I always find myself a little confused as to the support that the Maple Leafs enjoy in Edmonton. I guess all the Ontario immigrants and the endless HNIC replays must take some credit for that.
But what really justifies the push for us to cheer for the Toronto Blue Jays? Surely we've evolved beyond any sense of caring that they are the only team left in Canada, and we're in Canada (though people like me weep openly about this fact from time to time), ergo we must cheer for them?
I always figured on the pure basis of geography we should be Seattle Mariners fans. I've attended baseball games in Seattle and Chicago. Toronto? Who the hell wants to ever go there?
So today, thanks to the good people at How Far Is It? at indo.com, we'll examine some MLB teams that are far more deserving of our support on those grounds. First, as our baseline, lets see the distance between Edmonton and Toronto:
Okay, having looked at that, lets check out where the various AL-West teams are situated:
Seattle Mariners: 562 miles (905 km) (489 nautical miles)
Oakland Athletics: 1163 miles (1872 km) (1011 nautical miles)
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim: 1374 miles (2212 km) (1194 nautical miles)
Texas Rangers (of Arlington): 1649 miles (2654 km) (1433 nautical miles)
Okay, how about the NL West?
San Diego Padres: 1439 miles (2316 km) (1251 nautical miles)
San Fransisco Giants: 1168 miles (1879 km) (1015 nautical miles)
Los Angeles Dodgers: 1360 miles (2189 km) (1182 nautical miles)
Colorado Rockies: 1032 miles (1660 km) (897 nautical miles)
Arizona Diamonbacks: 1380 miles (2220 km) (1199 nautical miles)
Okay, what about the NL Central?
Chicago Cubs: 1437 miles (2312 km) (1248 nautical miles)
Cincinnati Reds: 1686 miles (2714 km) (1465 nautical miles)
Houston Astros: 1875 miles (3018 km) (1629 nautical miles)
Milwaukee Brewers: 1369 miles (2204 km) (1190 nautical miles)
Pittsburgh Pirates: 1800 miles (2897 km) (1564 nautical miles)
Okay, so we see finally some teams farther away than Toronto. We'll come back to this later. AL Central?
Cleveland Indians: 1686 miles (2713 km) (1465 nautical miles)
Detroit Tigers: 1589 miles (2558 km) (1381 nautical miles)
Kansas City Royals: 1336 miles (2151 km) (1161 nautical miles)
Chicago White Sox: 1437 miles (2312 km) (1248 nautical miles)
Now lets notice that Cleveland and Cincinatti are only a couple kilometres (2713/2714 vs. 2712) farther than Toronto. But where are their stadiums? First lets use a base measuring point. It doesn't matter which one, so lets pick West Edmonton Mall, at 53°31′20″N, 113°37′22″W.
Bank One Ballpark in Cincinatti is at 39.097392°, -84.506858° (switching to decimals to make the calculations easier). Thanks to this site it tells us that Bank One is 2724.0039 km.
Whither the Rogers Centre? It's located at 43.6413°, -79.3892° -- 2716.9727 km away from West Edmonton Mall. Ergo, Cleveland is closer than Toronto (though Cincinatti is farther away).
The end result? Except for the Pirates, the Reds (sort of), and the Astros, every team in the West and Central divisions of MLB is closer to Edmonton than Toronto. And therefore, far more deserving of your support.
Go...er, Twins?
