I actually thought the 2003 Cubs just might do it.

They sure had the talent for it. Wish we had that kind of pitching now...

Keeping my fingers crossed for the Hawks, too. I hope that tonight, they do better than the Cubs did today. They won, but damn! Nothing like blowing a 2-run lead and having to come from behind in the 9th.

[Brigid]

17. Thou shalt not mention the events of 2003 in Cubsland.

[ok_cpu]

21. Wasn't this afternoon fun, though?

Other than, you know, blowing the two run lead in the 9th of course.

It's early in the season and my coworkers are already used to the sighing and throwing things...

[Wait Wut]

22. I didn't get to watch.

That's a good thing. My stress level is high enough.

[GoCubsGo]

23. A hell of a lot more fun than Thursday's game.

They had a five run lead, for chrissakes!

[ok_cpu]

24. Thursday was terrible

Went into a meeting with a 5 run lead. Came out losing 7-5.

[pa28]

4. No. Following a losing baseball team is torture (Mariner fan here).

It was fun when things came together and they won the division and nearly went to the world series a couple of times.

Beyond that it's been oceans of torture and vast desert sands with the occasional mirage to keep you going. Fun? No.

After a while you can tell when you don't have the pitching to go over .500 for the season and don't have enough relief to hold a lead going into the closing innings. You can tell when the chickens come home to roost when your team made that stupid trade 3 years ago for some hot prospects and now you don't have any clutch hitters. You leave the bases loaded in the 8th or the tying run on second WAAAY too many times.

It's also kind of tough to watch a winner like Ichiro get stuck on a losing team. Watching losing baseball is just kind of a special kind of hell because you know. The game is designed to reward solid teams over time and punish the losers, the players know, the manager knows and the fans know. Cheap seats and creative promotions make it fun school groups and first dates but that's about all.

[Jamaal510]

8. Somehow I see a correlation between this...

"Watching losing baseball is just kind of a special kind of hell because you know. The game is designed to reward solid teams over time and punish the losers, the players know, the manager knows and the fans know."

...and the modern GOP's ideology.

[OriginalGeek]

5. I suffered through decades of Losing Rangers teams

and then when they finally got good I no longer lived in Dallas...but it was nice going to two WS - I still got the familiar thrill of losing after those.

I see they are playing Tampa later this year but only for 3 games so I hope to go to at least one of the games.


I looked online and good seats are pretty reasonable! (I think that is thanks to the Rays kinda sucking lol)

[JonLP24]

6. Baseball is more fun if you have a rooting interest

Othewise it's a slow & boring sport.

[Jamaal510]

9. Like other spectator sports,

baseball is a sport where it is way more fun to play than to watch. I can rarely sit through an entire baseball, football, or basketball game for over 3 hours. And the constant commercial breaks certainly don't help matters. Frankly, I'd rather watch a blank screen than to watch mind-numbing GEICO commercials.

[madinmaryland]

13. I've been a Pirates fan since the late 1960's. At least we don't a have bizarre fish

thingie that rises up occasionally during the game.

[Yavin4]

14. That thing should have been traded to Toronto. n/t

[Xithras]

15. Only if the Giants are losing ;)

[Brigid]

16. *points to avatar*

Do you really have to ask?

[Major Nikon]

18. Baseball is more fun when it's cheap

I used to love AA and AAA ball when I've lived in other places. The problem with the minors is you can't really root for the players, because if they are any good they get kicked up to the next level.

[TeamPooka]

19. they are called underdogs, not losers. nt

[Duer 157099]

20. I'm going to say no

But then, I can't speak from experience...

[Iggo]

25. I follow the Dodgers. Up years and down years.

Believe me, it's way more fun when they're winning.