GALLUP NEWS SERVICE
PRINCETON, NJ -- Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa have captured the hearts of baseball fans the last two seasons, turning Major League Baseball stadiums into their own personal driving ranges. Now, a new CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll confirms that fans consider them the greatest players in the game today. For the second consecutive year, Sosa comes in second to McGwire, who was ranked first by 23% of those polled. Sosa was selected by 16% of the fans -- twice as many as Seattle slugger Ken Griffey Jr., who led the list when Gallup asked fans this question in 1997. Last year, 36% of baseball fans gave McGwire top honors, compared to 11% for Sosa.
Cal Ripken Jr. of the Baltimore Orioles came in fourth with 5%, down slightly from last year, when he received support from 6% of the fans. Among those players competing in this year's World Series, Atlanta's Chipper Jones and New York's Derek Jeter each received 2%, while 1% chose Braves pitcher Greg Maddux.
McGwire Leading Current Player Among All-Time
Greats
Following the death of Joe DiMaggio in March, Gallup asked baseball
fans to name the greatest baseball player of all time. As usual,
Babe Ruth took top honors, as he has done in every Gallup poll on
the subject since 1949. The "Sultan of Swat" received votes from
26% of baseball fans, with DiMaggio ranked second at 20%. Rounding
out the top ten are Mickey Mantle (8%), Willie Mays (5%), McGwire
(4%), Ted Williams, Ty Cobb, and Jackie Robinson (tied at 3%), Lou
Gehrig, Hank Aaron, Pete Rose, and Sosa (tied at 2%). McGwire and
Sosa were thus the only current players on the all-time Top 10
list.
Yankees Versus Braves
Americans across the country are split almost down the middle when
asked which team they would like to see win this year's World
Series. Forty-four percent of those interviewed between October
21-24 chose the New York Yankees, while 42% chose the Atlanta
Braves. Not surprisingly, there are major differences on this
question by region. Easterners overwhelmingly favor the Yankees by
a 64% to 24% margin. Southerners in turn favor Atlanta, but by a
slightly lower margin of 58% to 30%. The Midwest tilts towards
Atlanta, 45% to 39%, while Westerners favor the Yankees, 49% to
35%.
Rose Gets Respect From Baseball Fans
While just 2% of fans list Pete Rose -- the game's all-time leader
in hits -- as the best player of all time, enough considered Rose
one of the best players ever to vote for him in Major League
Baseball's All-Century team. While the final results have not
officially been announced, Rose has been invited to Atlanta to
appear when the team is announced before Game 2 of the World Series
Sunday night. This, despite the fact that Rose remains banned from
baseball after he was accused of betting on games in 1989 and is
ineligible for the Hall of Fame. In a Gallup poll conducted last
July, 62% of baseball fans said Rose should be eligible for the
Hall despite the gambling allegations against him.
Survey Methods
The results below are based on telephone interviews with a randomly
selected national sample of 595 adults, 18 years and older, who
describe themselves as baseball fans, conducted October 8-10, 1999,
and randomly selected national samples of 628 and 499 adults, 18
years and older, who describe themselves as baseball fans,
conducted July 13-14 and March 19-21, 1999, respectively. For
results based on these samples, one can say with 95 percent
confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and
other random effects is plus or minus 4 percentage points for the
October 8-10 and July 13-14 surveys, and plus or minus 5 percentage
points for the March 19-21 survey. In addition to sampling error,
question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys
can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion
polls.
Who would you, yourself, say is the greatest baseball player in the game today? (OPEN-ENDED)
BASED ON -- 595 -- BASEBALL FANS; ± 4 PCT PTS
Sep 25-28, 1997 |
Oct 9-12, 1998 |
Oct 8-10, 1999 |
|
---|---|---|---|
Mark McGwire | 4% | 36% | 23% |
Sammy Sosa | -- | 11 | 16 |
Ken Griffey, Jr | 24 | 8 | 8 |
Cal Ripken, Jr. | 12 | 6 | 5 |
Derek Jeter | -- | -- | 2 |
Chipper Jones | -- | -- | 2 |
Barry Bonds | 2 | 1 | 2 |
Mike Piazza | 1 | * | 2 |
Tony Gwynn | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Pedro Martinez | -- | -- | 2 |
Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez | -- | -- | 1 |
Greg Maddux | 5 | 2 | 1 |
Nomar Garciaparra | -- | * | 1 |
Larry Walker | 2 | * | -- |
Roger Clemens | 1 | 1 | -- |
David Justice | 1 | -- | -- |
Darryl Strawberry | 1 | -- | -- |
Albert Belle | 1 | -- | * |
Frank Thomas | 1 | -- | -- |
Mo Vaughn | 1 | 1 | -- |
Ryne Sandberg | 1 | -- | -- |
Randy Johnson | -- | 1 | * |
OTHER | 12 | 10 | 10 |
No opinion | 30 | 22 | 23 |
100% | 100% | 100% |
* less than 0.5%
July 13-14, 1999
As you may know, former Major League player Pete Rose is
ineligible for baseball's Hall of Fame due to charges that he had
gambled on baseball games. Do you think he should or should not be
eligible for admission to the Hall of Fame?
BASED ON -- 628 -- BASEBALL FANS; ± 4 PCT PTS
Yes, should | 62% |
No, should not | 36 |
No opinion | 2 |
100% |
Who would you say is the greatest baseball player of all time? (OPEN-ENDED)
BASED ON -- 499 -- BASEBALL FANS; ± 5 PCT PTS
99 Mar 19-21 | 90 Apr 19-22** | 49 Sep 3-8^ | |
---|---|---|---|
Babe Ruth | 26% | 31% | 53% |
Joe DiMaggio | 20 | 7 | -- |
Mickey Mantle | 8 | 7 | -- |
Willie Mays | 5 | 4 | -- |
Mark McGwire | 4 | -- | -- |
Ted Williams | 3 | 5 | -- |
Ty Cobb | 3 | 4 | 11 |
Jackie Robinson | 3 | 1 | -- |
Hank Aaron | 2 | 7 | -- |
Lou Gehrig | 2 | 4 | 10 |
Pete Rose | 2 | 4 | -- |
Sammy Sosa | 2 | -- | -- |
Cal Ripken, Jr. | 1 | -- | -- |
Ken Griffey, Jr | * | -- | -- |
Honus Wagner | -- | -- | 1 |
Walter Johnson | -- | -- | 1 |
Christy Mathewson | -- | -- | 1 |
Carl Hubbell | -- | -- | 1 |
OTHER | 11 | -- | 19 |
No opinion | 8 | 26 | 3 |
100% | 100% | 100% |
** Only top ten players are listed here
^ Based on those who follow baseball (51% of total sample)