Thumbs Down – Nielsen Co. Baseball Algorithm Hates the Cleveland Indians

The Sports section of the Wall Street Journal today (you read that right, the Sports section….again, the SPORTS SECTION!) ran an article titled “Are the Yankees Truly the Most-Despised Ballclub?”  The quick, easy answer to this is Yes.  The other option would be the Red Sox (Red Sox Nation=annoying).  However, the article reported some unexpected and startling news.

In an Internet algorithm designed by the Nielsen Co., the most-despised ballclub in all of baseball, get this…is the Cleveland Indians!!  Now, I might be writing out of emotion because I’m from Cleveland and I love the Indians more than any other team.  But, rationally, this result just does not make sense to me or, really, anyone else.

The algorithm was based on the team’s Internet presence and the reactions people have towards a team based on certain keywords.  ”I love the Yankees” would be a positive point while “I hate the Yankees” would yield a negative point.  The scale was based from -5 to 5.  Not one team registered a negative result.  The Yankees, finishing in fifth-to-last place, registered a score of 1.8.  The Red Sox, a 1.1.  And, the most “hated” and “despicable” Indians came in at a 0.9.

The Cleveland Indians don’t deserve this score at all.  Here’s a list of reasons why:

1. They haven’t done anything to anyone.  The Indians last won a title in 1948 and came close in ’95 and ’97 (Be taller Charles Nagy!!).  Other than that, they have been mediocre at best, having flashes of potential World Series contenders a year here and a year there.
2. Who thinks to themself: “Man, I hate those Cleveland Indians!  Bunch of low-lifes…they make me sick!”
3. I don’t know how Indians’ fans are on the road, but I doubt that they are as obnoxious and arrogant as some other road team fans (again, I’m picking on you Yankees and Red Sox fans, but it’s true).
4. Major League I and Major League II are two of the finest baseball films ever, both telling the heart-warming tale of the Cleveland Indians.
5. I wonder how accurate the algorithm and Internet browsing were.  What if people hated actual Indians (I don’t know why they would).  Would the algorithm take that as not liking the Cleveland Indians?  Was it based strictly on the nickname given, or did it consider other monikers like the Tribe?
6. Not one team registered a negative score, so nobody really hates or despises anyone here.

Again, it maybe out of pure emotion and love for my home team, but how did the Cleveland Indians be determined as the most-despised team?  They are second all-time for most consecutive sell-out crowds with 455 (only behind the Red Sox who also have a significantly smaller baseball stadium) and have given teams some of their key all-star players who have helped them make playoff runs and even win World Series (Manny Ramirez-Red Sox, Bartolo Colon-Angels/Expos, C.C. Sabathia-Milwaukee/NewYork, Cliff Lee-Phillies/Mariners, Victor Martinez-Red Sox, Brian Giles-Padres come to the top of my mind).

If anything, opposing fans shouldn’t hate the Indians, they should thank them ten-fold for being able to produce all-star caliber players, build them up to their all-star status, and then trade them away to your desperate teams, helping you and your team advance further in the playoffs than the Indians.

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