Here’s how you ranked the MLB teams

Last Friday we gave you a FanPost writing prompt: Rank your favorite MLB teams, and your reasoning for each. We got a nice amount of participation, and some of the results were surprising! Here are the final numbers.

1. Detroit Tigers — No surprise here, amirite? The Olde English D got unanimous number one rankings across the board.

Here’s what you said:

“I'm from Detroit. This is the team I grew up with. This is the team that the majority of my baseball memories center around. I love this team” (SomeOtherShawn).
“Need I really explain? Born and raised here. Love them like no other sports team in the world” (akumaizer).
“Favorite team for life, always, no matter what, forever. The whole family is from Michigan” (JT072589).

2. Pittsburgh Pirates — Your second favorite team is also your favorite National League team. Not surprising considering the Pirates are one of the closest NL teams to Detroit geographically, and Pittsburgh is a popular road trip destination for Tigers fans. Jim Leyland’s connection to the Pirates is another big reason.

Here’s what you said:

“The National League's version of the Tigers. Working class town. Good fans. Occasional success, but not a whole lot, considering how long they've been around. They are us” (Starsailor).
“PNC Park is my favorite MLB stadium I've ever visited personally” (JT072589).
“Gorgeous park, smart fans, lots of history. Liked them ever since I was a kid” (frisbeepilot).

3. Houston Astros — This is a tad surprising, but I believe this stems from the Astros being in National League up until a few years ago. One of your favorite things about the Astros is Jose Altuve.

Here’s what you said:

“Jose Altuve is like an adorable puppy. He and Miggy have so much fun playing together. As long as someone reminds Josh Reddick to wash his hair at least once a week, we’ll get along just fine” (TigersFangirl).
“I listened almost every Astros game on the radio so I could here the score of the Tiger game. Turned me into a sort of Astros fan. Went to a lot of games at the old Astrodome. Not really a fan any more” (Tom Ferguson).

4. Chicago Cubs — This doesn’t surprise me at all. From the fact that the Cubs went so long without a championship, to Wrigley Field, to being one of the top rivals of the White Sox, Tigers fans have many reasons to like the Cubs.

Here’s what you said:

“I should probably be more scared of them, but they finally won the whole thing after 537 years…surely they can’t do it two years in a row? And Kris Bryant has pretty eyes” (TigersFangirl).
“I was rooting for the Cubs last year, and I really enjoy watching them play. Wrigley is a the true gem of ballparks in the league and I had a great time when the Tigers were there in 2015. Joe Maddon is probably my favorite manager in the league and Kyle Schwarber is easily one of my favorite players. Even if they do turn into a dynasty over the next few years I think their fan base deserves it given that there are some folks in their 90's and last year was the first year they ever saw them win a pennant. Not to mention every year they make a long playoff run is another year White Sox fans have to hear about it and that is just fantastic” (iPhonesAreGarbage).

5. Baltimore Orioles — I definitely expected this. Orioles Park at Camden Yards was built in the same style as Comerica, and a lot of you are big fans of the stadium. The Orioles logo and team colors are also a hit among Tigers fans.

Here’s what you said:

“Respected the way Cal played the game. Huge fan of the smiling Bird logo. And they were one of the best teams from my earliest memories of the game” (Starsailor).
“Great stadium, I like the colour orange, Baltimore is fun” (90feetfromhome).

6. Washington Nationals — This is only surprising if you forget the fact that the Nationals were the Montreal Expos. The vast majority of responses included that fact in the reasoning. Other reasons included Bryce Harper and Max Scherzer.

Here’s what you said:

“Grew up in D.C. most of my life. They're my NL team! I had season tickets for 3 years. Harper! Scherzer!” (JT072589).
“I feel they're overrated. Their fans barely attend the games, and most of them leave by the 8th inning. I really don't like Bryce Harper either” (Eye of the Tigers).

7. Los Angeles Dodgers — The only thing surprising about this is that the Dodgers aren’t higher on the list. Vin Scully was the most popular reason, of course, and some of you acknowledged the west coast factor as a reason to dislike the team.

Here’s what you said:

“Generally hate LA teams but who doesn't love Vin Scully?” (akumaizer).
“Two words: Vin Scully” (JT072589).
“Huge in the late ‘80s when I was really getting into my baseball fan-dom. Friend of mine idolized Orel Hershiser. Plus, Gibby” (frisbeepilot).

8. Cincinnati Reds — Cincinnati is actually the closest National League city to Detroit, and another popular road trip destination. Barry Larkin, who attended the University of Michigan once upon a time, was one of the biggest reasons you like the Reds.

