Using aggregated Facebook data, the New York Times on Thursday generated a map of the top three favorite Major League Baseball teams of every zip code in the nation.
The rankings are based on mentions of teams from Facebook users in each zip code and an extension of county level-data Facebook published a few weeks ago.
Living in suburban Washington, D.C. of course presents a dilemma for baseball fans, many who weren’t around when the Washington Senators left town. The Times labeled the battle between the Orioles and Nationals for the fandom of Maryland zip codes as “The Line of Potomac Aggression”:
After the departure of the Senators in 1971, Washingtonians spent decades alternately lamenting their plight and treating the Orioles as their home team. That era is over. While the Orioles have held onto many Maryland suburbs, the Nats now dominate Washington and much of the Virginia suburbs. In parts of the Washington region, the Orioles aren’t even the second-favorite team; the Yankees or the Red Sox are.
The Facebook stats show things starting to shade more orange in mid-Montgomery County.
The area also has a fair number of New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox fans.
In the Bethesda 20814 zip code, the data showed 31 percent prefer the Nationals, 16 percent prefer the Yankees and 15 percent prefer the Orioles. In Bethesda’s 20817, it goes 31 percent for the Nats, 16 percent for the Yankees and 14 percent for the Orioles.
In Chevy Chase’s 20815, the split is similar: 28 percent Nats, 17 percent Yankees and 13 percent Orioles.
In Bethesda’s 20816 zip code, the Red Sox get on the board, with 15 percent of the zip code’s Facebook fandom. The Nationals lead with 29 percent and the Yankees take in another 15 percent.
North Bethesda’s 20852 goes 33 percent Nats, 17 percent Orioles and 14 percent Yankees.
Popular Woodmont Triangle sports bar Caddies on Cordell goes with both the Nationals and Orioles, as you can see above.
This despite being a part of a piece of Nationals history. Caddies was the place former Nats manager Jim Riggleman went to solve “the world’s problems” the day he quit the job.
We’ll take this poll off Facebook and ask you, where do you stand?