Major League Baseball

Yankees fans ready to invade Rangers Ballpark

Published Oct. 15, 2010 10:09 p.m. ET

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Longtime Texas Rangers fans might have one tiny qualm about the American League Championship Series starting tonight against the navy blue horde from New York.

It isn't the Damn Yankees that concern them, though former Rangers Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira might hear a "Boo!" or two. It's those Yankees fans.

No team in baseball can claim the legion that follows the Yankees, the most storied franchise in the sport's history and one of the most valuable in the world. The Yankees' fans are so fervid that wherever the team goes, they pack opposing ballparks, chanting and cheering in their pinstripes and caps, often overwhelming the locals.

Who can forget those few playoff games at the Arlington ballpark in the '90s, when it seemed there were at least as many Yankees fans as Rangers followers?

The Dallas Cowboys bear the name, but the Yankees might truly be America's Team.

Of course, many Yankees fans have only the most tenuous tie to New York. Instead, they're drawn by the team's dazzling success on the field, its omnipresence in the media and a tradition so rich it borders on the mythical.

Add 'em up, and they're something of a psychological home run, said Dr. Allen R. McConnell, a psychology professor at Miami University in Ohio.

"One thing about the Yankees is they're successful, and people enjoy associating themselves with success. There's a term for that: 'BIRGing' - Basking In Reflected Glory. People want to associate with winners," Dr. McConnell said.

And with 27 World Series titles, no team has won like the Yankees.

Given that tradition and success, it's little wonder that "New York Yankees" is the most valuable brand in sports and the franchise itself the third-most-valuable, according to Forbes magazine, ranking just below English soccer giant Manchester United and the Cowboys.

Likewise, it's little wonder those teams and their fans are widely loathed by fans of less-dominant franchises.

"My opinions of the Cowboys and the Yankees are the same: They both expect to win just because of who they are," said Joe Siegler of Garland, a Philadelphia transplant who loves the Rangers but couldn't let the Cowboys replace his hometown Eagles.

"But despite what I think of them, the Yankees are the franchise and they have fans everywhere," said Siegler, who runs the website Rangerfans.com. "If you're a fan of a team and they come to your town, you go."

DMN

Tickets going fast

The calls started pouring in moments after the Texas Rangers won their first playoff series and haven't stopped. Area ticket brokers are keeping busy as fans scramble to be a part of the Rangers' first American League Championship Series appearance. Only a handful of single and standing room tickets remained as of Thursday evening for Game 1 tonight and Game 2 on Saturday through the Rangers ticket office. Texas Tickets is selling upper level seats from $75 to $100 and lower level from $150 to $750. At Metro Tickets, upper level seats are just under $100, while lower level ranges from $250 to $600.

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