July 29, 2011 - Jeter Ties The Babe As Greatest Yankee Of All Time, New York City Fans Tell Quinnipiac University Poll; Yankees Top Mets More Than 2-1 Among Fans Word format With a 2-1 lead among women, Derek Jeter ties Babe Ruth 23 - 23 percent as the greatest Yankee of all time, according to a Quinnipiac University poll of New York City baseball fans. Joe DiMaggio gets 9 percent, followed by Lou Gehrig with 8 percent and Mickey Mantle with 6 percent, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds. Women pick Jeter 30 - 16 percent while men go with The Babe 29 - 18 percent. The Captain edges Ruth 31 - 27 percent among fans 18 to 34 years old, while The Babe leads among fans 35 to 64 years old. DiMaggio is the choice of 24 percent of fans over 65, with 19 percent each for Jeter and Ruth. Of the 47 percent of New York City adults who are very interested or somewhat interested in Major League Baseball, 59 percent list the Yankees as their favorite team, followed by 26 percent who list the Mets, with 3 percent for the Boston Red Sox. Fans who prefer the Yankees pick Jeter over Ruth 29 - 21 percent. "Derek Jeter's solid performance for 16 years and the super-star way he got his 3,000th hit - a Babe Ruth-style home run into the left-field seats, has elevated him to the pantheon of baseball gods, at least among women and younger fans - right next to the Sultan of Swat," said Maurice Carroll. "They tore down the House that Ruth Built, but they haven't torn down The Babe's larger-than-life reputation." "Except for The Captain and The Babe, it isn't even close. Remember how great The Yankee Clipper was? Remember the most memorable radio broadcast a baseball player ever made - Lou Gehrig's farewell speech? Remember Mickey Mantle, even when he was playing on crippled knees? None of them gets out of single digits." Among New York City baseball fans, 50 percent say they also would have returned the ball if they had caught Jeter's 3,000th hit. Another 42 percent say they would have kept the ball. Men split 48 - 46 percent on whether they would have kept the ball, but women say 55 - 35 percent they would have returned it to Jeter. "Once again, we see that women are real Jeter fans," Carroll said. The Yankees top the Mets among fans in every borough, even leading 45 - 37 percent in Queens and 56 - 28 percent in Brooklyn. "It's been more than 50 years since Brooklyn Dodgers fans had every reason to hate the Yankees," Carroll said. "But how can Queens fans pick the Bronx Bombers over the Amazins?" From July 19 - 25, Quinnipiac University surveyed 1,528 New York City adults with a margin of error of +/- 2.5 percentage points. The survey includes 785 baseball fans with a margin of error of 3.5 percent. Live interviewers call land lines and cell phones. The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public opinion surveys in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Ohio, Virginia and the nation as a public service and for research. For more data or RSS feed- http://www.quinnipiac.edu/polling.xml, call (203) 582-5201, or follow us on Twitter. 45. How interested are you in following major league baseball - very interested, somewhat interested or not interested at all? ALL ADULTS............................................ Tot Men Wom Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl Very interested 17% 23% 11% 21% 10% 18% 19% 26% Smwht interested 30 35 26 34 29 34 27 25 Not at all 52 42 62 45 59 47 54 49 DK/NA - - 1 - 1 1 - - AGE IN YEARS............ 