On the heels of a study that showed a link between NFL losses and domestic violence, a new PR ploy analysis by Avvo goes after MLB and claims that Nationals fans are the most depressed.
According to this highly scientific and not at all speculative research, Washington D.C., topped the list of 18 major league cities. From the research description:
“In compiling the list, Avvo evaluated the cities that are home to the 18 MLB teams that haven’t won a World Series in the past 20 years, and also looked at the teams’ on-field performance. The rankings were based on a variety of factors including psychiatrists and divorce lawyers per capita, unemployment rate, heavy drinking rate, suicide rate, mentally unhealthy days reported among adults, medical and legal-related questions, as well as number of days over the past three seasons that each team held first place and were eliminated from first place contention.”
We call shenanigans on this whole study.
First of all, there’s no mention of Montreal in the analysis, and since the Nationals WERE the Expos, they should at least share the title on this one. It’s not quite fair that they used the lack of a World Series and on-field performance in the last 20 years, considering that Nationals have only been the Nationals since 2005.
We also find it hard to believe that Nats fans are more depressed than Orioles fans.
A conversation with the company's founder and CEO, Mark Britton, confirmed our suspicions.
"While the Nationals have only been around since 2005, most people before then still related to Baltimore,” he explained. “So I think reliance on the Baltimore market came into play with the data before 2005. Sadly, the Nationals have struggled more than Baltimore."
Actually, since 2005 both teams have had almost identical records, with the Nats going 412-559 and the Orioles going 411-560 during that time. It's safe to say we've both struggled, but we'd still rather be Nationals fans.
While we're sure fellow Nats fans will appreciate not being lumped in as "Washington DC/Baltimore" on the list, I think this proves that Baltimore deserves the "Most Depressed" crown.
Here’s the complete list:
1. Washington DC
2. Oakland
3. Baltimore
4. Seattle
5. Houston
6. San Diego
7. Cleveland
8. Cincinnati
9. Chicago (Cubs)
10. Pittsburgh
11. Denver
12. Los Angeles
13. New York (Mets)
14. Tampa
15. Dallas
16. Kansas City
17. Detroit
18. Milwaukee
