Despite this year’s World Series between the Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals shaping up to be memorable for its ample share of competition and controversy, Hopkins students do not appear to be paying it much attention.
Out of 50 undergraduate students polled in all four classes, only 18% responded that they have been following the series, compared to the 38% who needed to be reminded that the series is still going on.
Even committed fans struggled to show their support amidst such an ambivalent crowd. Freshman Ellie Wenneker, a lifelong Red Sox fan, said that some of her fondest memories are of watching games with her family at Fenway Park, but that she has watched the World Series this year alone because her friends are not interested.
“My friends here are not baseball fans so this isn’t something they would enjoy watching,” Wenneker said.
Conversely, Missouri native and freshman James Hoff said he has not found fellow Cardinals fans on the Homewood Campus.
“My friends back home go crazy for [the Cardinals] but so far I’ve only run into Orioles fans which kind of sucks,” Hoff said.
He said no one on his floor is following the series either.
Some avid fans, however, do stay true to their allegiances while away from home, even if not in public. Ellie Wenneker is able to access her cable subscription from home through her computer here, and makes an effort to watch every game in her dorm as she would with her family if she were back in Massachusetts. Similarly, freshman Seal-Bin Han, a lifelong Red Sox fan, has watched every game of the series with friends here on campus, and plans to continue inspiring those around him to join in.
“As a resident of the beautiful State of Massachusetts, I would rather die than support the Cardinals,” Han said. “My loyalty lies and will forever lie with the Boston Red Sox. Plus, St. Louis is so meh.”
Although he has yet to do anything crazy on campus in support of his team, Han once threw a hot dog at someone wearing a New York Yankees hat at Fenway Park.
“For God’s sake, who wears a Yankees hat anywhere near Boston?” Han said.
Part of the problem might boil down to the lack of equal representation amongst the student body, freshman Gaurav Verma noted.
“I have a couple of friends who are really big Red Sox fans, but not too many [are] Cardinals fans,” he said. “I guess we do not have much of a Missouri contingent here so it figures.”
