The Smartest fans in the game

Who are the smartest fans in baseball? If you ask most people they'll name the fans of a team in the northeast like the Yankees, Red Sox, or Phillies. How exactly do people measure this? And where did they come up with these things? I know for an absolute fact that your average Yankee fan is not one of the smartest fans in baseball. Ask 10 guys in a Yankees hat a couple of questions. A couple of my favorites to ask are "Who was the team's shortstop before Derek Jeter" and "Name two guys in the bullpen besides Mariano Rivera." 8 of the 10 "fans" that you ask won't be able to answer that question. What about Sox fans? Whenever I hear someone say that the Red Sox have the smartest fans, I can't help but laugh. Loyal? Sure. Passionate? Definitely. But smart? The vast majority of Sox fans make me embarrassed to admit that I'm also a fan. If you listen to enough jackasses call into WEEI or read a message board frequented by Sox fans then you probably know what I mean. When someone says that Doug Mirabelli is the best backup catcher in the game and that Gabe Kapler could be a solid starter on any of the 29 other teams (when wearing their "Yankees Suck" shirt and pink hat while standing in line to get Bronson Arroyo's CD) then you know damned well that they're not very bright. And have you ever tried to listen to a Yankee fan bicker with a Sox fan? With apologies to the Dodgers/Giants and Cubs/Cards, the Sox/Yankees rivalry is the biggest in baseball. You're kidding yourself if you think otherwise. But when two fans go at it, they'll talk themselves in circles for hours and never bring up a valid point because they'll both be busy saying things like "The Sox always choke in August!" and "Oh yeah, well the Yankees buy their rings!"

So how do you measure the intelligence of a fanbase? As far as I know, no one has ever interviewed every baseball fan, measured their IQ and marked down their loyalty. When someone answers that question they'll go with the Yankees or the Red Sox because they have a lot more fans than most teams and everytime you look in New York or Boston you see a packed stadium filled with passionate fans who are always ready to give their opinion about the game. If their opinion is a dumb one though, should they really get credit for being a smart fan?

Personally I think the big market teams are at a disadvantage. People, in general, are stupid, stupid creatures. We may be the most intelligent species on the planet, but I really don't think we're that much better off than monkeys or dolphins. When you get a large group of people together, chances are that most of the people in that group aren't going to be very bright. Also, for some reason, the dumber the person is, the louder they tend to be. Think back to your school days. Who were the class clowns and the loudest kids? More than likely it was that dumbass who was just scraping by with a D+ and ended up flunking out of highschool so he could get a job at Wendy's. There are plenty of exceptions, but chances are pretty good that the ones who are so willing to give their opinions are probably the ones that should keep their mouth shut. "It's better to be thought of as a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt"

I'd assume that the teams with the smaller fanbases have more intelligent fans. For one thing, there are less of them so there are less chances for the dumbasses to be out and about. And they have less bandwagon fans. There's nothing worse than a girl in a pink Red Sox hat who has been a diehard fan forever (since 2004) and couldn't pick Manny Delcarmen out of a lineup...but knows that Jason Varitek has a nice ass. If you are a Pittsburgh Pirates fan, then you are a FAN. A person who follows a team that sucks that much, but remains loyal is a person to be admired. I'm guessing they know their shit. Small market teams and bad teams may not have very vocal fans, but they probably have some pretty smart fans.

I don't have respect for humanity in general so maybe that's my problem. I can't say for sure who the smartest fans in the game is, but I can tell you that it is a fact that the Red Sox and Yankees don't have them.