July 30, 2017
Hey, at least we're not as disliked as the Yankees.
FiveThirtyEight recently surveyed 989 self-described baseball fans to find out which teams are the most liked and the most hated.
In one question, the website asked fans to pick whether they viewed each team favorably, unfavorably or had no opinion. In terms of net favorability — percentage of those viewing a team favorably minus those viewing the team unfavorably — the Yankees ranked last.
New York's AL club was viewed favorably by 44 percent of fans, but unfavorably by 48 percent, making the Yankees the only team with a negative overall rating.
Yet just above the Yankees with the second-worst rating are the Phillies. Thirty-three percent view the club favorably, but 29 percent view the Phightins unfavorably, giving them a +4 overall rating.
To be fair, that leaves 38 percent who had no opinion. Still, why such a crappy rating?
On SportsRadio 94 WIP Sunday morning, host Glen Macnow offered up a theory: Fans across the country associate the team with the city's fans and the (unfair and often wrong) stereotypes about us, à la snowballs at Santa Clause.
It's probably the most plausible explanation. Success often breeds contempt, but the Phillies haven't been good since their 2007-11 playoff run ended. Other perennial contenders like the Cardinals and Giants are high on the list.
On the flip side, the Phillies have the most losses in sports history. But what about loveable losers? The Cubs — until last year — have been defined by futility, but are loved for it, as they are first on the favorability rankings.
One positive to take away from the FiveThirtyEight survey is that the Phillies were tied for 10th with the Mariners for most fans calling them their favorite team (four percent), just above the hated Mets.
You can see the full results from the survey here.
