Which MLB Teams Have Fewer Fans Than Their Namesake?(Part 2

EnglishArtsteacher

This is part two of this myTake. If you want to read part one, click here.

If you want to read the NFL Version of this series(I did back in the 2020-2021 NFL Season), click here for part one of that series , and here for part two of that series

New York Mets

Which MLB Teams Have Fewer Fans Than Their Namesake?(Part 2

Name Origin: The owner noticed New York City, New York is a major metropolitan area, so he named them the "Mets", which is just a short name for metropolitans.

Number of metropolitan areas: There are an estimated 9,000 statistically recognized metropolitan areas around the world.

Number of Mets fans: About 4 million fans.

Conclusion: The New York Mets do not have fewer fans than their namesake. Their fans outnumber their namesake at least 4,000,000/9,000

Philadelphia Phillies

Which MLB Teams Have Fewer Fans Than Their Namesake?(Part 2

Name Origin: It's as simple as this: The original owner of the franchise said he liked the name because "Phillies" described "who we are, and where we're from". Since the franchise is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, "Phillies" is just another word for "Philadelphians", or people living in Philadelphia.

Number of Philadelphia Residents: According to the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau, there are exactly 1,526,006 people living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania(proper, that is).

Number of Phillies fans: About 3.5 million fans.

Conclusion: The Philadelphia Phillies do not have fewer fans than their namesake(which makes sense if you think about it). Their fans outnumber their namesake at least 3,500,000/1,526,006.

Atlanta Braves

Which MLB Teams Have Fewer Fans Than Their Namesake?(Part 2

Name Origin: This is another controversial name, and unlike the Cleveland Indians, the Atlanta Braves are not planning on a name change. Contrary to popular belief(and contrary to what the mascot, and Tomahawk Chop Chants portray), they were not named after Native American Braves; they were named after James Gaffney, who was nicknamed a "brave" of New York's Political Machine, which happened to have a Native American Chief as a mascot on the machine.

Number of James Gaffneys: It's tough to say, but speaking specifically of James Gaffney, the man the team was named after, he passed away in 1932, so that's a big "zero".

Number of Braves fans: About 2.7 million fans.

Conclusion: The Atlanta Braves do not have fewer fans of their namesake. Their fans outnumber their namesake by at least 2,700,000/0.

Washington Nationals

Which MLB Teams Have Fewer Fans Than Their Namesake?(Part 2

Name Origin: In 2004, the name was carefully chosen in a selection process by the owner, and his agens, and since the franchise would now be located in Washington, District of Columbia(D.C.), the capital of the United States of America(USA), they choose “capital” since it was the nation’s Capital City.

Number of National Capital Cities: There are195 National Capital Cities in the world.

Number of Nationals Fans: About 1.4 million fans.

Conclusion: There are not fewer Washington Nationals fans than their namesake. Their fans outnumber their namesake by at least 1,400,000/195.

Miami Marlins

Which MLB Teams Have Fewer Fans Than Their Namesake?(Part 2

Name Origin: Contrary to popular belief, they are not named after the Marlin Fish; they are named after a defunct Minor League Baseball Team known as the Miami Marlins, that played from 1956-1988.

Number of Miami Marlins Minor League BaseballTeams: At this time, zero.

Number of Marlins Fans: About 800,000 fans(no joke-they are arguably the worst major North American Sports team for drawing fans).

Conclusion: There are not fewer Miami Marlins fans(that’s a statement that isn’t said everyday) than their namesake. Their fans outnumber their namesake by at least 800,000/0.

Milwaukee Brewers

Which MLB Teams Have Fewer Fans Than Their Namesake?(Part 2

Name Origin: Since Milwaukee, Wisconsin is known for their breweries, the original owner named them the “Brewers”, which is another name for breweries.

Number of Breweries: There are an estimated 10,000 breweries in the world.

Number of Brewers fans: About 1.5 million fans.

Conclusion: There are not fewer Milwaukee Brewers fans than their namesake. Their fans outnumber their namesake by at least 1,500,000/10,000.

Cincinnati Reds

Which MLB Teams Have Fewer Fans Than Their Namesake?(Part 2

Name Origin: I’m a lifelong, die-hard fan of the Cincinnati Reds! Unfortunately, their name origin is exactly like another MLB Team(Boston Red Sox), so it's not exciting to mention. Cincinnati, Ohio began the first North American Sports Franchise in history in 1869, and they were known as the Cincinnati Red Stockings, and this time, “Reds” is used to be short for “Red Stockings”, since their uniforms required red socks(again, just like the Red Sox).

Number of red stockings: Just like I said with the Boston Red Sox, there is no way to get an exact number of red socks, or stockings. There are billions of either, and about 500 million, or so red stockings/socks.

Number of Reds Fans: About 1.8 million fans(and as someone who watches this team on TV, and in-person, it’s hard to believe there is anywhere near that many).

Conclusion: There are fewer Cincinnati Reds Fans(like me) than their namesake. Their namesake outnumbers their fans by at least 500,000,000/1,800,000

Chicago Cubs

Which MLB Teams Have Fewer Fans Than Their Namesake?(Part 2

Name Origin: After several name changes in the 19th Century, in 1901, the owner noticed all of the stars on the Chicago, Illinois based MLB Team were “young”, and since Cubs are a “young” version of a bear, they were nicknamed the Chicago Cubs, not named after the actual bears themselves.

Number of young athletes: “Young” is an ambiguous term, and means different things to different people, and this is even true for specifically “young athletes”. For the sake of argument, we’ll assume a “young athlete” must be under 30 years old(since athletes don’t play for a lifetime). It’s estimated there are roughly 265 million athletes in the world, and I would estimate at least half of those athletes are under 30 years old. So, let’s assume there are about 130 million “young athletes” in the world.

