Yankees Beat Mets In NYC Fans' Hearts, Poll Shows

NEW YORK, NY — If you think the Yankees are New York's superior baseball team, you're in the majority. The city's baseball fans favor the Bronx Bombers over the Mets by a margin of 53 percent to 34 percent in a Quinnipiac University poll released Monday.

The Yanks are more beloved even in the Mets' home turf of Queens — 45 percent of fans there picked the boys in pinstripes as their favorite squad, while just 40 percent stand behind the team once known as "The Lovable Losers."

"With all that home run firepower, the baby Bombers rule the city ... for now," Tim Malloy, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Poll, said in a news release. "But hope springs eternal in the Spring. 162 games later, who knows?"

Some 41 percent of the 1,230 New Yorkers Quinnipiac surveyed said they were "very interested" or "somewhat interested" in Major League Baseball, which just kicked off its 2018 season last week.

After making a run at the American League championship last year, the Yankees were snowed out of their home opener Monday as a sprintime storm blanketed their South Bronx stadium in flakes. But their home borough is solidly behind the storied team — 73 percent of Bronx baseball fans support the Yankees, though a brave 16 percent back the Mets.

The Yankees win the hearts of 52 percent of fans in Brooklyn, 47 percent in Manhattan and 61 percent in Staten Island, where the minor-league Staten Island Yankees play. No more than 36 percent of fans in those three boroughs stand behind the Mets.

Some 3 percent of New York baseball fans say the Boston Red Sox — the Yankees' bitter rivals — are their favorite team, meaning Mayor Bill de Blasio isn't alone in supporting his hometown squad.

"As far as those Red Sox fans, the Bruckner takes you right to I-95 North," Malloy said. "Have a nice drive."

(Lead image: Yankees pitcher David Robertson makes a throw during the team's April 1, 2018 game against the Toronto Blue Jays. Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)