Mathematical proof of what we’ve always known: the Sox really are the nicer team

A recent SI survey asked almost 500 major leaguers who were the most and least friendly players in baseball. Four of the top seven friendliest players were on the 2004 Red Sox: Papi, Dave Roberts, Damon, and Millar. The least friendy list included one current Yankee (A-Rod, who came in in fourth place) and one Yankee of recent vintage (RJ). The only mar on the survey: Johnson tied for least friendly with his old Diamondback teammate…Curt Schilling. Still, no matter how you slice it, the Sox are a friendlier team: if you only consider players on the current roster, the Sox come out at 0 (Papi’s +4 and Schill’s -4 cancel each other out), while the Yankees come out at -10, with Damon’s +2 barely mitigating A-Rod’s -12. If you consider all players that’ve played for one of the teams in the past four years, the Sox come out at +8 (+4 for Papi and DR, +2 for JD and Kentucky Fried Kevin, -4 for Curt) while the Yankees weigh in at -14 (+2 for JD, -12 for A-Rod, -4 for Randy). My only question: Schilling tied with Johnson? I know he’s not always the most popular guy, but c’mon…

3 Responses to “Mathematical proof of what we’ve always known: the Sox really are the nicer team”


  1. 1 miles44

    Seth, how much do players actually interact with players from other teams? Watching the Red Sox visit Camden Yards for batting practice, I see Papi hug Millar and Manny hug Tejada, but that’s about it. How much of this survey is real interaction and how much is just, “I hear Schilling’s a dick”?

  2. 2 kinshane

    Based on your previous comments, I would be surprised that Mirabile Visu didn’t make the list, but I’m guessing backup catchers aren’t really on the radar for other teams.

  1. 1 tecosystems » links for 2007-05-24

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