Popularity of the Marlins
While Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria might have come in second in a ranking of worst team owners in a Sports Illustrated survey of 464 Major League players, the team is rising in popularity among fans, according to a Harris Interactive Poll.
The Marlins tied for 23rd favorite among the 30 MLB teams with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, in a Harris Poll of 2,372 U.S. adults in June. That's up from 27th in 2006 when they were tied with the Texas Rangers, and the highest ranking since the team came in at 21 in 2004 -- the year after winning the 2003 World Series, the poll shows.
The New York Yankees came in first for the fifth consecutive year. They were followed by the Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals. The Toronto Blue Jays ranked last, but the poll was only of U.S. residents. The Washington Nationals came in at 29th and the Kansas City Royals were 28th.
CRAIG DAVIS In more than 33 years at the Sun Sentinel, Craig Davis has written about a wide variety of sports topics from baseball to yachting, fishing to triathlons, and also worked as a copy editor and page designer. Recently he reported on local sports, including running, swimming, cycling, equestrian and beach volleyball. He enjoys sports as a participant as well as a spectator, is active in the South Florida running scene plays in the curling club at Saveology Iceplex. This blog offers a glimpse at the business side of sports in the interest of enhancing enjoyment of the games and sporting options as a spectator as well as a participant.
