The United Countries of Baseball

[TheMightyFavog]

Check out this map Nike did based on asking people all around the country who their favorite team was. Using this data, Nike mapped out the "home territory" of all the teams of Major Leauge baseball.



What do you think? Does it seem accurate to you?

The big gap covering West aside, I question their placement of most of Michigan's Upper Penninsula as Detroit Tigers Territory. Most people who live in the U.P. tend to favor pro sports teams from Wisconsin. (The Detroit Red Wings, being the major exception, of course.) You never hear Da Yoopers singing songs praising the Tigers or the Lions. Now songs about the Packers and Brewers, they're the ones they sing about.

[MrScorpio]

1. Do Yoopers even speak English?

I never been able to understand them

[TheMightyFavog]

14. Yooper English is quite fascinating on a lingustic level.

It is interesting, it's got Canadian, Cornwall English, and even Finnish. Years ago, Yooper english had a lot more influence from Finnish as evidenced in a song by a group from the UP called Bill Etten and the Heritage Band called We Go Green Bay.


We Go Green Bay,
We Go Green Bay,
We go see Packers,
To watch them play.

When they score touchdown,
we shout Hooray!
We all have so much fun when we go Green Bay

This used to be very common amongst first and second generation Finnish immigrants. Unfortunately, many of these people are now dead, and outside of this particular song, you don't hear it much anymore.

According to a professor I had from Finland, these kinds of grammatical errors are very similar to the kind of English you hear from Finns who aren't completely fluent in English. She told me that it's sort of a holdover from how Finnish is structured.

[nuxvomica]

2. I live on the Red Sox/Yankees border according to the map

I would say that's pretty accurate.

[Chan790]

4. I think so too...

though it's kind of hard to tell because I can't find a good landmark. It looks like it passes through Meriden and Waterbury CT, and just west of Springfield, MA. That'd be about right. It's funny to me when people describe CT as divided Sox/Yanks territory because the dividing line is so far west and almost nobody lives in the CT Berkshires.

[nuxvomica]

5. I was able to use the Hudson River as a landmark

And I figure I'm located about where the border intersects the river. We have fans for both in abundance. Some Mets fans, too, but their numbers are insignificant.

[SoxFan]

7. Hartford is Checkpoint Charlie

New Haven, Bridgeport, and Stamford are Yankee towns. New Britain, Norwich, and New London are in Sox Nation.

I think Hartford leans slightly towards the Sox, partly because of a strong radio presence and partly because the Sox had their AA affiliate in the area (Bristol and New Britain) for decades.

[sasquatch]

3. I live in Reds country, and I'm a Reds fan

[Pierre.Suave]

6. It is pretty accurate for me...

EVERYONE up here is a Twins fan!!!!

[KitchenWitch]

12. I am a Twins fan trapped in Angel territory.

But the Angels fans are nice to me.

[flvegan]

8. The Nationals got really lucky

that the two folks that chose them lived that far apart.

[LeftyMom]

9. The NorCal part of the map seems weird.

I can get the EastBay/Peninsula divide in Giants and A's fans, but inland NorCal is pretty evenly divided with a tilt toward the Giants. I'm not sure where they get the idea that the A's have more fans in the foothills. Actually, to be fair, pretty much all of NorCal should be crosshatched with both teams colors. (The same would also be true of football, with the Niners and Raiders having roughly equal support in most of NorCal.)

[JTG of the PRB]

10. I think the Rockies territory is probably a little bigger.

I was up in Idaho some years back, and they broadcasted Rockies games up there, as well as into Montana. There seemed to be a number of locals wearing Rockies stuff there as well. Also, more of the state of Colorado would be covered, as well as more Nebraska, Wyoming, and some of western South Dakota.

At least, that would make sense to ME...

[HEyHEY]

11. no real surprises

I'd like to see one of Canada.

[TheMightyFavog]

13. late night kick

:kick:

[RoyGBiv]

15. I dunno ...

I lived in Oklahoma most of my life, and I didn't know a single Rangers fan, and the ones I met at the sports bars seemed to have divided loyalties, following the Rangers sorta because they were supposed to but actually getting fired up about other teams. When the 89ers were around there seemed to be more news about the Rangers than when they became the Redhawks, which is a bit weird since the Redhawks are better marketed and play at a far, far better location.

Having no team of our own, from my perspective it seemed to be sort of a mish-mash of loyalties defined by other things, to a large extent, it seemed, cable television. The Braves, Cubs, and Mets were quite popular, and the Cards had a good contingent. The Rockies became instantly popular when they were created.

Still, I dunno. Maybe I just subconsciously stay away from American League followers. :)