Severe condescension on Grantland

[mojmann]

http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-tr...brother-theory

"And if the numbers aren't enough, consider the fact that every time the Yankees visit Camden Yards, it's like a home game. The Baltimore fans aren't exactly the most loyal or resilient bunch – in 2012, a playoff year, they only managed to average 58.6 percent capacity, which was 23rd in MLB and the first time it was even above 50 percent since 2008 – and while it's nice to see them pack the stadium for the playoffs, it doesn't erase the memory of Yankees fans taking over the stadium every time they play."

[GMU Orioles Fan]

I've pointed this out before but Yankee stadium in the 50's and 60's had a hard time selling out and that was the team had legends like Ford, Mantle, and Berra on the team. Also, let's see how full Yankee stadium gets if they have fifteen consecutive losing seasons and where their "diehard fans" are then.

[nate22]

The guy is admitting he's a diehard Yankee fan. He also warns that the article will be condescending. I really have no problem with it, it's something I'd expect a Yankee fan to write.

[BmoreMatt]

I am an evil, soulless fan of the corporate Yankees juggernaut.

At least he understands what he is. Anything he writes after that is pretty much Baylessy. Yep, Baylessy is a new word.

[ExileAngelos]

Check out what Jeff Bullis said in the comments. Sums up my feelings exactly.

[flashjordnk]

Trollers gonna troll. Is anyone surprised an ESPN endorsed site would print something like this?

[LookitsPuck]

Pretty damn asinine considering the Orioles drew:

2,102,240 fans in 2012
1,755,461 fans in 2011

That's a 20% increase.

I can guarantee that if this team consistently wins, it will see more fans. A 20% increase in fans after 15 years of consecutive losing is pretty damn impressive. And not just losing, just downright pathetic losing.

The closest we can compare is to the Rays back in 2007 when they went 66-96 and drew only 1,387,603 fans. The following year is when they had their first winning season (their first year was in 1998) with a record of 97-65 and made it to the WS. They drew 1,811,986 fans that year. That was a 31% increase.

[nate22]

Here's another article written by the same guy just days ago.

"But ever since 2004, the club's theme has been a lack of timely hitting and the absence of a dominant ace. It's time to prepare ourselves for the same inevitable ending in 2012, led by the stooges above."

http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-tr...ff-choke-alert

[Can_of_corn]

Grantland wanted some pages views.

The whole piece was very upfront about being ridiculous.

I just hope they force him to write a follow-up piece if the O's win the series.

[stomperspc]

He uses stadium capacity because it proves the point he is attempting to make, not because it paints an accurate picture of MLB attendance.

The Orioles have the 9th largest stadium seating capacity in all of baseball according to Wikipedia at 45,971. If I added correctly, the average seating capacity at a MLB stadium is 43,282, which put the O's about 2,689 above average. That number is also probably skewed a tad on the high end, given that Dodger stadium is listed at 56,000, which is 5,602 greater than the next stadium behind it (Coors). On the other end, there is a 5,426 seat difference between the 30th stadium in terms of seat capacity (the Trop) and #24 (Target Field).

Anyway, there are three stadiums that had a better stadium capacity than Camden Yards but drew less people. Oakland had a 60.6 capacity, good enough for 20th in baseball, but drew 423,000 less fans than the Orioles did this year. There is one stadium behind the O's in capacity but ahead in total attendance (Arizona) but that just proves the point that it is a poor metric to use to site the presence of a disinterested fan base, especially when you factor in population of the areas the teams are drawing from, the fact that smaller stadiums can cause an artificial spike in demand, ect. That just jumps out as a big cherry-picking fact this guy used.

Another typical Yankee fan living outside of reality. He also says that the O's have been losing to the Yankees his entire life (I think he said he was born in 1983) which is hyperbole at best and completely wrong at worst.

[MarylandAaron]

Articles like this are just going to make it sweeter when we knock them out of the playoffs. All the comments at the bottom of the page are calling out the author for being so biased and condescending. Haha, serves him right.

[MurphDogg]

He uses stadium capacity because it proves the point he is attempting to make, not because it paints an accurate picture of MLB attendance.

The Orioles have the 9th largest stadium seating capacity in all of baseball according to Wikipedia at 45,971. If I added correctly, the average seating capacity at a MLB stadium is 43,282, which put the O's about 2,689 above average. That number is also probably skewed a tad on the high end, given that Dodger stadium is listed at 56,000, which is 5,602 greater than the next stadium behind it (Coors). On the other end, there is a 5,426 seat difference between the 30th stadium in terms of seat capacity (the Trop) and #24 (Target Field).

Anyway, there are three stadiums that had a better stadium capacity than Camden Yards but drew less people. Oakland had a 60.6 capacity, good enough for 20th in baseball, but drew 423,000 less fans than the Orioles did this year. There is one stadium behind the O's in capacity but ahead in total attendance (Arizona) but that just proves the point that it is a poor metric to use to site the presence of a disinterested fan base, especially when you factor in population of the areas the teams are drawing from, the fact that smaller stadiums can cause an artificial spike in demand, ect. That just jumps out as a big cherry-picking fact this guy used.

Another typical Yankee fan living outside of reality. He also says that the O's have been losing to the Yankees his entire life (I think he said he was born in 1983) which is hyperbole at best and completely wrong at worst.

Funny you should mention Oakland, since they cover entire swaths of the stadium with tarp to artificially lower the stadium capacity. The 20% jump is really impressive considering most teams don't see a significant jump until a year after the breakout season. The statue games account for some of this, but also could have merely shifted the games that many casual fans were going to attend anyway to the statue games from other games.

[MachadOboutManny]

http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-tr...brother-theory

"And if the numbers aren't enough, consider the fact that every time the Yankees visit Camden Yards, it's like a home game. The Baltimore fans aren't exactly the most loyal or resilient bunch – in 2012, a playoff year, they only managed to average 58.6 percent capacity, which was 23rd in MLB and the first time it was even above 50 percent since 2008 – and while it's nice to see them pack the stadium for the playoffs, it doesn't erase the memory of Yankees fans taking over the stadium every time they play."

Hard to believe such nonsense is published anywhere. Reeks of insecurity and immaturity.

[Kevin Lomax]

Check out what Jeff Bullis said in the comments. Sums up my feelings exactly.

If you like this, google Doug Stanhope + yankees suck

For those of you afraid of bad language...don't do that.

[Jagwar]

I wonder if he has any stats on how quiet Yankees Stadium gets when visiting teams clinch a playoff series on their infield.