Public Policy Polling generally releases things relating to politics, which we wouldn't be touching here because this is a sports site. Wouldn't you know it, they actually did some sports polling and it's pretty interesting for many reasons.
On the "baseball is dying" front, the clowns who use that refrain continue to be proven gravely mistaken. MLB checks in second behind the monstrosity that is the NFL in terms of how many people consider themselves fans among pro sports. MLB got 42 percent of the vote while NFL had 55. NBA was third at 36 percent.
On baseball specifically, perhaps the most interesting poll shows that 51 percent of fans want Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens in the Hall of Fame while only 34 percent want them to be kept out. Clemens got 45.2 percent of the BBWAA vote last season while Bonds got 44.3 percent.
As far as the much-discussed bat flips that are pretty fun but seem to make a certain segment of the population fighting mad, many fans are in favor of the flipping. The poll found that 48 percent approve and just 31 percent disapprove.
Of course -- this isn't surprising in the least -- there's an age division. Whatever they define as "young fans" have a 79 percent to nine percent approval to disapproval rate while the "seniors" only have 23 percent approval against 43 percent disapproval. Get off my lawn, indeed.
In terms of the favorite teams of those polled, here are the top six:
Cubs, 15 percent
Braves, 13
Yankees, 12
Red Sox, 11
Royals, 10
Dodgers, 10
And, of course, fans must be asked about the designated hitter. Only 25 percent of fans prefer the DH while 65 percent want the pitchers to hit for themselves.
For more, including how many fans like doing the wave (your faith in humanity will be shaken), which players were toward the top of the favorite player poll and how fans weigh the use of PEDs vs. domestic violence (this will help restore your faith in humanity), check out the full poll. It has data on all pro sports. Pretty fun stuff.
