Baseball City Support

Although I'm posting this on the Expos newsgroup, I encourage everyone to
repost this on the other baseball ngs.

This is a listing on how well cities have supported their teams since 1901.
Figures before 1901 are not included. Federal League figures are not included.
2004 figures are not included. The definition of "support" in this particular
instance is the number of times a franchise has been in the top half of its
league in attendance. There are some surprises, particularly regarding the
support the Giants had in New York (89.5%) as compared to how they have done in
San Francisco (32.6%). Another is that the A's did better in Philadelphia than
the Phillies have. Another is how roughly equivalent the support in the Bay
area is between the A's and Giants when conventional wisdom has always said
that the Giants have had a significant advantage.

The Expos did not do particularly well on this list. This is not a surprise.
What should be a surprise, especially considering the talks regarding
relocation, is the city that is rather clearly at the bottom of the list.

The source for all attendance figures is www.baseball-reference.com

90.9% - DENVER; NL 1993-present
83.3% - PHOENIX; NL 1998-present (note: the only season the D-backs did not
finish in the top half of the NL in attendance was the season they won the
Series)
80.9% - LOS ANGELES; NL 1958-present, AL 1961-present (Dodgers 100%, Angels
60.5%)
77.4% - NEW YORK; AL 1903-present, NL 1901-1957, NL 1901-1957, NL 1962-present
(Highlanders/Yankees 85.1%, Giants 89.5%, Robins/Dodgers 64.9%, Mets 59.5%)
68.9% - DETROIT; AL 1901-present
63.1% - CHICAGO; AL 1901-present, NL 1901-present (Cubs 69.9%, White Sox 56.3%)
63.0% - TORONTO; AL 1977-present
57.7% - BALTIMORE; AL 1901-1902, 1954-present
53.1% - DALLAS; AL 1972-present
52.3% - BOSTON, AL 1901-present, NL 1901-1952 (Red Sox 72.8%, Braves 11.5%)
47.4% - ATLANTA; NL 1966-present
43.8% - KANSAS CITY; AL 1955-1967, 1969-present (A's 23.1%, Royals 51.4%)
43.2% - ST. LOUIS; NL 1901-present, AL 1902-1953 (Cardinals 60.2%, Browns 9.6%)
39.8% - CINCINNATI; NL 1901-present
39.8% - CLEVELAND; AL 1901-present
38.1% - HOUSTON; NL 1962-present
36.9% - PITTSBURGH; NL 1901-present
35.0% - PHILADELPHIA; NL 1901-present, AL 1901-1954 (Phillies 33.0%, A's 38.9%)
34.9% - MINNEAPOLIS; AL 1961-present
33.3% - MILWAUKEE; AL 1901, NL 1953-1965, AL 1970-1997, NL 1998-present (Braves
61.5%, Brewers 23.5%)
31.7% - SAN FRANCISCO; NL 1958-present, AL 1968-present (Giants 32.6%, A's
30.6%)
31.4% - SAN DIEGO; NL 1969-present
28.6% - SEATTLE; AL 1969, 1977-present
27.3% - MIAMI; NL 1993-present
20.0% - MONTRÉAL; NL 1969-present
16.7% - TAMPA; AL 1998-present
12.5% - WASHINGTON; AL 1901-1960, 1961-1971


In September I will refigure the list and compare attendance to record to see
if we can get some insight there.

Rich Goranson
Amherst, NY, USA

This is the breakdown by city/franchise. For purposes of clarity, teams which
went by different names in the same city will be refered to by the name that
they were best known as through their history or are known as now. The three
teams which lasted two seasons or less (the 1901 Brewers, the 1901-02 Orioles
and the 1969 Pilots) are not included and they were all at 0% anyway.

100.0% - Los Angeles Dodgers (46 seasons)
90.9% - Colorado Rockies (11 seasons)
89.5% - New York Giants (57 seasons)
85.1% - New York Yankees (101 seasons)
83.3% - Arizona Diamondbacks (6 seasons)
72.8% - Boston Red Sox (103 seasons)
69.9% - Chicago Cubs (103 seasons)
64.9% - Brooklyn Dodgers (57 seasons)
63.0% - Toronto Blue Jays (27 seasons)
61.5% - Milwaukee Braves (13 seasons)
60.5% - Anaheim Angels (43 seasons)
60.2% - St. Louis Cardinals (103 seasons)
60.0% - Baltimore Orioles (50 seasons)
59.5% - New York Mets (42 seasons)
56.3% - Chicago White Sox (103 seasons)
53.1% - Texas Rangers (32 seasons)
51.4% - Kansas City Royals (35 seasons)
47.4% - Atlanta Braves (38 seasons)
39.8% - Cleveland Indians (103 seasons)
39.8% - Cincinnati Reds (103 seasons)
38.9% - Philadelphia A's (54 seasons)
38.1% - Houston Astros (42 seasons)
34.9% - Minnesota Twins (43 seasons)
33.0% - Philadelphia Phillies (103 seasons)
32.6% - San Francisco Giants (46 seasons)
31.4% - San Diego Padres (35 seasons)
30.6% - Oakland A's (36 seasons)
29.6% - Seattle Mariners (27 seasons)
27.3% - Florida Marlins (11 seasons)
23.5% - Milwaukee Brewers (34 seasons)
23.1% - Kansas City A's (13 seasons)
20.0% - Montréal Expos (35 seasons)
16.7% - Tampa Bay Devil Rays (6 seasons)
13.3% - Washington Senators I (60 seasons)
11.5% - Boston Braves (52 seasons)
9.6% - St. Louis Browns (52 seasons)
9.1% - Washington Senators II (11 seasons)



Rich Goranson
Amherst, NY, USA