Here’s what you said:

“Great American Ballpark is a great place to see a game. Eugenio Suarez is a Red” (SomeOtherShawn).
“My dad played ball with (former Reds shortstop Barry) Larkin at Michigan, so I grew up watching him a lot” (JT072589).

9. Colorado Rockies — I am surprised to find the Rockies so high on this list. The atmospheric conditions don’t bother a lot of you as much as I thought they would. Jim Leyland managed the Rockies for a couple of seasons, which I think contributes to the moderately high ranking. Plus, the Rockies are in the National League; therefore not an immediate threat to the Tigers.

Here’s what you said:

“Baseball gets goofy when curveballs don’t curve and air resistance is lowered” (frisbeepilot).
“Inexplicably as a toddler growing up in Michigan, my grandma had pictures of all of her grandchildren taken in Rockies T-shirts, which is something I'll never understand. There were 5 of us all in various different Rockies shirts and for whatever reason that's given me reason to enjoy them. I was a big CarGo fan for awhile, I've met Lemahieu who is a real cool dude and much like Machado, I love Nolan Arenado” (Tr3v).

10. Tampa Bay Rays — Now we’re starting to get into the teams you’re indifferent about. Many of you just feel bad for the Rays and their fans. The rest of you think that Major League Baseball has no business being played in Florida.

Here’s what you said:

“Drew Smyly is such a nice boy, with cute dimples…what, he doesn’t work there anymore? Well, Chris Archer seems nice, too. He’d look adorable wearing the Olde English D, now that I think about it. Why can’t we have him?” (TigersFangirl). “Their stadium is terrible but they have Kevin Kiermaier” (Eye of the Tigers).

11. Seattle Mariners — This is about where I expected the Mariners to rank. The most universal reason you gave to like the Mariners was Ken Griffey, Jr., and the most universal reason to dislike the Mariners was the west coast.

Here’s what you said:

“Griffey and dat northwest green!” (JT072589).
“I don’t feel particularly strongly about the Mariners, which is why they’re in the middle of this list. Nice city, though” (frisbeepilot).
“Watched Griffey Jr. break in, rode on a plane next to Carmello Martinez who explained to me how great his cousin Edgar really was as a hitter, plus the wild as hell Big Unit, and last but not least Buhner” (GemStateTiger).

12. Toronto Blue Jays — The Jays were one of the more varying teams; in other words most of you either love them or hate them. Jose Bautista was the biggest reason you gave one way or the other.

Here’s what you said:

“I'm Canadian. Also they're the first team I loved” (90feetfromhome).
“Fun to watch, great hat choices, love Joey Bat's bat-flip against the Rangers, and love the way the city got behind them in the playoffs that year” (Tr3v).

13. Miami Marlins — Another team with a wide range of responses. The negatives included Marlins Park and playing baseball in Florida, while the positives were mostly Marlins players and the Miggy trade.

Here’s what you said:

“Giancarlo Stanton. Ichiro Suzuki. They're division rivals with the Nats, but I just can't help but want to see some of their players do well. Every time the Marlins play in DC, I want Stanton to hit a monster home run, and then the Marlins to lose” (SomeOtherShawn).
“The team is competing to an extent in a pretty bad division but similar to the Mets, are handcuffed by the worst owner in the MLB. JF (former Marlins pitcher Jose Fernandez) was my favorite pitcher in the MLB and one dude you could honestly look at and say he loved the sport with all he had. RIP Jose” (Tr3v).

14. San Diego Padres — I’m partially surprised that the Padres are this popular, even though they’re middle of the pack. Most of you cited the 1984 World Series as a reason to dislike them, besides being in California, and some of you cited former Padres slugger Tony Gwynn as a reason to like them.

Here’s what you said:

“Gossage still don’t wanna walk you” (frisbeepilot).
“I always thought Tony was just a great player and came across as a tremendous ambassador. Still pulling for them to get better” (GemStateTiger).

15. Milwaukee Brewers — The vast majority of you were indifferent on the Brewers, but the reasons you cited included beer (of course), Bob Uecker, and Miller Park.

Here’s what you said:

“I lived in Wisconsin in the early 1980s and came to begrudgingly admire the Brewers” (Tom Ferguson).
“I like their park” (90feetfromhome).
“I've always imagined the Brewers as a real working man’s team. Plus they have the slide” (John Marlatt).

16. Oakland Athletics — Again, I’m surprised to see the Athletics this high. I thought that the Coliseum, the California factor, and their overall philosophy would put the A’s in the bottom five to ten. The 1990s A’s players were the most popular reasons to like the team.

