Top 6 baseball cities

[obxyankeefan]

1 St. Louis
2 New York
3 Boston
4 Detroit
5 Chicago
6 San Francisco

 

[Smart]

They have sold out every game since 2000, when the new park was opened. They sucked from 2005-2008 with sellouts every game. They STILL have a sellout streak intact. Just clarifying to make #6 a bit easier. That and if you choose LA, I'd punt you in the twig and berries.

San Fran has definitely NOT sold out every game since 2000. They do have the longest streak in NL history, but that streak started in late 2010. And even that streak is based on an artificially low seating capacity (as in, there are still unsold seats in some of those sellouts).

None of that is to say San Fran's attendance isn't great. The lowest they have ranked since AT&T opened is #11, with 85% capacity. 85% capacity would have been #5 last year.

 

[dredinis21]

San Fran has definitely NOT sold out every game since 2000. They do have the longest streak in NL history, but that streak started in late 2010. And even that streak is based on an artificially low seating capacity (as in, there are still unsold seats in some of those sellouts).

None of that is to say San Fran's attendance isn't great. The lowest they have ranked since AT&T opened is #11, with 85% capacity. 85% capacity would have been #5 last year.

i was trying to pad the stats to have you swing your vote my way. Damn you!

On seating capacity, they hold something like 42K. I LOVE the ballpark as there isn't a bad seat in the house and the whole atmosphere of the place is something else. I'd rather have 42K packed every night with a demand for tix then 56K with pockets of emptiness in the stands. Given the relative population and sharing the fanbase with OAK which is literally a bridge away, I feel as if SF does VERY well for itself regardless.

 

[Forever]

Kansas City is a smaller metro...you gotta take that into account imo

 

[Arizona_Sting]

LA - basketball
San Diego - football
SF (Oakland, SJ) - mix, but probably baseball
Seattle - football
Portland - basketball
Denver - football
Phoenix - Basketball
SLC - basketball
Milwaukee - football
Minneapolis - hockey??
Chicago - baseball??
Detroit - hockey
St Lois - baseball
KC - football
OKC - basketball
Dallas - football
Houston - football???
SA - basketball
NO - football
Nashville - football?
Memphis - basketball
Atlanta - baseball
TB - ???
Jacksonville - ???
Miami - basketball (football?)
Charlotte - football
Cincinnati - baseball
Pittsburgh - football
Cleveland - ???
Baltimore - football?
DC - football?
Philadelphia - ???
NY - baseball
Boston - baseball

I think I got most major-ish cities...

Helped you out there.

Make no mistake about it, the Suns are the first franchise that set foot in the state of Arizona and we're a die hard NBA basketball state/city. This run the last 5 years has been the worst run in franchise history and it's not close. We are one of the winningest franchises in NBA history. 4th overall to be exact and still have no ring so it's easy to not list us as a Basketball city in these downs years, especially with the recent success of the AZ Cardinals in the NFL the last few years.

I can't think of a fan base more loyal, frustrated and desperate for a championship than the Phoenix Suns outside of the Chicago Cubs. We've come close before but just ran into dynasties the years we were elite. Celtics in 76' during the finals, MJ's Bulls in the 93' finals, the Spurs blocked us throughout the last decade and that fixed playoff game/suspension incident also could've costed us a ring. Not to mention losing out on Kareem Abdul Jabar to a coin flip in 69' when Milwaukee went on to win multiple rings with him.

Right now a lot of fans are boycotting until Sarver sells, cheap bastard is the biggest clown in all of professional sports. Once we become relevant again and Sarver gets the fuck out you'll see what I mean.

 

[BoSox Fan]

St. Louis is the best baseball city I have been to.

Boston is second.

 

[BoSox Fan]

A quick story about NY fans.

I grew up in the Boston area. My family moved to NY (about 40 miles north of the City) in 77. I finished High School, went to college and worked a few years in NYC before I moved back to Mass.

When I was first moved there almost everyone I knew was a Yankee fan. (those great Yankee teams of 77-78)

When I was about to move back suddenly a lot of them turned to Met fans (The coke years)

When I went to my High School reunion in 2004 they all turned back to Yankee fans. (and that reunion was before the greatest choke in the history of sports.)

 

[calsnowskier]

A quick story about NY fans.

I grew up in the Boston area. My family moved to NY (about 40 miles north of the City) in 77. I finished High School, went to college and worked a few years in NYC before I moved back to Mass.

When I was first moved there almost everyone I knew was a Yankee fan. (those great Yankee teams of 77-78)

When I was about to move back suddenly a lot of them turned to Met fans (The coke years)

When I went to my High School reunion in 2004 they all turned back to Yankee fans. (and that reunion was before the greatest choke in the history of sports.)

Interesting that a Sox fan would describe it a a "choke" and not a "comeback".

I view the Giants in '12 vs the Reds and against the Cards as two great comebacks. Not two chokes. I would expect to hear Reds and Cards fans to describe those series' as chokes, though.

