AP-KN poll: Cards-Yanks in World Series, fans say

[September 26, 2009]  CHICAGO (AP) -- Ask around for a World Series prediction, and many baseball fans forecast a November classic: Albert Pujols and his St. Louis Cardinals vs. Derek Jeter and the New York Yankees.

Until then, a good chunk of that crowd wants to see something else. Like "Monday Night Football."

An Associated Press-Knowledge Networks poll released Friday found that two out of five baseball fans say they would rather watch a regular-season NFL game than a major league playoff matchup.

"That's kind of a bitter pill to swallow for a ballplayer," Seattle infielder Josh Wilson said. "The NFL is booming right now. I'm sure that question 15 or maybe even 10 years ago, an overwhelming majority would have rather watched baseball playoffs."

While the poll didn't delve into why a baseball fan might prefer the NFL - say Cardinals-Seahawks instead of Cardinals-Dodgers - it could be that baseball has expanded its playoffs too far. More than half the fans in the survey said they wanted a shorter postseason.

Or it could simply be the calendar. The NFL is just heating up, meaning more of its fans can still dream of the playoffs. But at this point in the baseball season, most teams are out of the running, as Toronto fan Adam Groome pointed out.

"If the Jays aren't in the playoffs, I'd rather watch an NFL regular-season game," he said. "It's more exciting."

Texas infielder Omar Vizquel suggested that if the poll were conducted in the middle of the grinding football season, the results might be different. "I really believe baseball is the No. 1 sport in America," he said.

The survey also showed:

-When fans were asked to pick the World Series winner from all the likely playoff contenders, both National League and American League, the Yankees were the choice by a nearly 3-to-1 margin over the Cardinals and Boston Red Sox. "Right now we do have the best record and people probably look at that," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "But polls don't mean anything, production does."

-More than 80 percent said there's no need to add extra teams to the playoff mix.

-About three in five expect Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez will avoid another postseason slump.

"I hope so, so everybody can get off his back," said pitcher Ian Snell of the Seattle Mariners, recently eliminated from playoff contention.

While NBA and NHL fans live for round after round in postseasons that go on for two months, 55 percent of baseball fans said they would prefer a longer regular season and a shorter postseason.

Baseball's playoffs start Oct. 7, and Game 7 of the World Series would be played Nov. 5. This will be only the second time the World Series has been played in November - the first being 2001, when the 9/11 attacks caused a one-week delay.

"I'm not a big fan of the playoffs going into November," said San Diego infielder David Eckstein, the MVP of the 2006 World Series with St. Louis. "They need to be done in October. If they want to cut the season a couple of days short, not play as many games, maybe cut it down to 156 to be able to accomplish that, I'm all for that."

As for TV habits, the survey posed: If you could watch only one sporting event on a particular night this fall, an NFL regular-season game or a baseball playoff game, which would you choose?

More than two in five - 41 percent - chose football.

"There's only one NFL game a week. Even in the playoffs, unless it's a pivotal game, they probably think they can watch tomorrow," Oakland manager Bob Geren said.

Asked to pick who would have the greatest impact in the postseason, Jeter and Pujols nearly tied at the top, doubling up the Dodgers' Manny Ramirez and far ahead of David Ortiz of the Red Sox.

The Yankees were a runaway choice to win the championship, at 37 percent.

"Hopefully all Yankee fans expect us to win and they'll be cheering loud in the playoffs. That's all the matters," New York first baseman Mark Teixeira said.

Rodriguez, a three-time MVP, enters this October in an 8-for-59 playoff slump dating to 2004. He is hitless in his last 18 postseason at-bats with runners in scoring position.

Wilson, who has played for Arizona, San Diego and Seattle this season, predicted the Yankees would beat St. Louis in the World Series. He's rooting for A-Rod, too.

"It's tough to watch some of the great players in the game kind of struggle in the playoffs," Wilson said. "I grew up in Pittsburgh and watched Barry Bonds get crucified for his playoff woes."

The AP-Knowledge Networks poll was conducted Sept. 14-21 and involved online interviews with 559 adults who said they were interested in Major League Baseball. It has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points.

The poll was conducted by Knowledge Networks, which initially contacted people using traditional telephone and mail polling methods and followed with online interviews. People chosen for the study who had no Internet access were given it for free.

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AP Polling Director Trevor Tompson, News Survey Specialist Dennis Junius, AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum, AP Sports Writer Janie McCauley and AP freelance writers Ian Harrison and Mike Kelly contributed to this report.

[Associated Press; By BEN WALKER]

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