The Media Audit – A survey among U.S. adults ranks Boston as the top market for professional baseball for a second year in a row. The surveys conducted in 88 U.S. markets between January 2008 and January 2009 byThe Media Audit ranks U.S. cities on the percentage who regularly follow professional baseball on radio or TV. Among all U.S. adults, 51.2% regularly follow professional baseball, up slightly from 50.7% a year ago. 76.1% of adults reguarly follow the sport, making Bostonians nearly 50% more likely than the average U.S. adult to follow pro baseball. South New Hampshire is second on the list with 71% regularly following professional baseball, followed by Cleveland (70.7%), St. Louis (69.4%) and Long Island (68.3%).

Ha! How you like them apples? Of course this study didn’t tell us anything we didn’t already know, but for the rest of the country, let this be a lesson to you. You whine about how the Sox have one of the highest payrolls in the Majors. You bitch about Sox fans invading your ballparks, outnumbering your fans and making twice as much noise as you in your own backyards. You say we’re overbearing and obnoxious. Well here’s why. We care more than you. We knew it, you knew it, and now it’s been proven by science. You can hate us, just like you hated the kid who got better grades than you because he studied harder. Or the guy who got the promotion over you because he worked harder. Or the kid who made varsity over you because he was working on his jumper while you were playing WoW or beating off to your Hustler stash. It’s called dedication. And it’s the reason the Sox are the team of the decade.  Because we deserve nothing less.