Most territorial of the two-team markets?

[PeteU]

I'm curious as to markets where there are two teams in one metro area. Currently, there aren't a lot, but there are enough: Yankees/Mets in New York, Cubs/White Sox in Chicago, Dodgers/Angels in Los Angeles, Giants/A's in the Bay Area, and Orioles/Nationals in the Baltimore-Washington metro area.

With the Giants/A's and Orioles/Nationals, while those teams may play in the same statistical metro area, their respective cities (San Francisco/Oakland, Baltimore/Washington) are distinct cities with their own cultures and personalities. So there is probably less inter-territorial cross over in those markets.

And while both the Dodgers and Angels may now carry the Los Angeles surname, since the mid 1960s the Angels have always been considered Orange County's team, while the Dodgers belong to Los Angeles proper.

So that leaves the Mets/Yankees and White Sox/Cubs as the two true examples of a shared market. And for fans of those teams, I was curious as to whether there were geographic territories within those cities and markets that favor one team over another.

For example, I figure the Bronx favors the Yankees and Queens favors the Mets. That's in part due to the location of the stadiums. But what about Brooklyn? Staten Island? Long Island? New Jersey? Westchester? For some reason, I find more New Jerseyians aligning themselves with the Yankees, but maybe I'm wrong about it.

And for the Chicago--North Side Cubs, South Side White Sox. How true is that? Are there a good amount of Cubs fans in the South Side, or White Sox fans in the North Side? And what about the suburbs?

Just curious as to how things split up amongst those two markets, and who has the most defined territorial seperation?

[ol' aches and pains]

In Chicago, as you say, it's always portrayed as North Side=Cubs, South Side=White Sox, but in truth the ballparks are only eight miles apart. I lived Northwest in the suburbs all my life until recently, and always knew plenty of Sox fans, including myself. I don't know to what extent the inverse is true, somebody from the South side or Southern suburbs would be better qualified to comment on how many Cubs fans there are in those sections.

[ian2813]

I grew up in the north suburbs of Chicago, and there were plenty of White Sox fans there as well as Cub fans (and I was the kid who broke the rules by rooting for both teams). In the city itself I think there's more of a divide along north-south lines, though obviously it's not absolute.

[westsidegrounds]

One thing's for sure, the cubbies have far more out-of-town & out-of-state support than the Sox. Of the tourists walking around in brand new baseball gear every summer, about 99% are wearing cubs/ wrigley field regalia.

Some Sox fans take pride in this. Whatever!

[TommieAgeefan]

In Chicago, as you say, it's always portrayed as North Side=Cubs, South Side=White Sox, but in truth the ballparks are only eight miles apart. I lived Northwest in the suburbs all my life until recently, and always knew plenty of Sox fans, including myself. I don't know to what extent the inverse is true, somebody from the South side or Southern suburbs would be better qualified to comment on how many Cubs fans there are in those sections.

Not only that, Wrigley Field and US Cellular Field are connected by the same CTA el line! (The Red Line -- Howard-Dan Ryan). This is a unique situation in the two market areas (In NYC, a transfer is necessary to travel between Yankee Stadium and Citi Field (4 line to Grand Central, then the 7 to Citi). A's and Giants would require BART from Coliseum to Embarcadero, then the T-Third St or N-Judah to AT&T. Orioles and Nationals, I think a MARC commuter train from near the stadium all the way to Washington Union Station, then the Metro Red Line to Gallery Place, then the Green Line to Navy Yard-Ballpark).

It wasn't always the case (Red Line to both parks). Until the reorganization of CTA el lines in the 90s, US Cellular (and the old Comiskey before it) was served by the Lake-Dan Ryan line, I don't remember where the Howard line ended up after downtown Chicago. There were no colors back then, those were implemented in conjunction with the changes.

[Blue387]

So that leaves the Mets/Yankees and White Sox/Cubs as the two true examples of a shared market. And for fans of those teams, I was curious as to whether there were geographic territories within those cities and markets that favor one team over another.

For example, I figure the Bronx favors the Yankees and Queens favors the Mets. That's in part due to the location of the stadiums. But what about Brooklyn? Staten Island? Long Island? New Jersey? Westchester? For some reason, I find more New Jerseyians aligning themselves with the Yankees, but maybe I'm wrong about it.

I am a Mets fan who lives in Brooklyn and has mostly Yankee friends. My grandfather was also a Yankee fan.

Also, New Jersey governor Chris Christie is a Mets fan.

[Phantom Dreamer]

Come on, it's the Bay Area.