NY Yankees Remain The Country’s Most Popular Baseball Team.

As we head into the last month of regular season play, the New York Yankees find themselves again on top as the country’s favorite baseball team. The Atlanta Braves move up one spot to #2 on the list, while the Chicago Cubs slip down a spot to #3 according to the results of a nationwide Harris Poll of 874 U.S. adults who follow Major League Baseball. The poll was conducted online by Harris Interactive between July 12 and 18, 2005.

Following the Yankees, Braves and Cubs, rounding out the top five are the Boston Red Sox (#4) and the New York Mets (#5). With the World Series title now behind them and the curse broken, the Red Sox position has remained unchanged. The New York Mets, on the other hand, show a surprising jump up from #14 last year to the top five this year.

Biggest improvements since last year

Three teams have moved up nine or more places since 2004:

— The Chicago White Sox move up 17 places from #27 to #10
— The Cincinnati Reds move up 11 places from #19 to #8; and
— The New York Mets move up nine places from #14 to #5.

Worst drops since last year

Three teams have dropped eight or more places since last year:

— The Detroit Tigers have fallen 14 places from #5 to tied for #19
— The Cleveland Indians have fallen 10 places from #9 to tied for #19; and
— The Houston Astros have fallen eight points from #9 to #17.

This latest survey also looked at baseball expansion. This year’s “new” team, the Washington Nationals, is ranked #22, a large improvement over the ranking of the old Montreal Expos (#30 in 2004). Also, when asked which city should receive a baseball team if Major League Baseball were to expand the league, one-third (33%) of those who follow baseball say it should expand to Las Vegas, Nev. while 21 percent say it should expand to Charlotte, N.C., Portland, Ore. was the pick for 14 percent, seven percent said the team should go to Orlando, Fla., four percent chose Hartford, Conn. and four percent think Sacramento, Calif. should receive the expansion team. Less than one in five (17%) said they would choose none of these cities.

To view charts CLICK above on ‘More Images’.

For more information at http://www.harrisinteractive.com