Here’s what you said:

“I really liked the A's as a kid. 9-year-old me loved Jose Canseco and Mark McGuire. I remember I had an Oakland A's helmet that I got at a garage sale and I loved it” (SomeOtherShawn).
“I think it’s a testament to a franchise that a movie can be made about them, and my friend who hates baseball with a fiery passion actually enjoyed said movie. Wait, why are she and I still friends?” (frisbeepilot).
“Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire. The bash brothers. Most of the kids in my grade school wanted to be these guys when they weren't wanting to be Michael Jordan” (John Marlatt).

17. New York Mets — I’m slightly surprised the Mets are so low on the list. Considering the facts that their manager, Terry Collins, is a native Michigander, and that former Tigers Yoenis Cespedes and Curtis Granderson patrol the outfield at Citi Field, I expected to the Mets to crack the top ten. They lost some points by being in New York though.

Here’s what you said:

“I love the Mets' rotation; Syndergaard and deGrom are two of my favorite pitchers in the game. On top of that, they have Cespedes, Granderson, and gave us Michael Fulmer” (iPhonesAreGarbage).
“I like Yoenis. I like that they aren't the Yankees” (90feetfromhome).

18. Arizona Diamondbacks — Many of your responses to the D-backs were lukewarm, hence, their placement on the list. Some of you cited the Max Scherzer trade as a reason to like them.

Here’s what you said:

“I dunno, they have weird food and gave us Scherzer” (90feetfromhome).
“Love some of their young guns like Brandon Drury, Jake Lamb and (Yasmani) Tomas, but those uniforms are a disgrace to baseball, IMO. I did root for them against the Yanks in the '01 series, so they have that going for them. Plus they were associated with Carlos Quentin for a time, who I cannot stand” (Tr3v).

19. Los Angeles Angels — The overwhelming, nearly universal reason to like the Angels was Mike Trout. Again, being on the west coast hurt the overall ranking, as well as the team name. The Angels have changed their name too many times to list, which understandably frustrates many of you.

Here’s what you said:

“Mike Trout is an amazing baseball player, but Miggy is better. No, I don’t have any sabermetric fractorial equations to back it up. Because I said so — how’s that?!” (TigersFangirl).
“This one's for you, Carlos Guillen, in the greatest bat flip of all time” (akumaizer).
“The obvious joke here is what I’ll go with: the Los Angeles Anaheim Orange County Not Far From The 405 No Seriously We’re Los Angeles We Swear Angels” (frisbeepilot).

20. Atlanta Braves — The epitome of a love/hate relationship for most of you. Your rankings of the Braves ranged widely, as low as in the bottom five and as high as the top three. The biggest reason you like the team was the 1990s Braves teams.

Here’s what you said:

“Huge fan of the early 90's teams - the first time I understood what a great starting rotation can do” (Starsailor).
“I had a buddy growing up who told me the same story about going to Turner Field and catching a Gary Sheffield home run ball 4,785 times so that didn't help. Never really understood how Andruw Jones was as good as he was, never was a fan of Chipper (Jones) and Dan Uggla is one of my least favorite players of all time” (Tr3v).
“I spent a summer with my uncle in Atlanta when I was 14. The Braves were in the midst of being a really good baseball team then. I enjoyed that. I was particularly intrigued by Otis Nixon and his ability to steal 72 bases all while looking like a 60-year-old man” (John Marlatt).

21. Minnesota Twins — This is exactly where I expected the Twins to fall. Besides the fact that the Twins are the Tigers’ division rivals, the first thing most Tigers fans think of when they hear “Minnesota Twins” is still the Game that Shall Not be Mentioned. No, I haven’t gotten over that, thanks for asking.

Here’s what you said:

“My ‘home’ team, a 7 hour drive away” (90feetfromhome).
“twinshit” (JT072589).
“Sure, they beat us in the infamous Game 163, but you gotta admire good division rivals that don’t particularly go out of their way to piss you off. (Plus, that game was one of the most exciting I've ever seen.)” (frisbeepilot).

22. Philadelphia Phillies — Most of you (including myself) completely forgot about the Phillies when making our lists, which led to the low ranking.

Here’s what you said:

“The losingest franchise in all of pro sports occasionally wins something now and again. Moral of the story? Keep on trying, Little Engines of the world” (frisbeepilot).
“This is almost entirely because I live in Philadelphia. When I moved here in 2009 they were a juggernaut of a team. I got to watch them disintegrate under the management of a man who is now the first base coach for the Red Sox. The team has sucked recently, which makes tickets cheap, but has also made them a fun team to watch now that they're fully rebuilding” (John Marlatt).

23. Kansas City Royals — Not surprised by this one at all. The division rivalry is real and sincere, and many of you are somewhat bitter because of the Royals’ recent World Series appearances. You liked the Royals much better when they weren’t a threat.