Number of Cubs Fans: About 3.8 million fans(but if you go to a game when playing against them, you would think there are 100 million of them).

Conclusion: There are fewer Chicago Cubs fans than their namesake. Their namesake outnumbers their fans by at least 130,000,000/3,800,000

St. Louis Cardinals

Which MLB Teams Have Fewer Fans Than Their Namesake?(Part 2

Name Origin: In 1899, the St. Louis Browns became the St. Louis Perfectos. That season, Willie McHale, a columnist for the St. Louis Republic reportedly heard a woman refer to the team's red stockings as a "lovely shade of Cardinal." McHale included the nickname in his column and it was an instant hit among fans. The team officially changed its nickname in 1900, to represent the “red birds”, which are known as the Cardinal Birds(not to be confused with the Catholic Cardinals).

Number of Cardinal Birds: An estimated 100 million Cardinals Birds exist in the world, and of different varieties.

Number of Cardinals Fans: Unfortunately, there are about 3.2 million fans.

Conclusion: There are fewer St. Louis Cardinals Fans than their namesake. Their namesake outnumbers their fans by at least 100,000,000/3,200,000

Pittsburgh Pirates

Which MLB Teams Have Fewer Fans Than Their Namesake?(Part 2

Name Origin: After the Players' League collapsed in 1890, the National League's Pittsburgh club signed two players, including Lou Bierbauer, whom the Philadelphia Athletics had forgotten to place on their reserve list. A Philadelphia sportswriter claimed that Pittsburgh "pirated away Bierbauer", so they were named the “Pirates”, similar to the old school buccaneers that “pirated” away from the sea(who were also known as pirates).

Number of Pirates: Believe it, or not, piracy still exists in the 21st Century, and there are modern day pirates, particularly near African Countries. There is an estimated one-million pirates living today.

Number of Pirates Fans: About 1.8 million fans.

Conclusion: It’s a close one, and could be debated, but there probably aren’t fewer Pittsburgh Pirates fans than their namesake. Their fans most likely outnumber their namesake by about 1,800,000/1,000,000.

San Francisco Giants

Which MLB Teams Have Fewer Fans Than Their Namesake?(Part 2

Name Origin: The team was originally located in New York City, New York, and since it was such a large city, and a city full of people who showed a "giant" proud spirit for their city, the team was known as “Giants”.

Number of proud city people: It’s a tough estimate, especially to determine how proud a person must be to be a “giant” of their particular "larger" city. There are over a billion people living in "larger" cities all over the world, and I would say half of them are “giants” of their cities due to their city’s pride, so let's just go with a very rough estimate of 500 million "giants" showing "pride" in their major cities.

Number of Giants Fans: About 3.6 million fans.

Conclusion: There are fewer San Francisco Giants fans than their namesake(which is a weird namesake to begin with), and their namesake outnumbers their fans by at least 500,000,000/3,600,000.

Los Angeles Dodgers

Which MLB Teams Have Fewer Fans Than Their Namesake?(Part 2

Name Origin: The team was originally located in Brooklyn, New York(in New York City), and the pedestrians who dodged the trolleys on the road at the time were nicknamed “Dodgers”. They carried this name over to Los Angeles, California, because at the time, there were still many "Dodgers" in Los Angeles too.

Number of Trolley Dodgers: There are hundreds of cities in the world with trolleys(street cars), and hundreds of millions of people-we’ll say at least 100 million-who live in these cities who have to dodge the trolleys.

Number of Dodgers Fans: About 4 million fans.

Conclusion: There are fewer Los Angeles Dodgers fans than their namesake. Their namesake outnumbers their fans by at least 100,000,000/4,000,000

San Diego Padres

Which MLB Teams Have Fewer Fans Than Their Namesake?(Part 2

Name Origin: When San Diego, California was awarded an expansion team in 1969, the club adopted the nickname of the city's Pacific Coast League's Minor League Baseball Team, the San Diego Padres.

Number of Minor League San Diego Padres Teams: Now, there are zero.

Number of Padres Fans: About 1.3 million fans.

Conclusion: There are not fewer San Diego Padres fans than their namesake. Their fans outnumber their namesake by at least 1,300,000/0.

Colorado Rockies

Which MLB Teams Have Fewer Fans Than Their Namesake?(Part 2

Name Origin: Since the Colorado Rockies were also the name of a failed NHL Franchise, the name origin was controversial. The team named resembled the rocky mountain range, and a “rocky” was just another name for one of the Rocky Mountains.

Number of Rocky Mountains: There are an estimated 100 “rocky” mountains in the Rockies Mountain Range of the USA.

Number of Rockies Fans: About 1.1 million fans.

Conclusion: There are not fewer Colorado Rockies Fans than their namesake. Their fans outnumber their namesake by at least 1,100,000/100

Arizona Diamondbacks

Which MLB Teams Have Fewer Fans Than Their Namesake?(Part 2

Name Origin: In 1995, the owner of the team had a fan-voting contest, and since rattlesnakes were common in the team's location(Phoenix, Arizona), the name fans voted on was based on the Western Diamondback Rattlesnake, or, for short, "Diamondbacks".

Number of Western Diamondback Rattlesnakes: There are an estimated two-million of these types of rattlesnakes in the world.

Number of Diamondbacks Fans: About 1.5 million fans.

Conclusion: It's a close one, and up for debate, but there are probably less Arizona Diamondbacks Fans than their namesake, which their namesake outnumbers their fans by probably at least 2,000,000/1,500,000

Which MLB Teams Have Fewer Fans Than Their Namesake?(Part 2
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