Who did people root for prior to expansion?

[skil55voy]

My dad grew up in West Virginia and moved to Detroit after the Air Force in Korea. We would go to West Virginia every year. My great grandfather was a Reds fan. I used to watch the games with him. While I am a diehard Tiger fan, I have a soft spot for the Reds after watching Jim O'Toole. Frank Robinson, Vada Pinson and Joey Jay etc. Also, when I was in the Army in 1980 and stationed near Baltimore I worked with a lot of Oriole fans. However, a lot of the older guys followed the Tigers because of Al Kaline who was from there. They told me that they would go to there cars and listen to Tiger games on the radio. WJR had a wide range in the 50's and on clear nights they could get the games.

[commishbob]

The Houston market was owned by the Cardinals before the Colt .45s/Astros were formed. The city had the Buffaloes/Buffs since the 1890s and for decades they were a Cardinals farm club. Only in their last two seasons did they switch to a Cubs affiliate.

When I moved here in the mid-60s any game against the Cardinals drew quite a crowd of St. Louis fans. That gradually changed due to Cardinal fans getting older and the Astros forming an identity and having some exciting teams. The Cards don't play here much since the Astros changed leagues so it's hard to gauge the amount of support they still have here. But I suspect there are fewer Cards fans in Minute Maid Park when they visit than there are Yankees and Red Sox fans then those clubs are in town.

[oldjudge]

Peter--I think for people in states with no teams a factor contributing to who they rooted for was which games they could listen to on the radio. I think the station that broadcast the Cardinal games had a strong signal which to some extent accounted for their expanded fan base. I remember as a kid growing up in the Bronx listening to Cincinnati Royals NBA games at night on my portable radio. They became my second favorite team after the Knicks.

[GeoPoto]

For many years, Washington was the southernmost franchise, and I believe benefitted from and cultivated fans in all the states in the south.

[Mark17]

From 1961 through 1968, especially, the Twins routinely drew fans from all the surrounding states. The scoreboard had messages in lights, welcoming the various outstate groups. And as mentioned, radio helped. The games were carried on WCCO, AM 830, which was a clear channel station that could be picked up all over the region.

Being more successful than the Chicago teams and Kansas City during those years helped as well.

[StraightRaceCards]

Pre 1972 before the Rangers appeared on the scene, I know there were a lot of Cardinal fans all over the country. I don’t have an exact reason, maybe someone can elaborate as it was before my time.

All I can say, Cardinal fans travel well. Went to a game in Texas and it seemed louder for the RedBirds than my Rangers

My family originally being from St Louis, were cardinal fans. So anyone in our family born before 72, were Cardinal fans, and anyone after that, Ranger fans. It made for the 2011 World Series a fun one…!