Here’s what you said:

“They were really nice to Miguel when he won the Triple Crown. But their insistence on having their hot dog vendor play second base in the All Star Game was annoying” (TigersFangirl).
“The most tolerable of the three division rivals at the moment. I really enjoy Salvador Perez and Lorenzo Cain (If you haven't seen them together on Perez's instagram you are missing out). I get the feeling they are going to fade into obscurity again in the next three years (You could argue the same could be said about the Tigers as our best players with bloated contracts age) and things will be back to the way they used to be” (iPhonesAreGarbage).

24. Texas Rangers — Most of you just don’t like the state of Texas, the Rangers front office, or their players. Plus the Rangers are the biggest rivals of the Houston Astros, whom many of you really like.

Here’s what you said:

“I don't like watching fans run onto their center field lawn for home runs, I don't like any of their players since Michael Young, but I have a soft spot for them taking Prince (Fielder) from us” (Tr3v).
“I reeeeeally don't like what their general manager did to Kinsler, but I don't have anything else against them. I've always liked Josh Hamilton” (Eye of the Tigers).

25. Boston Red Sox — Honestly I’m surprised to see the Red Sox this high, as I expected them to be the second to last behind the Yankees. I’m sure my rating gave them a boost though.

Here’s what you said:

“Fun pitching, beautiful stadium, cursed history” (90feetfromhome).
“I should hate them for a lot of the reasons that I have for not liking most of the teams above them, but Fenway is one of the coolest places I've ever been in the sports world and I certainly picked them in the BoSox vs Yanks rivalry” (Tr3v).
(John Marlatt has some, er, strong feelings on the Red Sox. Click here to read his fanpost and his comments on Boston.)

26. Cleveland Indians — Again, division rivals, and last season put a bad taste in a lot of your mouths, understandably. The Indians logo doesn’t do them any favors, either.

Here’s what you said:

“Should hate them but can't. I love Kipnis” (90feetfromhome).
“Hard team to hate right now with Tito, Kipnis, Salazar, Kluber, Carrasco and such, because I respect those guys, but the Tigers not being able to beat them last year was likely the difference in missing the playoffs. Never liked Chief Wahoo either and that damn drum guy!!!!!!!!!” (Tr3v).

27. San Francisco Giants — Unsurprisingly, the 2012 World Series and the “even year magic” that came to an end in 2016 were the biggest reasons for the general dislike of the Giants. The only thing keeping them out of the bottom two is Hunter Pence.

Here’s what you said:

“ ‘Even year magic’ bah. Ranked higher because Hunter Pence is a human emoticon and I love him” (90feetfromhome).
“They swept the Tigers in 2012, and beat the Royals in 2014 when I was pulling so hard for them. The Giants get a boost because of Buster Posey and Hunter Pence” (Eye of the Tigers).

28. St. Louis Cardinals — The only thing that surprises me about this is that the Cards are the third to last instead of the second to last. Obviously 2006 was the overwhelming consensus of why you don’t like the team. The Cardinals’ fanbase was the other big source of dislike among you.

Here’s what you said:

“If 2006 weren't a good enough reason, their fans would be” (SomeOtherShawn).
“2006 was the first year I paid attention to baseball, and they broke my 8-year-old heart. I've never really forgiven them. They do have a cool logo though — I love the cardinal birds with the bat” (Eye of the Tigers).

29. Chicago White Sox — The intense dislike for the White Sox stems from the division rivalry and Hawk Harrelson. It seems no one can really stand him. The name of Guaranteed Rate Field was another common reason to dislike the White Sox.

Here’s what you said:

“As an out-of-town fan, I must watch my beloved Tigers on MLB Extra Innings. Therefore, the bottom spot on this list is and always will be reserved for whichever team allows Hawk Harrelson to talk about their baseball games” (JT072589).
“Hawk Harrelson” (John Marlatt).

30. New York Yankees — Fully expected this one. You cited the overall New York attitude, the Yankees fans, and a multitude of other reasons to dislike the the Yankees. Not even Derek Jeter could save them from a number one worst rating.

Here’s what you said:

“Never hated them. Always respected them. Even when they bought their way in. They've given the world some damn good baseball players and some remarkable baseball games” (Starsailor).
“Evil empire. Never could stand Jeter, I know that's pretty sacrilegious, but I couldn't do it. The free agent signings for all those years and then they moved on from the only Yankee I ever like, Alphonso Soriano, so there was nothing redeeming about them” (Tr3v).

And there you have it — the final results of the FanPost prompt. Are you surprised by any of the rankings? Let us know in the comments!