18-34 35-49 50-64 65+ Very interested 16% 18% 20% 17% Smwht interested 28 30 30 33 Not at all 55 52 49 49 DK/NA - - - 1 TREND: How interested are you in following major league baseball - very interested, somewhat interested or not interested at all? ALL ADULTS.................... Jul 29 Mar 25 Aug 31 May 28 2011 2009 2007 2007 Very interested 17 19 27 23 Smwht interested 30 31 29 32 Not at all 52 49 44 45 DK/NA - 1 - - 46. (If Very or Somewhat interested q45) What is your favorite major league baseball team? (* Subgroup too small for reliable analysis) BASEBALL FANS.......................................... Tot Men Wom Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl* New York YANKEES 59% 56% 63% 80% 56% 63% 45% New York METS 26 27 25 15 28 17 37 Boston RED SOX 3 4 2 1 3 3 5 Atlanta BRAVES 1 1 1 - - 2 1 Baltimore ORIOLES 1 1 1 - 1 2 1 Philadelphia PHILLIES 1 1 - - 1 1 - St. Louis CARDINALS 1 1 - - 2 - - Texas RANGERS 1 1 - - - 3 - OTHER SPECIFY - - 1 - - 1 - DK/NA 4 3 6 3 5 3 6 AGE IN YEARS............ 18-34 35-49 50-64 65+ New York YANKEES 64% 62% 57% 53% New York METS 20 23 30 36 Boston RED SOX 2 3 4 3 Atlanta BRAVES 1 - - - Baltimore ORIOLES 2 2 1 - Philadelphia PHILLIES - 1 - 1 St. Louis CARDINALS 1 1 - - Texas RANGERS 1 - - - OTHER SPECIFY - - 1 - DK/NA 4 5 3 4 TREND: (If Very or Somewhat interested in major league baseball) What is your favorite major league baseball team? BASEBALL FANS................. Jul 29 Mar 25 Aug 31 May 28 2011 2009 2007 2007 Baltimore Orioles 1 - - 1 Boston Red Sox 3 3 3 3 Cleveland Indians - - 1 - Los Angeles Dodgers - 1 - 1 New York Mets 26 33 35 36 New York Yankees 59 56 51 50 St. Louis Cardinals 1 - - 1 Atlanta Braves 1 - - - Philadelphia Phillies 1 - - - Texas Rangers 1 - - - OTHER SPECIFY - 1 2 1 DK/NA 4 4 5 5 47. (If Very or Somewhat interested q45) Regardless of who your favorite team is, who do you think is the greatest Yankee player of all time? (* Subgroup too small for reliable analysis) BASEBALL FANS......................................... Tot Men Wom Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl* Derek Jeter 23% 18% 30% 28% 24% 25% 20% Babe Ruth 23 29 16 13 28 23 26 Joe Dimaggio 9 10 7 8 8 9 11 Lou Gehrig 8 10 5 7 7 8 8 Mickey Mantle 6 7 5 3 7 5 5 Alex Rodriguez 3 2 6 9 1 3 2 Reggie Jackson 2 2 2 1 1 2 3 Mariano Rivera 2 3 1 3 3 2 2 Yogi Berra 1 2 1 - 3 2 1 Don Mattingly 1 1 1 1 1 - 1 Bernie Williams 1 1 - 1 1 - 1 OTHER SPECIFY 3 3 3 1 3 4 2 DK/NA 16 13 21 22 14 16 18 AGE IN YEARS............ 18-34 35-49 50-64 65+ Derek Jeter 31% 18% 20% 19% Babe Ruth 27 26 23 19 Joe Dimaggio 3 8 8 24 Lou Gehrig 6 7 11 7 Mickey Mantle 3 5 11 6 Alex Rodriguez 4 5 2 1 Reggie Jackson - 4 4 2 Mariano Rivera 3 1 3 1 Yogi Berra - 3 3 2 Don Mattingly 1 2 - - Bernie Williams - 2 1 - OTHER SPECIFY 4 2 3 2 DK/NA 19 17 12 15 YANKEE FANS Q46........................................ Tot Men Wom Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl* Derek Jeter 29% 25% 33% 32% 33% 31% 19% Babe Ruth 21 22 20 14 25 23 23 Joe Dimaggio 8 10 6 6 7 7 11 Lou Gehrig 7 10 3 6 4 7 11 Alex Rodriguez 6 3 9 11 1 4 5 Mickey Mantle 5 6 3 1 8 4 4 Reggie Jackson 2 2 2 1 1 2 3 Mariano Rivera 2 2 2 4 4 - 1 Yogi Berra 1 2 1 - 2 3 1 Don Mattingly 1 2 - - 3 - 1 Bernie Williams 1 1 1 2 2 - 1 OTHER SPECIFY 4 3 4 1 3 5 3 DK/NA 14 12 16 20 9 12 18 AGE IN YEARS............ 18-34 35-49 50-64 65+ Derek Jeter 35% 25% 23% 26% Babe Ruth 19 26 20 21 Joe Dimaggio 2 6 9 22 Lou Gehrig 6 3 13 5 Alex Rodriguez 6 8 4 2 Mickey Mantle - 3 13 8 Reggie Jackson - 5 3 1 Mariano Rivera 3 1 2 1 Yogi Berra - 2 2 2 Don Mattingly 2 2 - - Bernie Williams - 2 2 - OTHER SPECIFY 6 2 3 1 DK/NA 22 13 7 11 48. (If Very or Somewhat interested q45) What would you have done if you caught Derek Jeter's 3000th hit? Would you have kept the baseball or given it to Jeter? (* Subgroup too small for reliable analysis) BASEBALL FANS.......................................... Tot Men Wom Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl* Kept it 42% 48% 35% 45% 45% 41% 40% Given it to Jeter 50 46 55 46 48 50 51 DK/NA 8 6 10 9 7 9 9 AGE IN YEARS............ 18-34 35-49 50-64 65+ Kept it 42% 50% 45% 36% Given it to Jeter 53 41 51 52 DK/NA 5 9 5 12 YANKEE FANS Q46......................................... Tot Men Wom Brnx Kngs Man Qns StIsl* Kept it 41% 44% 38% 47% 45% 36% 38% Given it to Jeter 52 48 57 48 49 57 53 DK/NA 6 7 5 5 5 7 9 AGE IN YEARS............ 18-34 35-49 50-64 65+ Kept it 43% 44% 45% 35% Given it to Jeter 53 46 52 57 DK/NA 4 10 3 8
