How do Fans choose their team?

At 7:44 on January 8, 2014 my sister-in-law gave birth to a beautiful baby boy making me an uncle for the first time. In learning that I’d become an uncle several thoughts crossed my mind. The first was why didn't my brother call me and tell? And why does everyone know before me? Well I’m going to be able to move past those issues pretty soon.

Then a new thought came to my mind after noticing my brother wearing a New York Yankees hat in the picture with his wife and new baby. Immediately I thought: This kid is going to be a Yankees fan. Then I thought: What if he’s not? Well if you grew up in my house, you were a Yankees fan or you became one when they beat the Braves in the World Series twice in the 90’s, just ask my oldest brother.

I was bred to be a Yankees fan. My dad took us to Yankee Stadium for my 9^th birthday and I can still remember seeing the greenest green grass I’d ever seen. Don Mattingly, my favorite player, had a single and an error in the game and Mark McGwire of the Oakland Athletics hit a home run. That was almost 20 years ago and I remember it. But that’s not what made me a Yankees fan. I was a fan before that, before the Yankees became the team of the 90’s, before they won four championships in five years, before Derek Jeter was the Rookie of the Year in 1996. But why was I a Yankees fan?

The simple answer would be that both my parents were Yankees fans. Something I didn't realize until only a couple years ago was my mother, who lived in Massachusetts and raised by an avid Red Sox fan father, was a Red Sox fan growing up—pretty much until she met my dad. My dad’s dad wasn't really a baseball fan but when it came to baseball he didn't care much for the Yankees. Following the departure of the Giants and Dodgers from New York to California, my grandpa pretty much rooted for the Mets. So that makes me really wonder why I’m a Yankees fan.

Both of my grandfathers’ rooted for Yankees’ rivals; one the crosstown rival Mets and the other the division rival Red Sox. I was born in 1986 but my future fate as a Yankees fan was sealed in 1964 when Bob Gibson got Bobby Richardson to pop up to second base in game seven of the World Series crowning the St. Louis Cardinals World Series champions by beating the Yankees seven to five. My dad has told me the story many times, he was an 11-year-old boy and he saw the Yankees lose the World Series and he felt bad for them so he decided to root for that team.

He began watching games and learning the players. His favorite player was Joe Pepitone, he remembers how much of a letdown it was for him when Pepitone was arrested for drugs, 20 years later. He remembers hoping Mickey Mantle would retire with a .300 batting average and failing because of how bad he played his last few years. He even named his fantasy baseball championship team after his favorite players. That’s how he became a Yankees fan. By watching and learning and loving the game and now he is probably the biggest Yankees fan I know.

Because of his influence, my mother became a Yankees fan as I did and both my brothers. With that being said I know many people who don’t root for the team their parents do. One of my best friends from college is a die-hard Red Sox fan even though he is from New York and no one in his family likes the Sox. So your fandom is not always dependent on that of your parents.

What other factors go into someone’s decision of a favorite team? Location is a big one. I live in Northern Virginia now. The Washington Nationals have only been around for nine years. Before that the only team in this area people rooted for was the Baltimore Orioles. From what I notice now, many of the younger fans root for the Nats. I even went to a Nats game last year and wore a red hat with a cursive W scrawled on it. I didn't have a rooting interest in either team and I live local and need a National League team to root for, so why not root for the Nationals? Don’t get me wrong, the Yankees are still my team. When the Yanks played a spring training game against the Nats I was the obnoxious Yankees fan surrounded by red hats with cursive W’s. 

I think one of the most important factors about fandom is winning. I’m from New York and I like the Yankees, Rangers and Giants. All New York teams and all have won a title in my lifetime. Am I a Knicks fan? No. I’m a Bulls fan. I still root for them even though Michael Jordan hasn't shot a basketball for them in 15 years. I rooted for the Bulls during my “formative sports years” because of Jordan, because Jordan made them win. They won in 1991 when the Giants won and 1994 when the Rangers won and 1996 when the Yankees won. And they won again in 1998 when the Yankees won.

I don’t say that I only root for good teams because, quite frankly, the Bulls and Rangers were terrible for a long time. But is it a coincidence that during the years a person forms opinions on their teams were the same years those teams won the championship? Probably not. I like winning, I like it a lot. I hate losing and I’m bad at it and that’s probably why I bought a championship trophy and ring when I finally won my fantasy baseball championship this past year.

But if winning was the deciding factor for people to root for a team there would be no Cubs fans today or Red Sox fans until 10 years ago. Both of those fan bases took on the role of lovable losers and blamed “curses” for their lack of success. People bought into that and they enjoyed it and they wanted to be a part of that. Because when all that losing turns into success as it has in Red Sox Nation these last 10 years people want to be part of that.

I think, at the end of the day, there are a million different reasons why someone likes one team more than the rest of them. I love the Yankees and I hate the Red Sox. But I’ve always said that if I weren't a Yankees fan, I’d probably be a Red Sox fan because besides Yankees fans, I’ve never seen a fan base with so much passion and intensity. I love the intensity at Yankee Stadium facing the Red Sox and I loved feeling the animosity at Fenway Park in a June baseball game between the Sox and Yanks.

In 10 years or so I will have a better understanding of what makes someone a fan of a certain team. My nephew will grow up in a predominantly Nationals fan base in Northern Virginia. But he will grow up in a Yankees house with a die-hard father and a die-hard uncle nearby. All his friends will be Nats fans, all his family will be Yankees fans. 

Fans are great and they make baseball great and in a few years my brother is going to take his baby boy to a baseball game (hopefully his favorite uncle tags along). I hope he remembers it as well as I remember my first game. He’ll be rooting for one team over the other and I will do everything in my power to make sure the hat he’s wearing is navy blue with an interlocking NY on it. But I don’t think it’s as much my decision as I’d like to believe.