Thanks, Ryan. Glad you like it! I’m working on a longer post now to discuss some of the decisions made along the way (and to address some of the comments we are getting about its inaccuracy).
We actually had a look at the NYTimes piece up front and decided that what we were trying to do was entirely different. The Times synthesized a variety of evidence to determine if towns in New England were in Red Sox or Yankees territory: ball cap sales, interviews with locals and a Quinnipiac University survey about rural interest and allegiances in baseball. The result was a compelling map, showing a border that meandered from Old Saybrook, CT, up past New Britain, between Canaan and Norfolk and then roughly followed the Massachusetts and Vermont borders north.
But we found that The Times map and other attempts at mapping this border were always missing something: how and where are fans catching the games for each team?
Very interesting… the Times map is impressive in its synthesis of data sources, I hadn’t realized how diverse the sources were.
Just to be more clear about the point I was trying to make above: what I find so compelling about your map is that it describes territories that are *both* Red Sox and Yankees country. Those spots are incredibly interesting, and drawing a single border line is a technique that (though satisfying in its simplicity) is unable to show the overlaps.
This is fantastic! I really like the fact that you didn’t try to draw a single borderline separating the two, as the NY Times did a few years back:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/18/sports/baseball/18fans.html
The overlaps that your map shows are fascinating. And the Florida map… genius!
Thanks, Ryan. Glad you like it! I’m working on a longer post now to discuss some of the decisions made along the way (and to address some of the comments we are getting about its inaccuracy).
We actually had a look at the NYTimes piece up front and decided that what we were trying to do was entirely different. The Times synthesized a variety of evidence to determine if towns in New England were in Red Sox or Yankees territory: ball cap sales, interviews with locals and a Quinnipiac University survey about rural interest and allegiances in baseball. The result was a compelling map, showing a border that meandered from Old Saybrook, CT, up past New Britain, between Canaan and Norfolk and then roughly followed the Massachusetts and Vermont borders north.
But we found that The Times map and other attempts at mapping this border were always missing something: how and where are fans catching the games for each team?
Very interesting… the Times map is impressive in its synthesis of data sources, I hadn’t realized how diverse the sources were.
Just to be more clear about the point I was trying to make above: what I find so compelling about your map is that it describes territories that are *both* Red Sox and Yankees country. Those spots are incredibly interesting, and drawing a single border line is a technique that (though satisfying in its simplicity) is unable to show the overlaps.