Rasmussen Poll: Yankees Still Favored to Win 2010 World Series

As the 2010 Major League Baseball season reaches its halfway point, fans of the game still think the New York Yankees will most likely win their second straight World Series Championship.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of Adults who watch baseball at least once a week shows 22% believe the Bronx Bombers will win this year’s World Series.

At the start of the 2009 season, 29% picked the Yanks to win the championship this year.

The closest competitors to the Yankees were the St. Louis Cardinals and National League East leading Atlanta Braves as 11% of baseball fans say these teams will win the World Series.

The Boston Red Sox are close behind the Cardinals and Braves. Ten percent (10%) say they will win their first World Series since 2007. Only seven percent (7%) believe the Philadelphia Phillies, who were champions of the National League the past two seasons, will be World Champions in 2010.

Right behind the Phillies are the Minnesota Twins, whom six percent (6%) of baseball fans believe will win it all this year.

The survey of 825 Baseball Fans was conducted on June 29-30, 2010 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3.5 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

No other team reaches five percent (5%) support to win this year’s fall classic.

However, the number that expects a New York championship is higher than the number that wants to see it happen. Only 14% of baseball fans want the Yankees to win their 28th ring this year, while 12% would rather see the Cardinals win the title. Ten percent (10%) would prefer to see the Braves win their first championship since 1995, while the Red Sox and Phillies each earn support from nine percent (9%).

Both the Tampa Bay Rays and the Twins are backed by six percent (6%) who want them to win the World Series in 2010.

While the Yankees are the favorite team among all fans, fans of the Braves are currently the most confident in their team. Eighty-three percent (83%) of fans who want the Braves to win the World Series think they will do so. Seventy-nine percent (79%) of Yankees fans think their team will win it all.

Seventy-six percent (76%) of fans rooting for the Cardinals think they’ll win the championship.

Of the top five teams picked to win the series this year, Phillies’ fans are the least confident. Only 43% of those rooting for the Phils think they’ll win the World Series.

The plurality of fans between the ages of 18 and 29 (21%) believes the Braves will win this year’s World Series, while the plurality of fans from all other age groups pick New York.

Slightly more men than women pick the Yankees to win this year.

This time last year, 20% picked the Red Sox to win the 2009 World Series.

Last October, the majority of baseball fans (55%) said there should be more use of instant replay in the sport.

Following umpire Jim Joyce’s botched call robbing Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga of a perfect game in early June, 58% of Likely Voters in Michigan say baseball Commissioner Bud Selig should have overturned the call

Selig will turn 76 this year, so it’s no surprise many in the sports world are speculating who will fill his shoes upon retirement. Nationally, former New York Yankees manager Joe Torre is the favorite to be the next league commissioner.