But you call the '04 ALCS a Yankee choke-job?

 

[Clayton]

Kansas City is most certainly a baseball city....it deserves to be in the top 6 imo, i don't see how you say it's a football town

@yoga≈surfing Cleveland? really? they get 10k fans a game

You serious? Kansas City is a Chiefs town. Royals were absolutely an afterthought until a couple of years ago. They were more of a basketball town than a baseball town.

Now, they've REALLY embraced the Royals and they should. I think KC could evolve into one of the best baseball towns in America. But KC is home of the Chiefs.

I think top baseball towns would be LA, NY, Chicago, STL, Philly and Boston. The order is probably the only thing I'd debate.

 

[Clayton]

Interesting that a Sox fan would describe it a a "choke" and not a "comeback".

I view the Giants in '12 vs the Reds and against the Cards as two great comebacks. Not two chokes. I would expect to hear Reds and Cards fans to describe those series' as chokes, though.

Reds choked, imo. Cardinals were beat by the better team and overachieved just to get to that point imo.

Cardinals have a lot of recent history of having their best teams have a player get injured at the wrong time and have a recent history of their decent teams getting healthy at the right time and making major runs.

I think Id add San Fran and make my list a top 7. These kind of lists are a bit silly, though. All baseball teams need their local markets

 

[calsnowskier]

You serious? Kansas City is a Chiefs town. Royals were absolutely an afterthought until a couple of years ago. They were more of a basketball town than a baseball town.

Now, they've REALLY embraced the Royals and they should. I think KC could evolve into one of the best baseball towns in America. But KC is home of the Chiefs.

I think top baseball towns would be LA, NY, Chicago, STL, Philly and Boston. The order is probably the only thing I'd debate.

Part of this debate is to first define what a great baseball town is.

Are we looking for cities that are baseball first, before any other sports? Can a city be a great baseball town AND a great football town? NY is probably a baseball-first city. But they are also a BIG basketball city. Could they be listed in that as well?

My list that I posted was an attempt to identify what the main sport was for each city. LA, I think, is more a Laker town than a Dodger town. Philly is probably more with the Eagles than the Phillies. Is Boston more for the Sox than they are for the Celtics or Patriots?

 

[ElTexan]

STL
CHI
Cinci
Boston

 

[Fountain City Blues]

Kansas City is most certainly a baseball city....it deserves to be in the top 6 imo, i don't see how you say it's a football town

@yoga≈surfing Cleveland? really? they get 10k fans a game

Cal, there might have been a revival of sorts in recent years, but the 29 years of no playoffs really did quite a bit of damage to the fanbase at large. The attendance surge and excellent TV ratings are promising going forward, however. I'd definitely say it was a baseball town in the 70's and 80's, but probably not so right now. I say this as someone who has been a Royals fan first over the Chiefs, Jayhawks, and the out of town teams I support. I really wish it weren't true, but it is.

 

[da55bums]

1) Boston
2) NY
3) St Louis
4) Chicago
5) Atlanta
6) Cincy

 

[calsnowskier]

Cal, there might have been a revival of sorts in recent years, but the 29 years of no playoffs really did quite a bit of damage to the fanbase at large. The attendance surge and excellent TV ratings are promising going forward, however. I'd definitely say it was a baseball town in the 70's and 80's, but probably not so right now. I say this as someone who has been a Royals fan first over the Chiefs, Jayhawks, and the out of town teams I support. I really wish it weren't true, but it is.

???

Was this directed at me?

 

[Fountain City Blues]

???

Was this directed at me?

No. I know this poster from several years back from when we posted on ESPN as (CalbearsForever). Sorry for the confusion.

I am sure he could reference one my many, many usernames I have used if he wanted.

 

[Erie Warrior]

St. Louis was biggest baseball city I have been.

 

[Erie Warrior]

Kansas City is most certainly a baseball city....it deserves to be in the top 6 imo, i don't see how you say it's a football town

@yoga≈surfing Cleveland? really? they get 10k fans a game

And until the Dolans sell the team I will continue to only go to 2 games a year. Most of the people I work with will not go to any games until they sell. Its not that we don't love the Tribe, we do. We are sick of an ownership group that does not want to win.

 

[HammerDown]

In your mind what are the top 6 best baseball cities. The cities where MLB baseball rules. The cities where even if they share the city with NFL, NBA, or NHL, the city still would rather have a World Series title over any other?

I chose to list 6 because I feel naming 3 are pretty easy, New York, Boston, St. Louis.

Yeah, you nailed three of them and Chicago is easily added as well IMO.

 

[podsox]

I have a hard time believing that great baseball cities like Boston, ny, and Chicago would want a MLB title over an NFL title. Baseball fans are in the minority. I would take a white sox playoff appearance over a bears super bowl. It would be hard to find many people that would agree with me.