Opening Day of the 2015 Major League Baseball season is just a few days away. The traditional Opening Day is Monday; ESPN has a Sunday Night Game to get things started.
And just a few days ahead from that Sunday night match-up between Cardinals and Cubs, you can see the official line dividing “Cardinal Nation” from “Cubs Nation.” It looks like it runs right through the center of Illinois – maybe about halfway between Peoria and Springfield.
I’ll post a copy of the map and insert the link here and then we can talk about the specific details of the ESPN map.
The first thing that jumps out, to me, is how there are certain teams with large fandoms that dominate the game. You might find an occasional Yankees fan or Red Sox fan in the Southeast. But, for the most part, this is Braves Country.
In a similar fashion, the upper Midwest belongs to the Twins, Brewers and Tigers (from west to east). All of Canada is solidly for the Jays, eh.
AZ is all about the Diamondbacks; the Rockies go for…well…the Rockies. The Pacific Northwest roots for the Mariners; New England is for the Red Sox.
Then there are pockets of unexplained fan affiliation. Who knew, for example, that the Bosox had a great following in Idaho and Utah? Same for the Yankees. They are popular in the mid-Atlantic and New York state, of course, but also there are huge swaths of Yanks supporters in places like Montana, New Mexico and Alaska. And, of course, in parts of Florida.
The second thing that jumps off the page, to me, is how shared markets affiliate. You think of the Bay Area and how there are two teams? Wrong. According to this map, it’s all about the Giants (sorry A’s).
Ditto for SoCal: Dodgers=Yes; Angels=No.
Texas is totally dominated by the Rangers. The Astros have just a small chunk of the state right along the Gulf Coast. The Big Apple is totally and completely dominated by the Bronx Bombers.
There are some geographic entities that play nicely in the sandbox. Pennsylvania seems to split right down the middle with the Phillies belonging to the eastern part of the state and the Pirates in the west.
Back to the aforementioned Cardinals. Most of Mizzou affiliates with the Redbirds. The western part of the state and into Kansas and Nebraska roots for the Royals.
And so on and so on.
As I’ve told you before, this kind of stuff fascinates me. And maybe it’s the turn of seasons or the flip of the calendar but I’m starting to feel the energetic burst that comes from Opening Day.
No matter where you live, it’s time to celebrate. Your team is in first place. The boys are undefeated.
Hurray. Opening Day is just a few days away. We’ve survived another long cold winter and it’s time for the boys of summer to return.
JG
Originally posted 4/2/2015
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